Murata Manufacturing unveiled the Murata Cheerleaders, which is a group of small robots that balance on balls made of metal, with flashing lights and performing dances in unison.
The Murata Cheerleaders put a cute, or "kawaii," spin on the swarm robots concept that has been the subject of several scary science-fiction movies. In fact, the robots are featured in a video released by Murata that has them dancing in formations like a J-Pop girl group.
The Murata Cheerleaders, which were introduced in a group made up of 10 robots, are crafted in such a way that they look like girls that have red dresses on. Their eyes glow an inviting shade of blue, and even have a blushing pink light on their cheeks. The robots also have balls at the end of their supposed hands, seemingly to represent the pom-poms held by cheerleaders.
According to Murata's Koichi Yoshikawa, keeping the robots balanced on their metal balls posed a significant design and technological challenge to the company before Murata was able to figure it out.
The Murata Cheerleaders utilize three gyro sensors within their bodies, which are able to identify where the robots are leaning toward. As the movements of the robots are determined by the sensors, the system then moves the robots in such a way as to keep them balanced, even while the robots dance on top of their metal balls.
Murata said that the system Murata Cheerleaders use to maintain their balance is an upgraded version of the systems originally created to be used by the company's other robots, the Murata Boy and Murata Girl.
The Murata Boy rides a bicycle, while the Murata Girl rides a unicycle.
The Murata Cheerleaders are able to avoid each other while in formation through the usage of the five ultrasonic microphones and four infrared sensors that are located within the head of each robot. The robots send data from the sensors through a wireless network, allowing the operators to monitor the accurate locations of each robot.
The relative positions of the robots are then determined through the use of both infrared and ultrasonic signals, which are then processed by a central control system that sends instructions to the robots through their installed communication module.
The Murata Cheerleaders use a signal on a low frequency, which not only ensures that the signals are picked up by the robots easier, but also allows the robots to operate in less-than perfect conditions such as inside buildings and tunnels.
According to Yoshikawa, the foundation of the research used in the Murata Cheerleaders was actually part of a project with Kyoto University that looked to use robots for high-speed search and rescue operations.
Yoshikawa also said that there is the notion that the robots, once they find a person that needs to be rescued, can join together to form a bigger robot that is capable of assisting humans, which is something that seems like it came out of a Japanese anime.
Murata, however, has no plans to release the Murata Cheerleaders into the public market.
