PLEN is a small desktop toy

humanoid robot A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other pu ...

that can replicate complex human movements. It is controlled remotely by use of a

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

enabled phone. When programmed, it is able to use a skateboard, rollerskates, pick up, kick and throw small things, and stand up if he tumbles to the floor. It does not feature any sensors or automatic software reactions to certain events, as it is entirely remote-controlled. Videos of PLEN are being widely distributed and featured on sites such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, notably for its ability to perform roller skating and

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarder ...

stunts. It performs these feats in a very lifelike fashion. PLEN is 9 inches (22.8 cm) tall, weighs 696 grams and is equipped with a 3 axis accelerometer to assist in balancing. It has 18 degrees of freedom and a 32bit

ARM7 ARM7 is a group of 32-bit RISC ARM processor cores licensed by ARM Holdings for microcontroller use. The ARM7 core family consists of ARM700, ARM710, ARM7DI, ARM710a, ARM720T, ARM740T, ARM710T, ARM7TDMI, ARM7TDMI-S, ARM7EJ-S. The ARM7TDMI a ...

CPU. PLEN is powered by 6 V-950 mA

NiMH NIMH may refer to: *Nickel–metal hydride battery (NiMH), a type of electrical battery *National Institute of Mental Health, an agency of the United States government *National Institute of Medical Herbalists, a professional organisation in the Un ...

rechargeable battery. The battery pack is on the robot's back and resembles a backpack. Its central positioning is designed to improve overall balance as it heaviest component. New actions are programmable using its Motion Editor software and can be uploaded via

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

or Bluetooth. Plen is expected to sell for 250,000 JPY.ROBOTS DREAMS: Tiny Plen Robot Roller Skates!
(includes video link) PLEN was created and manufactured by Akazawa Co. Ltd of Japan, and is currently sold by them for 262,500 ¥.

References

External links

PLEN Official Website
Bipedal humanoid robots Robots of Japan 2000s robots {{Robo-stub