While trying to get a better understanding of human movement for improvement in athletics and sports, today we came across the new Japanese robot named Kengoro.

A new life-size bot named Kengoro, created in Tokyo, Japan closely resembles the anatomy of a teenage boy in body proportion, skeletal and muscular structure. Compared with previous humanoid robots with more rigid, bulky bodies, Kengoro’s anatomically inspired design gives the bot a wide range of joint flexibility and motion to perform humanlike, full-body exercises.

Constructed by Masayuki Inaba, an engineer at the University of Tokyo, along with colleagues, Kengoro has a multi-jointed spine that allows the robot to curl into a sit-up or do back extensions, perform various stretches or swing a badminton racket, and its artificial muscles are strong enough that Kengoro can stand on tiptoe or do push-ups. Batteries in each leg power Kengoro through about 20 minutes of exercise at a time, and water seeping from inside Kengoro’s metal skeleton like sweat keeps the motors of the artificial muscles cool while the bot works out.

#scienceallstars, #science, #ngss, #elementaryschool, #makingsciencefun, #funscience

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/boy-robot-passes-agility-tests

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