HouseRobot
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House building robot in action -- not as exciting as it sounds
We were kind of hoping for more lasers, explosions and flashy sound effects, but we suppose this will have to do. The YouTubes have delivered unto us some incredibly boring (yet strangely mesmerizing) video of a mini-version of this bot doing its concrete / gypsum laying, house building thing we were hearing about yesterday. Apparently a second robotic arm handles the roof supports that the bot then slaps more concrete on top of, so you won't be able to see any roof building action here, in case that's your thing or whatever. Peep the vid after the break.[Via Inhabitat]
NEC's domesticated R100 robot welcomes you home, flips channels
NEC has a new home-roaming robot on the loose, which doesn't deviate too terribly much from its PaPeRo sibling visually, but sports a much more domesticated allure in its feature set. Weighing about 17.5 pounds, the R100 sports two CCD cameras as "eyes," three built-in microphones to hear commands from any direction, a bevy of sensors which detects your "tap, stroke, or press" to prevent it from cruising into tables or chairs (or children), and even environmental sensors to measure temperature and ambient light. It motors around at a blistering 1.34 miles per hour, and boasts a moveable head, a pair of integrated speakers, and facially-implanted LEDs for flashing communications. The bot is notorious for sparking conversation with its family, greets users by name, asks what it can do to help out, and even reads your email to you via its built-in WiFi capability. Moreover, it can beam commands to switch television channels, dim your lights, or activate a variety of appliances around the house. While there's no set release date for the prototype, we certainly wouldn't mind pairing this fellow up with our own robotic butler for the ultimate life of luxury, and you catch a more in-depth glimpse by sneaking a peek of the R100 in action.[Via Ubergizmo]
