Iran Has a Dancing, Humanoid Robot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Researchers at Tehran University, in Iran, unveiled last month an adult-sized humanoid robot called Surena 2. (University of Tehran)
Iran has developed a humanoid robot -- and taught it to dance.
Robot researchers at Iran's Tehran University unveiled a life-size robot named Surena 2 during the country's celebration of "Industry and Mine Day" in July. New details and videos released Monday of the robot reveal more details about its capabilities -- which appear to include dancing.
In one of the videos, released by IEEE Spectrum magazine, the researchers demonstrate Surena 2 on a TV show, where the robot walks, dances, and balances on one leg.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The robot is a joint project between the Center for Advanced Vehicles and the R&D Society of Iranian Industries and Mines. Aghil Yousefi-Koma, a professor of engineering at the University of Tehran who lead the Surena project, told IEEE Spectrum that the goal is to explore "both theoretical and experimental aspects of bipedal locomotion."
The humanoid relies on gyroscopes and accelerometers to remain in balance and move its legs, still very slowly, but Yousefi-Koma says his team is developing a "feedback control system that provides dynamic balance, yielding a much more human-like motion."
Surena 2, which weighs just under 100 pounds and is 4.75 feet high, has a total of 22 degrees of freedom: Each leg has 6 DOF, each arm 4 DOF, and the head 2 DOF. An operator uses a remote control to make the robot walk and move its arms and head. The robot can also bow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Watch the video below, and read more about Surena 2 at IEEE Spectrum.