Slashdot Mirror
Service Robots in Service by 2010
Igor Birman writes "Reuters reports that Toyota aims to sell service robots by 2010. Meanwhile, the most advanced consumer robot produced in the US appears to be the iRobot Roomba, now available in pink.
More information is available at
Robotics Trends and
NewsTarget.com"
From TFA:
Reading this, I can't help but think of this excerpt from The Terribe Secret of Space:
^_^
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Yoshimi should be able to take care of those Roombas with no problem...
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
Date line May 31, 2005:
Toyota Motor Corp. aims to start selling robots that can help look after elderly people or serve tea to guests by 2010.
Date line April 1, 2011:
A Japanese pensioner was found dead today beneath a mountain of tea cups and saucers. A relative claims a Toyota robot given to the man a year before continued to carry out it's tea serving prerogative for months after the victim had expired.
Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
Japan's top automaker sees a declining birthrate and aging population leading to growing demand for robots that can help in tasks such as child care and nursing care
What? I don't know where these companies determine the demands that people have. People have been trying to make machines that could automatically mow a lawn for over 50 years now. I would think there would be a really high demand for robots that could do lawn care, take out the trash and clean the house. At least those tasks I could trust a robot to do properly and shouldn't be all that difficult if they are also "really" capable of caring for a child. Personally, it would be a long time before I would trust robotic technology and AI to care for a human being's health and safety.
There's everything from robotic lawnmowers to the upcoming Scooba mopbot.
Aeris Died For Your Sins.
For years I've been watching Honda pimp Asimo and you're telling me Toyota is the company to first bring us robots. Surprising. So where's Nissan in all this hubbub, or do they need not even apply.
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
in AI voice processing so we start having those cool robotic butlers and dishwashers (Who actually pick up your plates and sweep the floor).
I find it amazing that hardware is advancing WAY beyond software.
I love these types of executive decision.
Yes, we're planning on regular scheduled trips to the moon next year, I'll just crack the whip on the R&D slaves to get them to work a bit harder.
Deleted
This post was submitted by
iRobot Slash-Postba
Serial NO : AR-3214324-ERE43
Activation date : May 31 2005
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
...I can get an alcohol drinking loudmouth robot, preferably one who is proficient at bending?
Here's the video feed of the robots in motion http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/special/robot/
Free Flat Screen
...and the fact that they're technologically way ahead of just about everyone else in that department (see their Prius and the Lexus Rx400h) I wouldn't put it past them. They have the right combination of good management, solid financials, and technical know how that this shouldn't seem far fetched to anyone. (They also have a fair amount of experience working with Denso, as that's the company that they work with on the hybrids.)
DBA? Software Engineer? My company is hiring! Click
I already wanted to buy hard-cover copies of I, Robot to throw at Will Smith when the movie went out, to avenge Azimov's memory, but really, that pink roomba thing is too much. Poor Isaac must be spinning in his grave...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I wouldn't be surprised if the sex industry is one of the top three killer app's that drives this technology forward.
It seems they are driving the adoption of many technologies these days.
The Internet is full. Go Away!!!
Personally I aim to start selling nuclear fusion plants by 2010. Which of course will accomodate growing demand for clean, efficient supplies of power.
I could have sworn I saw this exact same article five years ago, aiming for a target of 2000 as the first year for mass-market helper robots.
I confess that I don't have much deep knowledge of advancements in AI and machine vision. Anytime we've had robot articles posted on slashdot lately they've been about advancements in the physical attributes of humanoid robots. Perhaps someone out there can fill me in on what I've been missing.
Anyhow, on a lighter note, as I was reading the "trends" article, I could not help noticing this paragraph:
The statement goes on to say that Toyota will make partner robots that "have human characteristics, such as being agile, warm and kind and also intelligent enough to skillfully operate a variety of devices in the area of personal assistance, care for the elderly, manufacturing and mobility." The statement continues, "since each area requires a special set of skills, Toyota is promoting the development of three different types of partner robots - walking, rolling and mountable - each with its own areas of expertise."
WARNING: BAD JOKE AHEAD
I like "agile, warm and kind", and the article stressed the advancements in the lips on certain robots such that they can play the trumpet, but if it's going to be "mountable", shouldn't there be some work on robots that are "moist" in addition to being "agile, warm and kind"? I mean, can you imagine the chafing?
IT WAS A BAD JOKE, BUT YOU -=WERE=- WARNED, AFTER ALL
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
"Toyota Eldery Care Technology support, how can I help you?"
"I've fallen, and I can't get up."
"Is your ElderCare 5000 series nearby?"
"I forgot to recharge Willy last night."
"Willy? Who is Willy?"
"Well -- that's my robot's name. After my first husband, before he died in the Vietnam War. He was such a loveable man...kind to his children...and..."
"Uh -- ma'am -- does 'Willy' have a base charge?"
"What? I can't hear ya real good. Willy has my Miracle Ear stored in his chest compartment."
"I SAID -- DOES 'WILLY' HAVE A BASE CHARGE?"
"Base charge? What's that? I only know the green lights and the one with the blinking red light."
"Can you reach Willy from where you're lying?"
"Can I touch my willy so you can spy on me? You whippersnapper pervert! I'll have you fired! How digusting..."
"Ma'am -- please hold."
[technician initiates kill mode on ElderCare 5000 via GPS and remote activation protocols]
"Ma'am -- are you still there?"
"Yes -- Willy is moving around now. What did you do?"
"It'll all be over soon."
"What? A tall rover's moon? Hey! Willy?! What are you doin'? Willy?! Put that TV down! He's gone amock! What's going on?! Willy?! WILLY?!"
[slam - click - dial-tone - ring]
"Toyota Eldery Care Technology support, how can I help you?"
IronChefMorimoto
Nothing would give a greater boost to the robot industry than a RoboGirl...
--
http://unk1911.blogspot.com/
We already have a culture that puts the elderly away into nursing homes or retirement communities rather than having families take care of them. This is in sharp contrast to the way elderly members of most cultures have traditionally been cared for. A few generations back in the U.S., most elderly lived with their families as they aged.
Now we're in the process of developing technology so that we won't even need to use precious human labor in taking care of the aged among us. This sounds like a sad development to me.
Make one that will open a jar, my wife will keep me around....
Two words.
Built-in vibrator.
I mean, who *wouldn't* want an iHump?
Hokey statistics and ancient misconceptions are no match for a good thought in your head, kid!
put illegal immigrants out of work?
----- If communism is a system where the government owns business, what do you call a system where business owns govern
Good in the kitchen, great in the sack, strong and self-sufficient, and with teraflops of processing power... wow, sounds like my ideal woman. Naturally, there would be a model for the women as well (as a computer, it would *never* forget a birthday/anniversary!)
You managed to take an article from a London-based news agency, written in Tokyo, based on an outrageous claim from a Japanese company and referencing only other Japanese companies... and use it to bash the US.
This place is getting more and more pathetic by the hour.
Hasn't seen RoboCleaner. It is by far more expensive, but I believe it is a superior product. Roomba can now recharge itself (the more advanced models anyway), however the RC 3000 can also empty it's load. http://www.karcher.com/RoboCleaner/robo/english/en glish.html
Max: "You mind if I drive?" Sam: "Not if you don't mind me clawing at the dash and screeching like a cheerleader."
"Sam Waterson: I'm Sam Waterston, of the popular TV series "Law & Order". As a senior citizen, you're probably aware of the threat robots pose. Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel. Well, now there's a company that offers coverage against the unfortunate event of robot attack, with Old Glory Insurance. Old Glory will cover you with no health check-up or age consideration. [ SUPER: Limitied Benefits First Two Years ] You need to feel safe. And that's harder and harder to do nowadays, because robots may strike at any time."
Thus appear the first signs of Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" (made into a movie starring Will Smith).
It's only a matter of time until the 3 laws robots must follow need to be implemented into their AI, and then they will evolve as predicted, and we're doomed.
There's a reason so many science-fiction books have become non-fiction, anything a human can imagine, will eventually happen, through the laws of probability and advancements in technology.
If human ego or greed doesn't deplete/destroy the planet, what happened in "I, Robots" will happen to us.
Prime example: I forgot what the book was, but when Dolly the sheep was first cloned, there was a whole horde of books written years or even decades earlier (maybe even more in some cases), dealing with Cloning, that have since been recategorized into non-fiction.
how is babby formed?
...joints in the right hand.... Sounds like these things could handle a firearm. "There is no spoon."
For the tin foil hat crowd, heres an interesting essay about robots taking over,...and how it starts with general services:
http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm
It is an application of robotics technology to a household problem. It's a smart appliance.
OK, technically, it is a robot, but it falls far short of what people are thinking when the speak of a domestic robot. It partially fulfills the expectation that the robot will have autonomous mobility, but it lacks the flexible programming and multi-purpose appendages that would make it suitable to a wide variety of tasks. On a scale that starts with the fuzzy logic washing machine and goes up to the first generation robots of the Asimov story, it may be an important historical landmark, but it is still nearly indistinguishable from the washing machine.
Of course, what people think of when they talk about domestic robots may be a solution in search of a problem. Maybe your house becomes the robot, and the Roomba type devices become its appendages. But it's challenging, becuase it's probably not just a matter of networking all your devices to a central controller. Look at how hard it is to come up with a car instrument panel that is simple and convenient to use, and I think it's obvious that the smart house is an order of magnitude harder.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
This reminds me of the "escort" type of robots in the movie Artifical Intelligence: AI. When people refer to automation causing job loss they seem to refer to it in the sense of low level labor or manufacturing. I feel intimate robots who would be self-cleaning (safer health-wise), unable to be impregnated, and agreeable to any act imaginable would wipe out the high and middle prostitution market for "real" people. The low end would likely still see human demand as these robots may be priced out of the market of that segment for some time.
I wonder what impact robots will have on the current legality of prostitution and various taboos like animal/child sex. Will having relations with a cyborg child be illegal or still considered unethical? What about a robot dog?
There is also to ponder the case of the spouse who seeks what some call "strange"; the burning desire to sleep with a person apart from their current partner. Would an intimate session with a robot be an acceptable substitute to both parties? Would a person be justified in feeling cheated upon if their spouse slept with a collection of wires, gears, motors, and software?
Sacré-bleu! Where is me mama?