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50 years later: The invasion of the robots is finally happening

In the science fiction movies of the 1960s and 70s, robots played a major – and often sinister – role. Half a century later, the invasion of the robots finally seems to be happening. But the robots that permeate our world are not terrifying war machines, but rather cute.

“THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK” sent a steel cyborg-robot on a rampage through the city, “Kronos” was a gigantic, box-like robot, an all-consuming, insatiable alien machine, and “Dr. Satan’s Robot” was used by a mad criminal scientist to take over the world.

In the movies of the 60s and 70s, robots were often shown as mean machines trying to conquer the world with super-human strength, rockets and laser beams. Because this has not worked (yet), the robots now try a different strategy: Cuteness.

At this years Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, robotics was a big theme. Here are some of the cute and sometimes bizarre concepts that were shown at CES:

Petit Qoboo

Some people would love to own a pet but can’t, because they suffer from allergies, live in a small apartment or are simply too busy.

Yukai Engineering, a Tokyo-based robotics startup, has developed Petit Qoobo specifically for this market segment. This almost-animal is designed to comfort people who cannot own a real pet. It could be described as a furry therapy pillow with an expressive tail.

Petit Qoobo wags its tail in response to one’s stroking and rubbing. It waves gently when caressed and swings it playfully when rubbed.

PHOTO: YUKAI ENGINEERING

It also moves spontaneously in reaction to the sound of clapping or one’s voice. “As a user, you would project your emotions onto how the tail moves, and you could get a sense of healing from that”, says Prof. Nobuhiro Sakata of Dokkyo Medical University.

Petit Qoobo comes in a compact size, small enough to fit in a purse. It can thus provide comfort and emotional support not only at home, but also in a lonely hotel room or office. qoobo.info

MarsCat

MarsCat takes the robotic pet concept one step further. It can independently perform various cat-like tricks. MarsCat walks, runs, sleeps, sits, stretches, and plays with its owner.

It is fully responsive and has sensitive interactions. Through an array of sensors it can feel a touch, hear a voice, recognize a face and play with toys. The robot feline can also express different emotions by different meows or gestures.

MarsCat comes with six pre-programmed characters which can be changed. It can be enthusiastic or aloof, energetic or lazy, social or shy. The personality develops over time. MarsCat will be more active if the owner frequently interacts with it. Else it behaves cat-like and needs to be pleased until it feels in the mood for playing again.

Built on an open source platform, users can program MarsCat easily and include new functions. In addition to a Raspberry Pi kit, it comes with integrated open source modules

for vision and haptic, microcontroller, gyro sensor and more. Protocol and library are opensource embedded in Raspberry PI.

The MarsCat SDK gives access to all the sensors and actuators to adjust the functions to different applications. www.elephantrobotics.com

RollBot

Qoboo and MarsCat are essentially just sophisticated toys, but RollBot was designed to solve a very real problem. According to a survey commissioned by Charmin and conducted online by The Harris Poll, 58 percent of people ages 18-34 admit to being on the toilet before realizing they had run out of toilet paper.

PHOTO: CHARMIN GOLAB

RollBot comes to the rescue. Developed as part of the Procter & Gamble Charmin GoLab concept lab, it is a first-of-its-kind robot that, when controlled with a smartphone using Bluetooth, delivers a fresh roll of toilet paper to you so you won’t have to be left in a bind ever again. According to Charmin GoLab, “its futuristic design uses self-balancing technology to give it a more bear-morphous look”. www.pg.com

Bot Chef

While RollBot lends a hand in the bathroom, the Samsung Bot Chef provides an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, sharing the burden of the laborious and repetitive tasks that go into creating meals.

It is an AI-powered chef’s assistant, a so-called “cobot” or collaborative robot. Bot Chef is designed to be easy to use and highly versatile, with a sleek exterior that hides its advanced mechatronics.

This cobot is optimized for kitchen use and is capable of a wide range of tasks, from chopping and whisking, to pouring and cleaning. Based on SARAM, Samsung’s multi-purpose programmable robotic platform, the lightweight robotic manipulator arm has six degrees of freedom, with the diameter, reach and safety of a human arm. This allows it to perform with a payload just enough to lift common, everyday kitchen items. With advanced internal and external sensors and AI-based planning algorithms, the Bot Chef works alongside a person safely, even when they get in each other’s way.

Users can interact with the robotic arm using voice control, physical manipulation and app-based controls. Meanwhile, the underlying AI and machine-learning platform enables the cobot to learn new skills. New skills can also be downloaded, customized and shared as part of an online ecosystem, providing almost endless possibilities in the kitchen. To stir a pot of soup, for example, a user can download the “stirring” skill from the skills ecosystem. Bot Chef can autonomously understand the location of objects, so the user can tell it where to find the spoon, and which pot to stir. “Hey, Bot Chef, let’s make a soup.”

www.samsung.com

Misty

Misty Robotics believes that platform robots are the missing link to accelerating the use of robots in businesses, homes, research, and education.

By providing robust tools, comprehensive documentation, and extensive APIs, Misty Robotics makes it easy for developers to build on the Misty platform. Tools include a pre-built Command Center, Skill Runner, and API Explorer, which are accessible through an easy to navigate SDK interface.

Developers can extend Misty’s capabilities by integrating with third party APIs such as those provided by Twilio, Microsoft, and Google. Additionally, Misty can be expanded through third party hardware such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi and physically expanded through 3D printing. www.mistyrobotics.com

Leopold Ploner