Robot Living

At the ILTCI 2010, (Intercompany Long Term Care Insurance Conference), in New Orleans on March 14th-17th, French robotic company Robotsoft will introduce the robot Kompaï.

Kompaï is a companion style robot that can speak, understand verbal commands, navigate a home and always stays connected to the internet.  Kompaï can remember appointments and make shopping lists as well.

This very first version is called Kompaï R&D, is intended for developers who want to implement their own robotics application for assistance of dependent persons.

The Robosoft press release states:

Kompaï is intended to help dependent persons in their daily lives. It is a mobile and communicative product. Somewhat like a dog, it has its “basket”, which is the recharging dock that it heads back to when its batteries are low. Equipped with speech, it is able to understand simple orders and give a certain level of response. It knows its position within the house, how to get from one point to another on demand or on its own initiative, and it remains permanently connected to the internet and all its associated services.

Click through for an impressive video of an elderly man interacting with Kompaï.

Link via (IEEE Spectrum)

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Tags: elderly, robosoft

Mark Mothersbaugh, the singer for the band Devo, is also a prolific artist.  His latest venture is a series of  rugs based on his original drawings.  The rugs come in 2 sizes, 22″ x 34″ or  4′ x 6′ and currently sell for $275 for the smaller size and $850 for the larger.

While we highly enjoy the robot themed rug titled Super Thing 3000, we must protest the one shown here called Robot Loses His Head.

What have you got against robots Mark?

Is it the impending robot apocalypse or something?

Check out all the cool rugs at Mutatovisual.com or click through for all the robot themed ones.

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Tags: devo, mark mothersbaugh, robot, rugs

Just unveiled AT CES in Las Vegas is the robot shown here called Mint made by Evolution Robotics.

Using cleaning pads like those found on a Swiffer, Mint cleans your floors for you.  Mint is guided by something called the NorthStar beacon.

The NorthStar detector uses triangulation to measure position and heading in relation to IR light spots that can be projected onto the ceiling (or other visible surface). Because each IR light spot has a unique signature, the detector can instantly and unambiguously localize. Because the NorthStar detector directly measures position and heading, a localization result is intrinsically robust.

Unlike the XV-II vaccum by Neato Robotics that uses lasers or the Roomba by iRobot that seems to lack smart navigational skills, the Mint cleaner uses infrared light to help navigate and clean in a smart pattern.

See the full press release here.

Click through for a video of this square robot in action.

Link via (CNET)

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Tags: CES

On December 19 Neato Robotics of silicon Valley in California announced the XV-11 household vacuuming robot.

The XV-11 will be priced at $399 and will be for sale this coming February.  Using a laser mapping system the robot can avoid obstacles and dead spots.

The robot also automatically returns to the charging station when the battery is low.  The robot is round on one end and square on the other.  This allows for better cleaning of corners and a large (660 cc ) dust bin.  The XV-11 is definitely aimed at the iRobot Roomba market.

Who doesn’t like robots with lasers?

See the official press release here.

Click through for an interview from PC Magazine of Neato Robotics CEO Max Safai.

Link via (IEEE Spectrum)

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First their was Dream Cat Smile, now Sega has upgraded the cat to Dream Cat Venus.

The new robot kitty responds to touch as well as voice commands and comes with a plastic comb for grooming.  The litter box is not included.

For some reason Sega is calling these cats Norwegian Forest Cats.  Were not sure, but maybe the Google translator mangled the Norwegian to Japanese translation.  Well, that really isn’t the case as Norwegian Forest Cats are actually real.

The cat will be available in Japan after 7/30 for about $110. No word on why Sega can’t get past the whole uncanny valley thing with its robo pets.

Click  through for a video from a year ago of one of the cats.

Link via (Slash Gear)
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Tags: cat, japan, sega