TOKYO: A team of cheerleading robots made their dancing debut in Tokyo on Thursday as creator Murata Manufacturing demonstrated its cutting-edge sensor technology.

With curtains pulled back and Japanese pop music pulsing in the background, 10 doll-like robot girls with illuminated pom-poms rolled out onto a stage to perform their choreographed routine.

The cheerleaders stand just 36 centimetres tall with matching bob hairstyles that hide the complicated machinery inside their heads. The team’s advanced gyro sensors, which are usually found in cars and digital cameras, keep them from falling off the balls that they wobble on during their routine, Murata said.

The cute creations have LED eyes that shine in different colours as they manoeuvre into various formations including a heart shape, diagonal lines and a moving figure of eight. “Of course they cannot jump like true cheerleaders,” said Koichi Yoshikawa, a Murata engineer involved developing the technology.

“But the idea is that they are doing their best to stay stable on their little ball, as if they were telling the team, ‘hang on, do your best’! “Group-control technology, developed in collaboration with Kyoto University, makes sure that the robots move in a synchronised way and don’t crash into each other.

That promise got off to a shaky start, however, as several dolls collided and fell over during the first take in front of assembled media — prompting assistants to remove clumsy members of the squad.

Despite the hiccup, Murata, a major electronics manufacturer, said the technology has big potential, such as helping cars stabilise on slippery or damaged roads.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2014