14 DAY TRIAL // Myon is an 1.25 meters humanoid robot, whose body parts can be removed and reattached without loosing full functionality. It was revealed to the public for the first time at the International Design Festival DMY and the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin) and it caused an extremely high interest.
The robot is the final product of a collaboration between Bayer MaterialScience AG and the Neurorobotics Research Laboratory (NRL) at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Cologne-based design studio Frackenpohl Poulheim. The outer shell that gives the human-like appearance to the robot is a polycarbonate called Makrolon® from Bayer MaterialScience, that also protects the electronics inside it.
The eight-year-old-sized robot is meant to interact with humans, “that's why we wanted Myon to project a friendly, positive persona even though it's obviously not actually a person,” said André Poulheim, one of Myon's designers, to BayNews. “Otherwise robots can seem a bit threatening if, say, their shoulders are made too broad.”
The European research project ALEAR (Artificial Language Evolution on Autonomous Robots), carried out by Dr. Manfred Hild and his team at the NRL studies how autonomous robots move. Walking, for example, is a very complex process that depends on the body's structure, and so the six autonomous body parts of the robot are a major advantage, as movements can be developed individually and lead to an overall behavior.
Dr. Lorenz Kramer, the project's supervisor and responsible for the Robotics section at Bayer MaterialScience explained that “the robot's esthetic design and degree of mobility presented particular challenges when it came to selecting materials. The material must not impede the overall functionality and it must be suitable for the creation of specific shapes." After tests, the glass-fiber reinforced polycarbonate Makrolon® 9425 and the transparent Makrolon® ET3113 were the materials chosen for Myon.
This robot is just an example of the technological advancements nowadays. Scientists are working on several robots can could, in a near future, help the elders in care homes and hospital, as it is currently happening in Japan.
Myon will also be presented at K 2010 in Düsseldorf from October 27 to November 3, 2010.