Is a robot with muscles and bones any more freaky than one with
servomotors? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have been
building a humanoid robot called Kenshiro that moves around with
muscles that work with small pulleys. Initially developed as a
scrawny kid-bot in 2001, Kenshiro has been packing on muscle
mass. With a total of 70 degrees of freedom, or axes of motion,
it now has 160 muscles, with 22 in its neck, 12 in its
shoulders, 76 in its abdomen, and 50 in its legs. But it's still
designed to mimic the body of a 12-year-old Japanese male,
standing 5 feet and 2 inches and weighing 110 pounds. It also
has a human-like ribcage, pelvis, and spine made of aluminum. …
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