ubiko
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Ubiko nursebot retasked with sniffing out fires
One of the many ways in which robotic laborers are superior to their human counterparts is their ability to be easily re-purposed: one day you're an underpaid, under-appreciated nursebot chain-smoking with your co-workers in the break room, and the next day you're equipped with some new peripherals and tasked with ratting out those very same smokers along with other potential fire hazards. Such is the life of a Tmsuk-manufactured robot named Ubiko, who was snatched away from its budding career as an unassuming hospital receptionist by researchers from Kyushu University and the Kanazawa Institute of Technology, and retrofitted with a unique olfactory sensor programmed to recognize the distinctive odors of smoke and ash. This new electronic sniffer allows Ubiko to pick up scents too faint for the human proboscis to detect, giving it a "nose up" when it comes to tracking down small fires before they turn into raging infernos. Since the bot isn't equipped with any actual firefighting paraphernalia, its only job is wirelessly alerting authorities to potential problems and then scooting away before it melts into the floor; these so-called "authorities" then have the grueling task of pressing yet another button to deploy either an Anna Konda or SACI bot to make short work of the lit candle or smoldering cigarette butt.[Via Pink Tentacle]
Tmsuk unveils Ubiko: the personable cellphone salesbot
Robots lending a helping hand certainly isn't a new spectacle, but a determined and forthright mechanical worker is about to hit cellphone stores in Japan (and probably send an actual human back to the job market in the process). While we've seen less intelligent forms of robotic cellphone salesmanship, Tmsuk's Ubiko bot is slated to "join the crew of temporary workers" that a Japanese job-referral company hopes will be used at "stores, events, and even weddings." Formerly known as the RIDC-01, this newly-named 44-inch tall employee on wheels sports a "catlike face," internal DVD player, LCD display to show advertisements / presentations, built-in cameras and infrared sensors, and remote-controllable arms that hand out balloons and other niceties to potential customers. Ubiko can even spark a conversation about how bad you'll need downloadable movie services on your next mobile, and reportedly boasts a "nasal electronic voice" that's sure to grate passerbyers' nerves. While the programmable (and always on call) employee can be snapped up for a hefty ¥30 million ($254,194) one time fee, it'll also be available to handle two-hour shifts for "only" ¥105,000 ($890).[Via Textually]
