Features RSS Feed
12 Comments
Original air date:
11.21.07
One Dad Builds Killer Robots in his Spare Time
One might say that Japanese engineer Nao Maru has a large extended family. Besides his wife and three kids, he has a bunch of additional bodies running around his home. But they aren't human: They're robots.
And one of them reigns supreme. King Kizer, whose name means "King Emperor " in English, is the Maru family's winning robot fighter. Engineer Nao and his kids built the King over the span of several months, and they endowed it with some seriously cool features. Nao's son, 11-year-old Kenta, controls King Kizer's upper-body movements with a vest that first captures his motions using voltage potentiometers and then beams them to the robot via Bluetooth, where a microcontroller helps the King mimic Kenta's movements. King Kizer also is equipped with sensors that perceive its surroundings and keep its balance. If it falls down, it can get back up, no problem. And it can attack automatically without any command from Nao or Kenta, detecting its enemy's position with sensors.
As any serious father-son team would, Nao and Kenta began entering King Kizer in local robot fighting competitions. After racking up 30 local wins, they decided it was time to hit the big time and bring the King to Robo-One, the most prestigious robot tournament in Japan, where contestants from all over Asia meet in an amazing battle of the bots. King Kizer was the only robot operated by an 11-year-old. No one thought it stood a chance.
How did the underdog fare?
Share in the competition excitement with Nao and Kenta and root for King Kizer in our GeekDad video. It's all here on WIRED SCIENCE.
12 Posts
+ Add Comment
11.21.07 6:12 PM PST
Joseph Bowens
Does anyone know who sings the song played at the end of this episode with the little yellow robot dancing to it in Japan???? Please let me know, I would love to get that one.
Cheers,
jwb
11.21.07 7:19 PM PST
DALE KING KISER
I just saw the video of the KING KIZER and was amazed. It also has my name, almost. Is it possible to be available to the public in the near future?
DKK
11.25.07 3:05 AM PST
jon
I love that song! What band is that?
11.25.07 3:10 AM PST
jon
I found it! The song is "I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon.
11.25.07 8:01 PM PST
Zak
Hey, where can I buy that cool yellow dancing robot thing-ie ?
11.26.07 12:07 PM PST
Jef Parker
Where can I get one of these robots featured in the Geek Dad article? Is there a kit or something I can buy?
11.27.07 7:07 PM PST
k-|eB
NONO!!! the song played is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPdP1jBfxzo&feature=related
Keepon dancing to Spoon's "Don't You Evah"
11.29.07 5:19 AM PST
Nao
>> Jef Paker
Unfortunately you cannot get "KING KIZER".
Because it is not sold.
However, you can buy other kits here
http://www.roboporium.com/index.html
11.29.07 2:11 PM PST
Grace
I was fascinated with the Japanese Robots and their ability to regain their stance and balance using gyroscopes. Can/will someone adapt this "robot"technology and make it available to those of us humans who have lost our equilibrium and must hold to sturdy furniture, walls or to other persons to be able to walk without falling?
An aluminum walker is not sturdy enough to keep me from falling over it forward or out of it backwards.
I would like to again walk independently.
In the Comments Section please list any available resources. Thanks for your help.
During the past few years I have gradually lost my equilibrium. Physicians have given me various tests and can not find a cause for this imbalalnce.
12.3.07 10:22 AM PST
christopher johnson
king kizer rocks man i wish i could build my own robo fighter
1.19.08 11:56 AM PST
Sylvia Lyons
Can anyone tell me which site to go to find the short video of the robotic/animatronic guitar/violin/cello musical instrument video. I have seen it a few times. It is played during the interval between programs.
2.15.08 1:10 PM PST
LaStarsha
Does anyone know where to find the robotic guitar/violin/cello because I have been looking for it for weeks now. Thanks
Post your comment