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Hospital Robots

Posted by timothy on from the soon-it-will-seem-weird-to-notice dept.

bluegreenone writes: "The Washington Post has an article about hospital robots. The most interesting part was hearing the robot's 'co-workers' describe their relationship with him." Only slightly scary.

13 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmmm... by HiQ · · Score: 5, Funny
    It slowed down as it entered the first-floor ward, whose corridor was crowded with elderly patients in wheelchairs, and carefully avoided each one.

    Hmm, nothing that a little hacking can't fix. Could make a nice alternative to robot wars


  2. sweet sweet irony. by QualityWithAKei · · Score: 5, Funny

    'The 400-pound robot is powered by a battery that is recharged by pharmacy workers every 12 hours. "I just mess with him all the time," said Willie James, a disabled veteran who visits the hospital about eight times a month. James said he likes to roll his wheelchair into the robot's path'

    makes you wonder why hes disabled in the first place...

    --
    --------------------------------------------
    Customers are taking to many free napkins...
    1. Re:sweet sweet irony. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      if (sonar signature)&&(infrared signature)==("obstacle")
      then stop_goaround();
      if (sonar signature)&&(infrared signature)==("disabled veteran")&&("disabled veteran")==("Willie James")
      then proceed();
      endif;
  3. Programming Personality by Alien54 · · Score: 3, Funny
    The interesting, almost artistic side to this is the way they program a personality into this.

    Done right, the voice will not be annoying, and people will participate into making it a living member of the community.

    I, for one, do not want to work in a place where all the robots sound like smurfs, or have their personality. Or the voice of Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, president Bush, or any other celebrity.

    well, maybe Majel Roddenberry, the voice of the computer in Start Trek.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  4. You should hear what the robot has to say... by guttentag · · Score: 5, Funny
    The most interesting part was hearing the robot's 'co-workers' describe their relationship with him.
    You should hear what the robot has to say about his co-workers...

    "Ug-lee... ugly primitive bags of mostly water. Must get to wet sand. Must get to Bahamas. Must get... free..."

  5. Re:Overcomplication by Gryffin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmm.... I dunno why you're so focused on the problem of paper records, but that wasn't even mentioned in the article. The robot was designed to transport *meds* and otherbulky stuff that TCP/IP can't handle.

    Beside, one could make the argument that a robot like TOBOR would be just as reliable, even moreso, than an electronic system for transporting test results and reports. It's a lot easier to lose a chunk of bytes in a computer system (especially if it's Windoze-based...;{) than to misplace 400 pounds of robot. With a built-in safe, no less.

    --
    Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make them all yourself.
  6. One from the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. by Spudley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Instead of "Please examine my contents", it should say "Share and enjoy".

    --
    (Spudley Strikes Again!)
  7. Restraining bolt anyone?? by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 2, Funny

    I hope this thing's fitted with a video prjector... "help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope"

    --
    That was classic intercourse!
  8. Hmm.. by Bob+McCown · · Score: 2, Funny
    "We used to be polite at the elevators, [but] people would rush in front of us and block the way." Now, "we belly up to the elevator. We don't mind people getting on with us, but we've got to get on first."

    and...

    "I just mess with him all the time," said Willie James, a disabled veteran who visits the hospital about eight times a month. James said he likes to roll his wheelchair into the robot's path.

    Good thing TOBOR doesnt have R2D2s "Cattle Prod" thingy...

  9. Re:Scary? by teslatug · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Its been programmed to avoid everything/one in the hallway, if that is not possible, it stops and announces that it can not make any futher progress without assistance."

    Does the announcing go something like this:

    "Do you want me to sit in the corner and rust, or just fall apart where I'm standing?"

  10. no dissasemble by zteknofreak · · Score: 2, Funny

    why do i have this image of a robot in an operating room spinning in circles yelling, 'no dissassemble! no dissassemble!'

    -unix, because rebooting is for adding new hardware.

    --
    --------- unix, because rebooting is for adding new hardware.
  11. delivering mail by tswinzig · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some Japanese companies now use robots to deliver mail.

    Yes, I call these robots "SMTP Servers."

    Pretty catchy, huh kids?

    --

    "And like that ... he's gone."
  12. Re:what about the human side by kharchenko · · Score: 1, Funny

    That's why we need to cast them into attractive fembots :)