The Humanoid Robotics Project (HRP) is a project for development of general domestic helper robots, sponsored by

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The , METI for short, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic acti ...

(METI) and

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization The , or NEDO, is Japan's largest public management organization promoting research and development as well as deployment of industrial, energy and environmental technologies. In 2003, NEDO was reorganized as an Independent Administrative Instit ...

(NEDO), spearheaded by Kawada Industries and supported by the

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology The , or AIST, is a Japanese research facility headquartered in Tokyo, and most of the workforce is located in Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, and in several cities throughout Japan. The institute is managed to integrate scientific and enginee ...

(AIST) and

Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Minato, To ...

, Inc. The HRP series also goes by the name Promet. The HRP should not be confused with the HOAP series (Humanoid for

Open Architecture Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture intended to make adding, upgrading, and swapping components with other computers easy. For example, the IBM PC, Amiga 2000 and Apple IIe have an open architecture supp ...

Platform), which is manufactured by Fujitsu.

Features and technology

The project started with three

Honda P3 The P series is a series of prototype humanoid robots developed by Honda between 1993 and 2000. They were preceded by the Honda E series (whose development was not revealed to the public at the time) and followed by the ASIMO series, then the worl ...

which were bought from

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

. And, the project developed them as the HRP-1 with original features, such as

telecommand A telecommand or telecontrol is a command sent to control a remote system or systems not directly connected (e.g. via wires) to the place from which the telecommand is sent. The word is derived from ''tele'' = remote (Greek), and ''command'' = to ...

system. An interesting feature HRP-2 has is the ability to stand up again after lying flat on the floor, either on its back or front—something Honda's

ASIMO ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is a humanoid robot created by Honda in 2000. In 2002, there were 20 units of the first ASIMO model produced; three different ASIMO models subsequently followed. As of February 2009, there were over ...

is not able to do. AIST and Kawada Industries have also revealed the HRP-4

bipedal Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' ...

humanoid. The HRP-4 stands 150 cm (5′) tall and weighs 39 kg (86 lbs). Kawada Industries has also developed the NEXTAGE system, envisioned as a production robot that works alongside human workers. The NEXTAGE not a biped but consists of a torso and arms on a fixed base.

Specifications

Notes: :1. – For reference to compare with the HRP-1. :2. - The external appearances of HRP-2 and HRP-3 were designed by

Yutaka Izubuchi is a Japanese anime mecha and character designer, anime director, illustrator and manga artist. He was born in Tokyo, Japan and grew up in Yokohama. Izubuchi is also known for his manga and illustrations, but most of his fame comes from his de ...

. :3. – "C" means "Cybernetic Human".

References

Spec sheets

HRP-2P
- from Kawada Industries, Inc.

- from Kawada Industries, Inc.

- from Kawada Industries, Inc.

- from Kawada Industries, Inc.

- from Kawada Industries, Inc.

- from AIST

External links

Kawada Industries, Inc. - Mechatronics

AIST Humanoid Robotics Group
- academic side to the HRP project

HRP-4 - The Bipedal Robot
- Video demonstration Robots of Japan Humanoid robots 1990s robots 2000s robots {{robot-stub