Robot Living

Aldebaran Robotics along with other partners have been working on a humanoid robot called Romeo.

The project website states:

The project’s objective is to develop a humanoid robot that can act as a comprehensive assistant for persons suffering from loss of autonomy.  On the ground of Romeo’s project learnings, Aldebaran intends to develop a product which could be on the market by 2015.

Romeo weighs 40.53 kg and stands 1.43 m tall.  For more really detailed specs, check out Romeo’s documentation page.  As far as humanoid robots go, Romeo is pretty realistic and is not at all creepy or in the uncanny valley like some other humanoid robots.  Nice job so far.  We hope Romeo actually makes it to market in 2015.

Link via (Plastic Pals)

Tags: aldebaran robotics, France

Meka Robotics has created a robot called Dreamer that uses Willow Garage’s ROS or Robot Operating System.  The robot has no mouth, some very expressive ears as well as some cute eyes containing FireWire cameras.

The idea here is to create a humanoid robot that is able to be used around humans.  The robot’s arm has seven degrees of freedom and is pliable like a human arm.

Meka robotics is based in San Fransisco and Dreamer is being developed by Luis Sentis , an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Austin in Texas.

Seems like Dreamer is a Japanese styled version of what Heartland Robotics is also working on.

Check out Dreamer in the clip below.

Link via (CNET)
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Tags: Meka Robotics, ROS, willow garage

Panasonic has created a robot to help the sick or bedridden.  The idea for HOSPI-Rimo is to act as an agent to connect with doctors or friends who can’t visit.  HOSPI-Rimo is based on Panasonic’s HOSPI robot, a robot that delivers medication in hospitals.

The Press release states:

HOSPI-Rimo serves as an intermediary to enable comfortable communication between people who are bed ridden or have limited mobility to communicate with other people, for example, their attending doctor in a separate room in the hospital or friends who live far away, as if they were interacting face to face. Panasonic developed “HOSPI” automatic medication delivery robot, which is used in hospitals in Japan and other countries. HOSPI-Rimo employs HOSPI’s autonomous mobility technology and high-definition visual communications technology Panasonic is renowned for.

Panasonic has also upgraded their hair washing robot first introduced last year..  Yup, Panasonic has built a hair washing robot.

Click through for a video of HOSPI.

 Panasonic via (Press release)

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Tags: hopital, japan, panasonic

PR2 from Willow Garage uses ROS (Robot Operating System) and is one amazing robot.
First PR2 learned to play pool and fetch beer for the staff at Willow Garage.
PR2 is currently listed at $400,000, out of the range of most regular guys like me, but some universities have gotten one and boy, have they taught PR2 some neat tricks.

First PR2 learned how to fold clothes and now it is learning how to solve the entire laundry problem , including washing, drying, folding and putting clothes away!

Some other folks have taught PR2 to read.

For it’s latest trick, PR2 has paid a visit to MIT and the robot has learned how to bake cookies!
Click through to see PR2 do his amazing stuff.
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Tags: open source, PR2, ROS, willow garage

PAL Robotics from Spain has just released the latest version of their REEM robot.  The new robot was recently demonstrated at a large trade show in Abu Dhabi.

REEM weighs 90 kg, is 1.7 meters tall and has a battery life of about 8 hours.  With a variety of sensors including gyroscopes and accelerometers, REEM is able to navigate any surroundings.

The press release states:

REEM is a humanoid robot, equipped with an autonomous navigation system, a touch screen, and is capable of roaming through any kind of surroundings. It can be used as a guide, an entertainer, a logistical tool and has many other applications, while its touch screen can be used for a variety of multimedia applications, e.g. to display a map of the surrounding area, display a variety of information, and for tele-assistance.

No word on the price, but PAL robotics is already busy building 20 REEM robots for clients.

Sounds great, but can he make me a martini and do my laundry?

See our previous post about REEM-B or click through for a video of REEM directing people at a mall.

Link via (Fast Company)

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Tags: PAL, spain, UAE