Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
New Porter Robot - Matsushita Mechanorg
Matsushita is demonstrating it's porter robot; at 130 cm in height and 60 cm wide, it is able to carry about 20 kilograms of cargo.
(Matsushita porter robot)
The cool thing about this robot is that the user carries a small transponder that tells the porter robot where its user is at all times. The porter robot lets you place your baggage on its shelf, and then will follow you where ever you go.
Here's the research abstract:
;We are considering safe and reliable life-assist robots to coexist with human. First of all, we decided to develop a tool type robot that carry out a single task, and call it "Mechanorg" that is a coined word of "Mechanical" and "Organism". And we developed "Porter Robot" as one of the Mechanorg concept robots. It can carry baggage with following its user and avoiding obstacles safely at the airports...The robot detects user's position by the supersonic wave, and knows the shape and distance of obstacle by infrared ray sensor and supersonic wave sensor. The robot calculates the best motion in environment, so the robot can follow safely without losing sight of user.
The porter robot has an omnidirectional camera and other sensors for measuring range, determining the best way around obstacles, and collision avoidance. The nickel hydride batter provides about an hour of use.
Update 07-Jul-2021: See the porter televox robot from On Board the Martian Liner (1931) by Miles J. Breuer.
The great, ungainly figure of the porter stalked down the corridor from the left. Gently it helped the fat man to his feet and picked up his traveling-bags and the two of them departed into the gloom of the ship.The porter was a size No. 3 televox-robot. He stood six and a half feet high, and moved with a curious croaking sound.
End update.
Regular technovelgy readers know of my fascination with the autoporter robot from John Brunner's wonderful 1975 novel Shockwave Rider. It won't be long before you'll be able to rent something like this at any airport.
Matsushita has some competition; check these bots out:
-
- TMSUK Robot Carries Your Bags
- Porter 'Robots' For Baggage, If Not People
- Russian Robot Suitcase
- RoboPorter Carries Your Baggage, Guides You
Via RobotWatch; the site also has some videos you can download showing the porter robot in action.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/12/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.
Robots For Hire En Masse
'...small investors profited, too.' - Raymond E. Banks, 1956.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...'
Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.
Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
When AI Takes Its First Breath
Any suggestions?
Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.
The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'
Transporting Antimatter
'...drawing plans for the magnetic tongs and bed plates and relays.'
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...'
