Murata Boy is a bicycle-riding robot that can come to a stop and maintain his balance, obstacle detection and run over an S-curve balance beam. [Photo/We Chat daqiaoxuexiao]

Wuxi Murata Manufacturing Company brought two of their robots to Wuxi Big Bridge Academy primary school in Wuxi, Jiangsu province to show the students recently.

The show-and-tell event allowed the students to learn about robotics and helped spark their interest in science.

Murata Boy and Murata Girl are both bicycle-riding robots, which incorporate energy-saving, sensor, and communications technologies, as well as components that contribute to improved environmental performance.

Murata Boy is a robot that can ride a bicycle super slow, and actually stands upright even when he comes to a complete stop.

Students were amazed at how these robots can keep their balance without falling down when riding.

For Murata Boy, the secret lies in a gyro sensor located underneath his seat. The gyro sensor detects minute movements to calculate the slanting angle of its body.

Once the slanting angle is calculated, Murata Boy rotates a large disc in his chest to generate force correcting the slant. He performs this process repeatedly to maintain his balance and riding position.

Murata Girl has two built-in gyro sensors in her back, which allows her to follow others at a preset distance.

These sensors detect sideways and lengthways movements to calculate the slanting angle of the body, and she rotates a flywheel in her chest to correct the left to right slant while rotating the unicycle wheel backwards or forwards in small increments to maintain her balance.

The two robots also have two black points, which are ultrasonic sensors to check for anything blocking their path and prevent collisions.

The latest technology will help improve the performance and function of these robots in the future.