Fri, Aug 20, 2004
Bigger Is Better? Not!
Seiko Epson has come up with what it
calls the FR, or Micro Flying Robot, the world's smallest flying
prototype microrobot. Epson developed the FR to demonstrate the
micromechatronics technology that it has cultivated in-house over
the years and to explore the possibilities for microrobots and the
development of component technology applications. The company will
display its latest offering at the 2003 International Robot
Exhibition, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight on November 19 -
22, 2004.
Based on its micromechatronics technology, which is one of the
company's core technologies, Epson has developed and marketed a
family of microrobots known as the EMRoS series, beginning with
Monsieur, which went on sale in 1993. Monsieur is listed in the
Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest microrobot. In
April, Epson developed Monsieur II-P, a prototype microrobot that
operates on an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor and a power-saving
Bluetooth module that allows more than one unit to be
remote-controlled simultaneously. Using these robots, Epson also
realized the world's smallest full-blown robot ballet theater. In
this way, Epson has played a pioneering role in research and
development relating to microrobots and component technology
applications.
The FR, which will be shown at the Tokyo exhibition, causes
levitation by use of contra-rotating propellers powered by an
ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor with the world's highest power-weight
ratio and can be balanced in mid-air by means of the world's first
stabilizing mechanism that uses a linear actuator. Furthermore, the
essence of micromechatronics has been brought together in
high-density mounting technology to minimize the size and weight of
the circuitry's control unit.
With the FR, Epson says it's proven the possibility of expanding
the world of microrobots from two-dimensional space -- the ground
-- to three-dimensional space -- the air. Epson says it will feel
out the reactions of visitors, discover and test problems related
to the functional use of space by microrobots, and seeing what, if
any, market might develop for such a machine.
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