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ZMP Robots
(http://www.zmp.co.jp)

 
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NUVO robot lineup 
 

ZMP is the creator of several small humanoid robots - the open-source PINO, the experimental Morph 3, and the consumer robot Nuvo. Their robots combine sleek industrial design with advanced robot technology.

Nuvo
  Introduced in March 2004 by ZMP, the Nuvo is a consumer robot which sells (if they were selling in the US) for about $4,600. The robot is 39 cm tall and clearly is an evolutionary derivative of the Morph 3 (see below). The robot can get up if it falls, recognize many speech words and can be wirelessly controlled via a webcam. Its chief use appears to be for robotic security - it can walk into places that a wheeled robot could not go. It is equipped with 15 joints, several sensors, and has a walking speed of 3 meters a minute. So much for the "wheels vs. legs" debate!
Nuvo robot backside Nuvo robot side view Nuvo robot
NUVO teaching kit The image to the left shows a development kit that may be used in teaching and research on NUVO-style bipedal robots.

PINO
 
PINO exterior PINO inside walking
ZMP also makes an "open source" robot called the PINO costing about $45,000 for research. A graphic interface (GUI) has been defined, as well as an API allowing users to write custom program additions to the core PINO software. Click on the image to the left to see an example of an advanced walking cycle.

Morph 3

The Morph3 not only jumps - it can do backflips! Smaller than the Sony QURO, it has amazing agility. Developed as part of the Kitano Symbiotic Systems Project along with Leading Edge Design (created the "Hallucigenia" concept car and other great industrial designs). This system appeared in the first Robocup "humanoid league" in 2003. Apparently, it was a prototype for the commercial Nuvo. 

morph 3 walking
morph 3 standing morph 3 from back, kneeling
Front view of morph 3. Note cables going into hands and unique cylinders between the legs Back view of morph 3 kneeling.
morph 3 from front, kneeling morph 3 standing up

Front view of morph3 kneeling

Morph 3 standing up. This robot, like the HRP and QURO, can get up after it falls.
"There is only one condition in which we can imagine managers not needing subordinates, and masters not needing slaves. This would be if every machine could work by itself, at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation."
- Aristotle, from his justification of slavery in Politics