Are Humanoids Growing Bigger?

[tempusmaster]

Hi
Maybe tempusmaster can answer this one. Looking at the video of King Kizer's he still has the flippers for the hands. I'm sure that I read some were that robo-one in japan had changed the rules to make this illegal so that the bots are more human like.
Bren

Hi Bren,

The answers are 'yes' and 'yes'. The rules have tightened up a bit and eliminated the most extreme designs, like some that had arm extensions that were as long, if not longer than the robots body. In this case, proportionally King Kizers arms are within the guidelines and are more human-like than some of the competitors (OmniZero used his 'wings' to catch the ball).

The organizing committee is trying to encourage participation and innovation as much as possible, so they tend to slowly tighten up the rules from competition to competition rather than imposing some absolute ideal. If they made the rules too tight too soon, then only a few builders could compete, which wouldn't be very productive.

[Robo1]

Thanks for that tempusmaster.

Another question about the wings on omni bot what did he do with them they seem a strange design to put on your robo-one maybe a fairy version. have you got any videos of the new omni competing.

I might have to put some flipping hands on my bot, I was going to have just boxing gloves but that's probably not to hardcore for the jap bots.

Bren

[tempusmaster]

Hi Bren,

Thanks for that tempusmaster.

You're welcome. Many visitors probably had the same question, but you took the time and initiative to ask. That's great.

Another question about the wings on omni bot what did he do with them

Moved them around quite a bit. For the catch challenge, he basically formed a basket by sticking up his arms and the wings. Then Maeda tossed the ball in, and OmniZero reached back with his arms/hands to retrieve it and toss it back.

they seem a strange design to put on your robo-one maybe a fairy version.

A lot of the Japanese manga and anime robots have had wings of one sort or another. It fit pretty well with the overall design.

have you got any videos of the new omni competing.

Yes. I just haven't had the time to go through it all yet. My work schedule has been pretty hectic, and I had to wrap up two long articles for the magazine this week also.

I might have to put some flipping hands on my bot, I was going to have just boxing gloves but that's probably not to hardcore for the jap bots.
Bren

It varies. Boxing gloves would be okay. Most of the Japanese builders aren't as 'hardcore' as you might think by looking at the videos online. Almost all of them are engineers during the day, and have families with young kids.

One of my close friends is actually a musician at heart. He always builds a really unique ROBO-ONE entriy, and scores well the first day, but doesn't have the spirit to do well during the second day's fighting.

[Humanoido]

I was wondering how wings fit into the overall humanoid image?
It seems like that's a step in a different direction.
It reminds me of those unfair robots entered in competition
with arms that were not very humanoid.

humanoido

[tempusmaster]

I was wondering how wings fit into the overall humanoid image?
It seems like that's a step in a different direction.

'Humanoid' is an image that others often apply to ROBO-ONE, but it isn't really a core part of the overall initiative. The ROBO-ONE theme is 'Biped Robot Entertainment'. The key sponsors include Bandai and Sunrise (among others) who have lots of robot type characters that aren't necessarily pure humanoid.

Is Gundam humanoid? The vast majority of the builders want to build Gundam, or something similar from the same manga/anime genre.

In general, the committee keeps moving towards more of a humanoid type design, but that probably won't rule out things like OmniZero's wings as long as they still fit within the overall rules.

It reminds me of those unfair robots entered in competition
with arms that were not very humanoid.

humanoido

They weren't 'unfair' at the time. The rules have tightened up slowly as the skill of the builders has improved, and to make the competition tougher.

[Humanoido]

Tempusmaster, very good points. I can see why the Japanese are inspired by robots like Gundam. In Asia, I rented one of the Japanese Gundam movies and not only was it awe inspiring from a robotics viewpoint, it was also very touching. The robot is a hero, and can be controlled by remote. Yet it retains a degree of autonomy and is filled with surprises in its programming. While it's obviously humanoid, the sheer size is a dominating factor. But if we think about it, the current trend of humanoids is at the opposite end of the spectrum (small ones...). Indeed, there are many unique variations to the humanoid condition.

humanoido