Lidor Shimoni's Tiny Titan Was the World's Smallest Humanoid Robot — for a Brief While, At Least
Beating the previous world record holder by nearly a third, this compact robot was pipped to the post by a design even smaller.
Self-described "enthusiastic software developer" Lidor Shimoni has designed a compact, Python-powered humanoid robot as a shot at an official Guinness World Record as the smallest — only to be pipped at the post by one even smaller.
"My journey embarked with a bold ambition: to surpass the existing world record for the smallest humanoid robot, all while adhering to a stringent budget. With the record standing at 141mm [around 5.55"], I was determined to push the limits of what was deemed achievable," Shimoni explains of the Tiny Titan. "The project involved creating a robot, named Tiny Titan, standing at 95mm [around 3.74"] tall, achieved through extensive CAD design, 3D printing, and software development."
At 3.74", the Tiny Titan was a fair bit smaller than the current world-record smallest humanoid robot, despite being made using off-the-shelf low-cost hobbyist electronics: 2g hobby servos to drive the joints that provide the robot with the required walking gait, an Espressif ESP32-based development board as the brain, and an Adafruit PCA9685 16-channel servo driver board to connect the two. A pair of 200mAh lithium-polymer batteries provide the driving power, and a 3D-printed body gives the robot form.
After five weeks of development, the robot was completed and evidence of its creation submitted to Guinness World Records for approval. Sadly, while the submission was accepted, Shimoni turned out to have been unknowingly racing against another fan of compact robotics — Mitsuya Tatsuhiko, a student at the Nagoya Institute of Technology, who beat Shumoni to the punch with a design measuring just under 58mm (around 2.27") in height.
"Despite my disappointment," Shimoni says, "I am proud of my achievement and the lessons learned along the way. Congratulations to the new record holder for their remarkable achievement. Although my attempt fell short, I am inspired to continue pushing the boundaries of robotics and pursuing new challenges in the future."
Shimoni's full project write-up is available on Hackaday.io, with the project's source code and 3D models available on GitHub under an unspecified license.