JAPAN TRENDS


 

Unveiled this week, the RidRoid CanguRo is a new robotic three-wheel personal mobility vehicle developed by Shunji Yamanaka from the University of Tokyo and Takayuki Furuta of the Future Robotics Technology Center (fuRo) at Chiba Institute of Technology.

It resembles a kangaroo — “canguro” means kangaroo in Italian — but don’t expect this vehicle to do any jumping. It runs along at a leisurely maximum speed of 10 km/h (approx. 6 mph) and is conceived as the first in a series of RidRoid robots under development.

 

“ As a partner robot, it never leaves the side of its master. It transforms into a vehicle that augments its master’s physical functions — motional and sensory — and travels with the master as one. It is a machine lifeform produced from the latest robotics and AI technologies fused by product design. “

Far away from CanguRo? No problem. Just summon it by smartphone. Want CanguRo to steer left or right? Simply lean in that direction while riding.

 

The vehicle has a built-in body-sonic system and outputs heartbeat-like pulses modulated by travel speed. This means the rider can gain a haptic sense of the current speed. And if you are worried about accidents, a smart stop function will automatically apply the brakes if it detects hazard.

 

https://youtu.be/BVobmBB0f58

https://youtu.be/B2-YdU2TOCg

The RidRoid CanguRo is self-driving, weighs 64 kg (141 lbs), and will be on display at Japan House, an exhibition venue in Los Angeles, this summer.