 
The first day of the Plastic Model and Radio Control Show held at the Tokyo Big Site was a trade-only day. On this day, a special press conference was held for an announcement on the new robot “MANOI”. The press conference was attended by 60 representatives from 40 media organizations. This proved the high level of general interest in humanoid robotics from the general public. A bank of still and video cameras lined up across the front row seats, waiting for the big moment. The conference was addressed first by Kyosho’s President Mr. Akihisa Suzuki, followed by the project leader, and then a detailed explanation was received from the developer in charge. This press conference was introduced to the role and merits of each participant in the project, comprising robot creator Mr. Tomotaka Takahashi, Kondo Kagaku Co. Ltd and Kyosho. There was great interest and expectation in a walking demonstration by MANOI. Finally the moment for MANOI to meet the world came. All journalists immediately crushed around the demonstration area. Firstly, MANOI wearing a prototype character suit introduced itself, and then proceeded to demonstrate stable two leg walking, standing on one leg, pivoting, and then making various poses. Next, with MANOI stripped of the prototype suit down to it’s bare frame, it demonstrated fast walking over about five meters. Even though it took twelve seconds to cover the distance, this was still twice as fast as any other hobby robot available on the market. However, during the second time trial, MANOI fell down but got straight back up and finished the trial. This was totally unexpected, but MANOI was able to prove its high level of performance by itself.
This was followed by a question and answer session. The journalists bombarded the speakers with technical questions regarding the design and also about the Athletic Humanoid Cup. This Q ＆ A uncovered much of the fascinating details about MANOI.
The day after the press conference, high rating morning TV programs were running stories and broadcasting footage of MANOI . This will generate continued interest in MANOI. With the planned release in June 2006, the final stages of development have been entered. As your ideas and dreams take shape with Kyosho’s technological developments, you can look forward to meeting MANOI yourself! |
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