Pneuborn

An infant shaped robot whose internal structure and electronics are exposed crawls on it's hands and knees. — This robot baby is powered by air. Photo: Osaka University

Pneuborn is a robotic infant simulator that focuses on the development of musculoskeletal systems. It can teach itself to crawl, sit, and stand using pattern generators and learning algorithms.

Creator

Osaka University

Year

2009

Country

Japan 🇯🇵

Categories

Features

Pneuborn learns to crawl. Video: K. Narioka/Osaka University

Did you know?

The name "Pneuborn" comes from the artificial muscles that the robot uses, which are air-powered.

Two versions of the toddler robot are seen, one standing and one sitting. — Pneuborn can sit and stand. Photo: Osaka University

History

Pneuborn was designed by Koh Hosoda from Osaka University, in Japan. In 2011, Hosoda and his colleagues unveiled two pneumatically powered robot babies: Pneuborn-7II and Pneuborn-13. Pneuborn-7II is a musculoskeletal infant robot designed to explore the association between cognitive development and movement in infants. It has 19 pneumatic muscles plus a jointed, actuated spine. Pneuborn-13 is an infant-size musculoskeletal robot driven by pneumatic actuators that's learning to crawl, stand, and walk.

Specs

Overview: Design of body structures based on a real human infant. Equipped with robust pneumatic musculoskeletal system.
Status: Inactive
Year: 2009
Website: www-arl.sys.es.osaka-u.ac.jp/site/en/home-en
Height: 80 cm
Weight: 6.4 kg
Sensors: External motion capture system
Actuators: McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles
Degrees of Freedom (DoF): 26
Compute: Renesas H8-3069 microcontroller
Software: Custom software in C/C++
Power: Lithium-polymer battery and external air compressor.