| Computer scientists from the University of Bonn have developed a new robot called NimbRo-OP whose source code and design is available for anyone. The robot is intended to facilitate the entry into research on humanoids, in particular, the TeenSize Class of the RoboCup. The scientists recently introduced the new robot at the IROS Conference (International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in Portugal. |
Computer scientists at the University of Bonn recently released NimbRo-OP an open source platform with CAD files and source code available for the public at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).
With a cheerful white head and black body and a height of 95 centimeters, NimbRo-OP is almost the size of a small child. Thanks to light-weight materials used in its construction, its weight is only 6.6 kilograms. It has a total of 20 drive elements that convert computer commands into mechanical motions. This is also why NimbRo-OP is very agile – it has no problems kicking a soccer ball, and it can also get up from a prone position like a human, for soccer players also sometimes fall down.
"We have made very effort to keep the design simple to allow other working groups to also use this robot as a basis for their work, modify and repair it," says Prof. Dr. Sven Behnke, lead of the Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS) working group from the University of Bonn.
Source code and design plan of "NimbRo-OP" are open source and available online. This is intended to facilitate entry into research on humanoids, in particular, the TeenSize Class of the RoboCup. If building your own NimbRo-OP sounds too involved, you can also purchase an assembled version from the AIS group for 20,000 Euros.
The Bonn researchers used different humanoid robots as the inspiration for their project. "There are also other very interesting robots; but they are clearly smaller than ours," says Prof. Behnke. "But its size is essential for being able to do certain things, such as in robo-soccer." In addition, "NimbRo-OP" has a special wide-angle camera to get a view of the soccer field, and high processing capacity for swift response.
This robot, which was recently presented at the IROS Conference in Portugal, is a prototype. "NimbRo-OP is not suitable for consumers," says Prof. Behnke. "Our target group consists of scientists who want to program robots based on this hard- and software." The scientists from the University of Bonn also want to enter their robot in the RoboCup.
This is a first step in the development project. "With this platform, we would like to achieve compatibility with other robots," says the computer scientist. Over the next three years, the development project will be continued together with igus GmbH Köln, an application partner, within a knowledge transfer project entitled "A humanoid TeenSize open-platform soccer robot." Prof. Behnke explains, "The goal of the project is accelerating progress in the humanoid robot area by intensifying the sharing with other groups of researchers."
"Our goal is to stop re-inventing the wheel over and over; by using an open platform together with other researchers, we want to find solutions while saving on effort and expenses." The working group around Prof. Behnke is the most successful humanoid team worldwide at the RoboCup, and with wins in eleven individual competitions, quite likely even the most successful RoboCup team overall.
SOURCE University of Bonn
This robot, which was recently presented at the IROS Conference in Portugal, is a prototype. "NimbRo-OP is not suitable for consumers," says Prof. Behnke. "Our target group consists of scientists who want to program robots based on this hard- and software." The scientists from the University of Bonn also want to enter their robot in the RoboCup.
This is a first step in the development project. "With this platform, we would like to achieve compatibility with other robots," says the computer scientist. Over the next three years, the development project will be continued together with igus GmbH Köln, an application partner, within a knowledge transfer project entitled "A humanoid TeenSize open-platform soccer robot." Prof. Behnke explains, "The goal of the project is accelerating progress in the humanoid robot area by intensifying the sharing with other groups of researchers."
"Our goal is to stop re-inventing the wheel over and over; by using an open platform together with other researchers, we want to find solutions while saving on effort and expenses." The working group around Prof. Behnke is the most successful humanoid team worldwide at the RoboCup, and with wins in eleven individual competitions, quite likely even the most successful RoboCup team overall.
SOURCE University of Bonn
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