The EMIEW2 robot moves along on rollers to serve guests and act as a security guard. This little humanoid (32 inches tall) has complex spring-loaded shock absorbers in its legs that allow it to navigate the natural world with at least a few bumps. "EMIEW2" stands for excellent mobility and interactive existence as workmate.
"It can control its posture the way humans do when we stabilise ourselves after jumping on inline skates," Yuji Hosoda, chief researcher at Hitachi's transportation systems department, said at the robot's Tokyo launch.
The machine, 80 centimetres (32 inches) tall and weighing 14 kilogrammes (almost 31 pounds), has 14 microphones fitted into its helmet that can pick out human voices from background noise such as music or the clatter of footsteps.
Fitted with wheels on its two legs, it moves at a maximum six kilometres (3.7 miles) an hour, a fast walking speed for a human adult.
I seem to recall that the fascinating tachikoma robots from the 1991 manga Ghost in the Shell have a skating motion as well.
Readers of Fantasy and Science Fiction in the early 1960's might also recall the wheelies, the amazing rechargeable robots from Callahan and the Wheelies by Stephen Barr. They were described as "little objects on wheels... about the size of a rollerskate".
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'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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Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'