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Robodex 2003 Shows Robots Ready for Work & Play

Posted by Hemos on from the looking-into-the-future dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Robodex 2003 was held last week in Yokohama, Japan. At this show 38 companies, colleges and other organizations introduced more than 90 different types of robot. Many were designed to handle tasks too dangerous for humans and assist people in their daily lives. In this column, you'll find a selection of articles and short quotes about this trade show which attracted about 70,000 visitors. I also built my own Robodex 2003 Fashion Show (the whole page weighs 172KB). You'll find there pictures of many new robots, including Banryu, developed by Tmsuk, Inc., which will control your home while you're away, Doki, the world's first gender-aware robot, built by Intelligent Earth, from Scotland, or the Comet III, a one ton mine-clearance robot from Chiba University. There are also pictures of new machines from Sony, Mitsubishi or Fujitsu among others."

3 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Re:*yawn* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Well. Here's a robot bartender. I actually saw this in Tampere University of Technology and seemed to work well :)

    http://www.roboyhd.fi/english/20vjuhla.html [Robotics Society in Finland]

  2. For Robodex Robots -- Mentifex Robot Minds by Mentifex · · Score: 0, Informative

    Mind.Forth AI is a free, open-source artificial intelligence for robots.

    The JavaScript AI Tutorial version runs on the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.

  3. Re:Why humanoid? by mshiltonj · · Score: 2, Informative

    Asimov postulated that robots would be humanoid because they would be relatively expensive, and would end up doing a lot of work humans would otherwise do. A small number of humanoid robots could operate the entire existing 'infrastructure' of existing dumb machines without retooling.

    So instead of having a vacuum-bot and a dish-bot and clothes-bot and bathroom-bot, households would only need to have and maintain one expensive intelligent robot that would operate all the 'dumb' machines that we already have in the house.

    Dumb machines would be plentiful, stupid, cheap, easy to maintain and/or disposable, and dedicated to specific purposes. These are the one's we already use. Smart machines -- robots -- would be relatively scarce, and more difficult amd expensive to maintain. Having them be "general purpose" where they could be used in various non-specialized areas will extend thier utility.

    Additionally, if the humanoid robot ever broke, then a human could step into its place and scrub the toilet or wash the dishes with existing tools.

    Read all of the Asimov robot books. They are incredible.

    --
    Software Wars