He is tall, skinny and metallic but has a mysterious look on his face. Standing at 2-metres tall, the humanoid robot Hajime 33 enjoys the view from above, unlike many of his fellow mini robots at Hajime Research Institute in Japan. Hailing from the western city of Osaka, the battery operated robot stands upright and walks on its two feet, bowing to greet the locals. As long as his battery life allows, Hajime 33 plays soccer with his creator Hajime Sakamoto - an individual robot scientist and creator of several humanoid robots. Though Sakamoto has won various titles in robot competitions across the world including a grand prize at the World's competition in Japan, he did not succeed as a robot scientist until 2002. While he worked a typical 9 to 5 job in a heavy manufacturing industry, robot making remained his hobby. But over time, his love for robots finally blossomed when he created his first Hajime robot, which was sold to a much bigger robot research institute in Japan. Since then, he's founded his own research institute in the corner of a small factory in Osaka, and has created more than 33 models, including the biggest, Hajime 33. Sakamoto says the most difficult part of making the giant robot was to make him stand upright and walk without tripping over. I only used light material to make this 2-metre robot walk on its two feet. If the robot is heavy, it will require bigger motors since weight affects the joints, and that will be very difficult to control, said Sakamoto.
