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SmartPal V Robot Picks Up, Vacuums Rec Room
SmartPal V, the general purpose robot created by Yaskawa Electric Corporation, was shown off a week ago at the West Japan General Exhibition in Kitakyushu City.
SmartPal is looking more and more like the sort of robot you'd like to have around your house; take a look at the pictures shown below.
First, SmartPal V locates and picks up each individual item on the floor; in this case, a small stuffed panda. Then, the robot places it on the shelf.
(SmartPal V picks up a toy, places it on shelf)
Finally, the SmartPal V robot gets the vacuum cleaner and goes over the carpet.
(SmartPal V vacuums the floor)
SmartPal V is a pretty good prototype for Heinlein's Hired Girl robot, from his 1956 novel The Door into Summer:
Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray on its upper surface, for someone brighter to decide whether to keep or throw away. It went quietly looking for dirt all day long, in search curves that could miss nothing, passing over clean floors in its endless search for dirty floors.
(Read more about Heinlein's Hired Girl robot)
Read more about the SmartPal V Mecha-Gumby Service Robot; from Robot Watch.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/10/2008)
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