Any fans of robot boxing as seen in the film "Real Steel" may envision tomorrow's extreme sports arenas filled with lethal fighting robots. The "RIC Ninja Master" robot looks like a crude toy by comparison, but gamely does its best to dish out padded punches in slow motion.
The small fighting robot with an Android tablet for a head can mimic the punches of a human operator by using an Xtion Pro Live motion sensor; another person uses a controller to make the robot walk. Japan's RT Corporation showed off its robot's stuff at the Google I/O 2012 event held in late June, according to the robot blog Plastic Pals.
A sensors in the robot's gloves and body even detects when it scores hits or takes a hit, but Plastic Pals casts doubt on whether the slow-moving robot could actually land a strike on a faster human opponent. Robot enthusiasts may want to wait for Japan's giant mech robot that allows human pilots to sit inside and use motion-sensing control. [Giant Robot Puts You in the Driver's Sea]
Source: Plastic Pals
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