Robotic gymnasts made by hinamitetu

July 22, 2013 12:30 PM

No. 16 makes the quadruple backflip look easy (YouTube), but robotic gymnastics don't always go so well (YT).

According to Gizmag, YouTube user hinamitetu started making robots out of boredom after being laid off in 2010. Since then, he's made 16 numbered versions of gymnastics robots, and posted videos of their trials, errors, and successes.

hinamitetu's bots aren't only experts at bar routines, but also floor exercises (YT).

Some (if not all) get a little help with sticking the landing (YT) but their efforts on the bars are all robotics and are designed to mimic real gymnists (YT), to a degree.

posted by filthy light thief (11 comments total)

Reminds me of Alexander Calder's pioneering efforts in the field.
posted by yoink at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

I love how makeshift the lab looks in the first two videos. Like something shot by an oblivious but brilliant tinkerer during the final days of Kowloon Walled City to celebrate a great personal victory just hours before hearing the sound of bulldozers.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:08 PM on July 22, 2013

Seriously. Gizmag has to be the most unfortunate tech site name in the history of tech sites or unfortunate things.
posted by nevercalm at 1:46 PM on July 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

Like something shot by an oblivious but brilliant tinkerer during the final days of Kowloon Walled City to celebrate a great personal victory just hours before hearing the sound of bulldozers.

Really, I kept hearing the feverish muttering "Mad? They call me mad, do they? I'll show them; I'll show them all! Is this the work of a madman!?!"

I mean, I also hear this while I am getting dressed for work, so I know what I'm talking about.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:08 PM on July 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

The poor robots try again and again to please their human captor but we don't even know if he ever released them from the basement gymnastics dungeon.
posted by orme at 2:19 PM on July 22, 2013 [5 favorites]

JF Sebastian would be pleased.
posted by kickback at 2:50 PM on July 22, 2013 [5 favorites]

I want to go on a pilgrimage, across all the isles of the Japanese archipelago, spreading the loving word of god. Specifically, that god hates 日本式 and that Hepburn romanization is the one true path to heaven.
HinamiteTU my ass.
posted by GoingToShopping at 4:39 PM on July 22, 2013

filthy light thief: "Some (if not all) get a little help with sticking the landing "

I feel cheated. OK, now I know that whenever I see a gymnast robot execute a great dismount, I need to ask the owner/demonstrator to show me that same dismount with no sticky feet combined with a landing area covered in ice (or ball bearings). Though, now that I think about it, I think we should require that in human gymnastics as well.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 9:12 PM on July 22, 2013

#16 woulda gotten a 10.0 if it weren't for that damn East German judge/vending machine.
posted by not_on_display at 9:48 PM on July 22, 2013 [5 favorites]

Love how they all raise their hands in triumph upon landing, even when they fall flat on their robo-keisters.

Now let's see one do a Korbut flip! (on purpose)
posted by ShutterBun at 1:28 AM on July 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

The keyboard in the "need a little help" video was everything I expected. So grimy. So right.
posted by beerbajay at 10:55 AM on July 23, 2013