Helping to man, the robot Care-O-bot does not look “humanly”
German robotostroiteli of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Fraunhofer in Stuttgart (Germany) continue to improve household robot Care-O-bot. The first robot of this model appeared in 1998. There is now a robot is already the third generation. In November, the exhibition IREX 2009 in Tokyo, he had himself no worse than the Asian counterparts.
The difference between a home robot Care-O-bot 3 of his “colleagues” primarily in the fact that he does not look “like human beings. German developers essentially gave the robot form only a distant similarity of living beings. In their view, too much similarity between the robot with a man arouses the desire to bring people to the robot increased demands – how to like themselves. This robot Care-O-bot 3 is quite successfully copes with the basic responsibility of servicing rights.
With the growth of 145 centimeters robot weighs 150 kilograms. It relies on the mobile platform. All of its four wheels are leading and manageable. This makes it possible to move in any direction and turn around on the ground. Around the same principle is set up and a video surveillance system at the top of the robot. Stereokamery can rotate around its axis under the transparent cap that allows the robot to see at once all that is happening around. The robot is equipped with front and rear laser scanners, microphones, speakers and a special camera, lining up 3D projection of the surrounding objects.
If the team needs to move in any specific place, which may be recorded in the memory of the robot, it selects the most concise way. This robot takes into account and carefully looks after not only static, but moving objects – such as walking man. If a person falls into the field of the robot, the machine immediately stops executing any action – safety first.
You can control the robot voice or using the touch screen on his chest. Retractable screen, and if necessary may be a small tray on which the robot will bring drinks or other items. We Care-O-bot 3, one “fold” arm with 7 degrees of freedom. Hand long enough to pick up objects from the floor or get it from the top shelf of the bookcase usual. Another seven degrees of freedom has a three-toed palm of the robot. At Your Fingertips – touch-sensitive sensors that can hold in your hand, even fragile items. In memory of the robot incorporated images of objects with which he has to communicate. Should one invest in his hand to any new object, and the robot will remember him, then to perform the specific manipulations on the instructions of the operator.
Although the model is Care-O-bot 3 is considered a research project, the developers say that even now the robot can be used as nurse-nurse for lonely elderly or bedridden patients. It can be a butler or a waiter in a restaurant. A previous version of the three robots are already working as guides at the Museum of Communication in Berlin.