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iCub Robot Humanoid Child RobotCub
The iCub robot recently made its debut in the UK. This European robot is based on a three-and-a-half year-old child. The RobotCub project was founded to study cognition through the creation of the iCub. It is an open source software project.
(RobotCub iCub video)
It is capable of human-like eye and head motion, leg movement, object recognition and a grasping movement. Currently in development in Italy, the aim of the five-year £7.5m project is to develop a highly dextrous humanoid child robot. Scientists want to give it the ability to crawl on all fours and sit up, to handle objects with precision and to have head and eye movements similar to those of humans.
Science fiction fans may recall the robot child portrayed by Haley Joel Osment in Steven Spielberg's AI (from Brian Aldiss' excellent 1969 short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long). His excellent performance demonstrates how creepy it is for a robot to be human.
(AI movie robot boy)
See also these stories about real-life robotic children: Roboticist Has Real Son Zeno, Robot Son Zeno, CB2 Child Robot Lifelike (Yet Creepy) Video and Repliee R-1 Robot Child In Time For Halloween. Learn more about the iCub at iCub's RobotCub.org website.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/24/2009)
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