H/t: Tech Crunch
Disney has been known for their cutting edge animatronics, and Project Kiwi is no exception. Imagineering researchers have spent years working on a miniature Groot robot, and it’s still a work in progress, despite it already being able to walk. The team wanted to create something that could walk on its own and interact with park guests autonomously, without requiring a human operator. Unfortunately, no off-the-shelf platform would work, so they developed their own.
Many are familiar with Boston Dynamics, and most of the Project Kiwi team were former employees, so it wasn’t a tough transition with R&D Imagineer Principal Scott LaValley leading the way. Whatever the case may be, they’ve made great progress on the battery-powered biped robot that could be programmed to handle autonomous interactions, as you can see in the video above.
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Project KIWI started about three years ago to figure out how we can bring our smaller characters to life at their actual scale in authentic ways. It’s an exciting time for bipedal robotics and with an incredible team and our combination of technology, artistry and magic, we are bringing characters to life that could not have happened anywhere but Disney,” said Project Kiwi, R&D Imagineer Principal Scott LaValley.
