muRata Boy and Girl – the robots that ride bikes

MuRata probably isn’t a company that you’ve ever heard of, as it manufactures many of the components that are used by other companies to build consumer electronics devices. At the CES 2011 show in Las Vegas, the company decided to show off the technology it manufactures in the best way possible: a robot on a bicycle and a robot on a unicycle.

MuRata Boy is the robot on a bike, and is built using components that fill consumer electronics devices. He has a stabilising gyroscope in his chest that prevents him from falling over even when stationary. A Wii-like magic wand can be used to move him forwards and backwards, and control head movements.

His real trick, as you can see in the video above, is riding on a rail. Here he uses cameras in his head to track the rail to ensure he doesn’t fall over. He can even detect obstacles in his path.

His sister is muRata Girl, who rides on a unicycle. She, too, has a stabilising gyroscope to prevent her from falling over. She can track objects and be moved forwards and backwards by pushing a sign towards or away from her. Like her brother, muRata Girl can also ride on a rail, this time using a camera hidden under her skirt to keep track of the rail to make sure she’s on the right path.

Both robots are brilliant and we really want them, but sadly they’re just technology demonstrations and aren’t for sale.