Murata Seiko-chan® 2009 Model Debuts

On September 26, 2009, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., held a press conference to announce the development of the 2009 model of its Murata Seiko-chan® single-wheeled robot, showcasing its improved mobility.

The company first developed Murata Seiko-chan® in 2008 as a successor to its 2005 Murata Seisaku-kun® bicycle robot in an effort to promote its products as well as the performance and potential of its advanced control and circuit design technologies in the robot market. The 2009 model meets high expectations across the entire range of its capabilities by offering improved performance in mobility and other areas.

Travel along a curved path and on a balance beam

The most remarkable new feature implemented by the 2009 Murata Seiko-chan® model is its ability to travel along a curved path (with a radius of 75 cm).

To continuously refine its direction of travel, the robot applies the force generated by a continuously rotating directional disc attached to its “stomach” area.

Additionally, the robot employs a downward-looking camera to recognize the ground underneath it so that it can travel along a balance beam just 2 centimeters wide without losing its balance.

According to Murata, enabling the robot to travel along a curved path proved to be a challenging task for developers. In an effort to allow it to trace a smooth curve, engineers made significant changes to the material and machining methods used to manufacture Seiko-chan's tire, ultimately opting to apply a vinyl material to a metal rim.

The company's impressive technical capabilities were on display at the press conference, where the ability of the 2009 Murata Seiko-chan® model to travel smoothly along a curved path was demonstrated for the assembled media.

The 2009 Murata Seiko-chan® model triples the speed of its 2008 predecessor (which moved at a comparatively leisurely 5 centimeters per second) to reach speeds of 15 centimeters a second. It also features new direction detection instrumentation that uses signals from a gyro (attitude control) sensor to gauge the direction of movement while traveling along a curved path.

In an effort to address the troubling tendency of Japanese children to shy away from careers in science, Murata has been promoting science education as one of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives since September 2008, including through a program that sends engineers to schools to communicate the appeal of science to children. The company plans to make extensive use of the 2009 model of Murata Seiko-chan® in this program.

For more information please contact:

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
1-10-1, Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo, Kyoto
Phone: 075-955-6786 (Inquiries)
URL: http://www.murata.com/