PLEN is a small

desktop toy A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various comp ...

humanoid robot A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other p ...

that can replicate complex human movements. It is controlled remotely by use of a

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limit ...

enabled phone. When programmed, it is able to use a skateboard, rollerskates, pick up, kick and throw small things, and stand up if he tumbles to the floor. It does not feature any sensors or automatic software reactions to certain events, as it is entirely remote-controlled. Videos of PLEN are being widely distributed and featured on sites such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

, notably for its ability to perform roller skating and

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboar ...

stunts. It performs these feats in a very lifelike fashion. PLEN is 9 inches (22.8 cm) tall, weighs 696 grams and is equipped with a 3 axis accelerometer to assist in balancing. It has 18

degrees of freedom Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...

and a 32bit

ARM7 ARM7 is a group of 32-bit RISC ARM processor cores licensed by ARM Holdings for microcontroller use. The ARM7 core family consists of ARM700, ARM710, ARM7DI, ARM710a, ARM720T, ARM740T, ARM710T, ARM7TDMI, ARM7TDMI-S, ARM7EJ-S. The ARM7TDM ...

CPU. PLEN is powered by 6 V-950 mA NiMH

rechargeable battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...

. The battery pack is on the robot's back and resembles a backpack. Its central positioning is designed to improve overall balance as it heaviest component. New actions are programmable using its Motion Editor software and can be uploaded via USB or Bluetooth. Plen is expected to sell for 250,000

JPY The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and th ...

.ROBOTS DREAMS: Tiny Plen Robot Roller Skates!
(includes video link) PLEN was created and manufactured by Akazawa Co. Ltd of Japan, and is currently sold by them for 262,500 ¥.

References

External links

PLEN Official Website
Bipedal humanoid robots Robots of Japan 2000s robots {{Robo-stub