Video: Panasonic's Mini Robot To Travel 500KM On Batteries

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

When we showed you Panasonic’s new mini robot two weeks ago, we only had one good picture of him and no video. But today, the company held a special press conference in Tokyo where it showcased the little guy for the first time. To recap, the robot is supposed to start a 500km journey from Tokyo to Kyoto tomorrow – powered by Panasonic’s EVOLTA batteries.

Panasonic also revealed some more technical details: as reported before, he’s sized at 150×400×200mm, weighs 1kg and will be powered by EVOLTA batteries that go on sale in Japan next month. Apparently, the robot will be remote-controlled, using a total of 12 batteries. He’s still relatively light as the body is mainly made of plastic and carbon fiber.

Panasonic also said that he moves at 3-5km/h and is scheduled to finish the long trip on December 10. The robot’s Twitter handle was also revealed: he will be “tweeting” about his progress under Evolta Toukaidou (in Japanese).

Here’s a video AV Watch shot at the press conference that shows the robot and the remote control:
http://blip.tv/play/hMQ5gf7ZWAA%2Em4v

Via AV Watch [JP]

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