Wakamaru

A cartoonish yellow robot with black eyes, arms, hands and a round flat base on a white background.
Wakamaru makes eye contact when it talks to you. Photo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Wakamaru is a friendly helper robot that can carry on conversations with people, recognize faces, and shake hands. It's been used as a domestic assistant, office receptionist, event host, and sales rep.

Creator

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Year
2003
Country
Japan 🇯🇵
Categories
Features
Dancing with Wakamaru. Video: MsPetiteGeek

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Did you know?

Wakamaru is smart enough to call 911 (or the Japanese equivalent) if it suspects something is wrong.

A cartoonish yellow robot with black eyes, holding arms out at sides on a white background.
The robot's arms are designed to be safe around people. Photo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

History

The first Wakamaru prototype was developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2003. A commercial model was introduced to the Japanese market in 2005 at a price of around US $15,000. The company called Wakamaru the "world's first communication robot," and claimed it was "highly reliable and safe in a variety of different family environments" after testing the robot in real homes in Tokyo. However, sales in Japan and abroad were much smaller than the company expected, and by 2007 the robot was mainly being used as a receptionist in corporate offices. Despite not being a commercial success, Wakamaru is recognized as a milestone in human-robot interaction and one of the first attempts at deploying advanced humanoid robots in real-world environments.

Rear view of a yellow robot with a round flat base and simple arms, head and a grey backpack structure.
Wakamaru uses ultrasound and IR sensors to avoid collisions. Photo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
A yellow mobile humanoid robot that is the same size as the smiling toddler holding its arm in a living room.
Wakamaru loves children. Photo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Specs

Overview

Capable of charging its battery automatically. Has autonomous and teleoperation modes.

Status

Inactive

Year

2003

Website
Height
100 cm
Weight
30 kg
Speed
1 km/h
Sensors

Two cameras: one omnidirectional on top of its head, and a forward-facing one on its forehead. One ultrasound and 3 infrared obstacle detection sensors. Bumper sensor to detect collisions. Microphone.

Actuators

DC servomotors

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
13 (Head: 3 DoF; Arm: 4 DoF x 2; Mobile base: 2 DoF)
Materials

Hard plastic exterior; metal and plastic skeleton.

Compute

Multiple CPUs

Software

Linux OS. Custom software.

Power

Lithium-ion battery, 2 hours of operation