An open-source robot, size compatible with the RoboCup Humanoid League's Teen Size class, has been launched by the University of Bonn.
It comes from the team, led by Professor Sven Behnke, that won the Louis Vuitton Cup for "Best Humanoid" in this year's RoboCup and is based on the same NimbRo model with its distinctive white head.
With both the hardware designs and the software released under free and open licences, NimbRo-OP is intended to enable other groups to start using and improving it and compete in future RoboCup events. Fully assembled and tested robots are also available from University of Bonn for an introductory price of 20,000 Euros plus tax and shipping.
NimbRo-OP, which can be seen in action as a football player above. is 95 cm tall (37.4 inches) and weighs 6.6 kg (14.55 pounds). It uses 20 Robotis Dynamixel servos, 6 per leg, 3 per amr and 2 in the nexk. It has a dual-core AMD E-450 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB solid state drive. It also come equipped with WiFi, a wde-angled video camera (Logitech C905) and a Robotis CM-730 controller with 3-axis accelerometer, and 3-axis gyro. The GNU/Linux software is based on DARwin-OP.
In this BotSport tv video, Professor Sven Behnke explains the background to the project and states that "the biggest advantage of this robot is its clean and simple design"
The next RoboCup takes places in the Netherlands in June 2013. Let's hope that by then more teams have had a chance to fork NimbRo-Op and be ready to challenge one another's soccer skills.
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