Press Release
Platinum A' Design Award in Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design Goes to CanguRo Mobility Robot by Shunji Yamanaka - fuRo
Shunji Yamanaka - fuRo recognized for vehicle, mobility and transportation design by the international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ CanguRo Mobility Robot by Shunji Yamanaka - fuRo, designed for Shunji Yamanaka and Future Robotics Technology Center (fuRo), has been granted the Platinum A' Design Award in the Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Platinum A' Design Award
The Platinum A' Design Award is recognized for honoring designs that stand at the forefront of creativity and innovation. It is the highest accolade bestowed by the A' Design Awards, acknowledging works that blend remarkable innovation with impactful societal contributions. These designs not only showcase exceptional artistic and technical proficiency but also highlight their creators' commitment to advancing the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Recipients of this award are celebrated for their role in shaping the aesthetics and trends of our time, contributing significantly to the enhancement of quality of life and promoting sustainable development.
Regarding CanguRo Mobility Robot
With CanguRo, a new relationship between machines and humans in the era of artificial intelligence has been created. Blessed with advanced robotics and AI technologies, this three-wheeled robot is an independent yet friendly partner, capable of self-driving and following human walk via smartphone commands. Besides, when it transforms, CanguRo becomes a personal transporter providing an actual ride. Its concept is to offer the joy of moving and to activate people’s daily lives.
About Shunji Yamanaka - fuRo
Future Robotics Technology Center (fuRo), established in 2003, has created many robots including survey robots used for the damage inspection in the nuclear disaster site at Fukushima (later displayed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York) and household vacuum cleaner robots through a joint effort with the industry. CanguRo, our latest robot capable of self-driving, following a walking human as well as transforming to a vehicle, was recently on display at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum at New York and on the Design Museum at London.
Award Record
Shunji Yamanaka - fuRo is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design Award
The A' Vehicle Design Award is an international vehicle design competition recognizing good vehicle designs by best vehicle designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to vehicle designers, mobility solution providers, transportation design studios and automotive engineers from all countries. Entries typically include cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, buses and trains. Awarded vehicle designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/vehicle
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/106350
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/106350
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!106350
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/279019
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.furo.org/index_e.html
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- CanguRo Mobility Robot
- Function
- Mobility Robot
- Category
- Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Automotive
- Colors
- Gainsboro, Dark Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Black and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Shunji Yamanaka and Future Robotics Technology Center (fuRo)
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Shunji Yamanaka - fuRo
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Platinum A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2020 - 2021
- Design ID
- #106350
Credits
- Team
- Shunji Yamanaka, Takayuki Furuta, Hideaki Yamato, Kiyoshi Irie, Takashi Kodachi, Kazuki Ogihara, Yoshitaka Hara, Kengo Toda, Yu Okumura, Midori Nomura, Masaharu Shimizu and Tomoaki Yoshida and others
- Image Credits
- Photo by Yusuke Nishibe
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- With CanguRo, we hope to forge a new relationship between machines and humans in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Blessed with advanced robotics and AI technologies, this three-wheeled robot is an independent yet friendly partner, capable of autonomously coming to you via smartphone commands, avoiding obstacles and following your walk. When it transforms, furthermore, CanguRo is ready to give us an actual ride, being not just a vehicle but a trustworthy creature like a horse.
- Inspiration
- Since old days, horses have been our faithful and reliable partners. They have not only been a means of our transportation, but also lived with us and helped our lives in many ways through carrying loads or going along for hunting. This design project was inspired by the realization of their importance as our close friends. Focusing on their roles in our lives, we have attempted and succeeded to create such a partner using today's civilization technologies.
- Research
- As a new class of partner robots, an actual working model, CanguRo, capable of self-driving, following a walking human as well as transforming to a personal vehicle, has been designed and developed. The primary concept is to promote a sense of unity between the robot and us and to offer the joy of moving, leading to encouragement of going outside and being active in our daily lives. Through its presentations to the society, we continue to evaluate the social value of such a mobility robot.
- Challenge
- Enhancing a sense of unity between the rider and the robot is our challenge. For this purpose, several new ideas are implemented. For example, CanguRo uses tactically placed force sensors to find rider's intentions and changes its posture for stable turns. It also has a unique communication system of heartbeat-like body sonic and bilaterally weight-controlled handle. Footrests are located at swing forks closely to in-wheel drive units, allowing us to feel CanguRo's drive force through our legs.
- Realization and Technology
- Essential to a machine intelligence for autonomous navigation is a technology, called SLAM, for localization and map building. Our original software package is successfully implemented with navigation and obstacle-detecting functions. Another importance is on the enhancement of the sense of unity. All the elements that make up this robot, including its figure, structure and various control systems combining familiarity and functionality, are fully designed for this objective.
- Operation and Interaction
- The operation of CanguRo is rather easy. While surroundings are mapped automatically, you can choose either of the autonomous robot or the transporter operation. At a shopping mall, for example, you can summon CanguRo by a smartphone and start shopping while leaving your baggage on the following CanguRo. If you feel tired, you can ride CanguRo in the transporter mode as well. These functionalities of CanguRo have a great potential to change our daily lives and expand the range of our activities.
- Project Duration and Location
- This mobility robot was designed and developed in Japan and exhibited at several museums including Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, 2019 and the Design Museum in London, 2020.
- Specifications
- This three-wheeled mobility robot has 750 mm in length (in the vehicle mode), 440 mm of width and 64 kg of mass, and is driven by two front wheels (12 inch) and steered by one rear wheel (10 inch). With a laser sensor installed, it can move to a specified destination autonomously and follow a walking human. It can also transform to a personal transporter, featured by active lean balancing, bilaterally weight-controlled handle, body-sonic status communication and automatic braking.
- Keywords
- Mobility Robot, Autonomous Mobile Robot, Partner Robot, Personal Vehicle, Transporter, Artificial Intelligence
