15th December 2012

Kenshiro robot has muscles and bones

Japan's latest android has been unveiled at the Humanoids Conference in Osaka.

Built by University of Tokyo researchers, Kenshiro is a musculo-skeletal humanoid robot that mimics one-quarter of the muscles found in humans. It has 160 pulley-like devices — 50 in the legs, 76 in the trunk, 12 in the shoulder and 22 in the neck — together with aluminium bones which include a spine, pelvis and rib cage. It has almost the same level of joint torque as a human.

Japan is a world leader in robotics and has produced some highly impressive models in recent years, such as the Geminoid. With androids becoming more and more human-like with each passing year, perhaps our 2150 prediction is looking a bit conservative now. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. We're in the process of updating our 22nd century pages, so we'd appreciate your feedback.

Comments »