Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Robot Family in Every Home?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the conspicuous-consumption dept.

cswilly writes: "Yahoo has a story that Sony wants to see a robot animal in every home. I was wondering if Sony has a total cost of ownership argument for these things? Let's see, $2500 for a robot dog + $100 in electricity oven ten years. A real dog costs, say $1/day to feed, lives ten years for $3650 on food, plus $1000 in vet bills. The robot wins hands down." But keeping it in Mom's Robot Oil isn't cheap either...

2 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. Life Expectancy? by th3walrus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder what the average life expectancy of one of these is. Cats can live as long as 20 years in some cases. I'd bet this thing would wear out in about 5 if it was kept operational all day long, as a real animal is.

  2. The Aibo is, well, boring. by Animats · · Score: 3, Interesting
    For robot researchers, it's great that Sony is making low-priced mobile robots. But as toys, they're not that interesting.


    If they could get up to the marginally useful level, like picking up junk on the floor, customers might leave them on all the time.
    They should at least be able to find their recharging station.