REEM-B, the autonomous humanoid helper robot would be just the sort of mechanism you'd want around your house. REEM-B can recognize faces and also understand your spoken commands.
(REEM-B robot video)
REEM-B can walk in a responsible and self-aware manner, avoiding obstacles common to buildings and homes. It can also make an internal map of your house or apartment; this helps it to perform autonomous path planning. REEM-B can also recognize objects and then grasp them with appropriate strength and lift them (up to about 12 kg).
I think that REEM-B is well on the way to realizing Robert Heinlein's dream of an all-around household robot in his 1956 novel The Door Into Summer.
Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? Answer: any work a human being does around a house. He didn't have to play cards, make love, eat or sleep, but he did have to clean up after the card game, cook, make beds...
(Read more about Flexible Frank)
If you're going to start shopping around for a helper robot, be sure to consider Twendy-One. See also the Pal Technology REEM website for more info. Thanks to Sam for pointing out this video.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/22/2008)
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...' - David C. Cooke, 1939.
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.
Finger Sensors For Robot Hands
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
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