Presenting American Robot Servants

MensNewsDaily.com NEWSWIRE ^ | September 26, 2005 | Roger F. Gay

[RogerFGay]

Presenting American Robot Servants

By Roger F. Gay

GeckoSystems, Inc., a leading developer of mobile service robots (MSRs), has announced completion of a revolutionary servant class personal robot designed for eldercare, childcare, and home security. This news isn’t coming from Japan or Korea. GeckoSystems is based in Conyers, Georgia in the good ole U.S. of A. Their robot is so new that even the name seems fresh from the engineers’ workbenches: the CareBot™ MSR 3.4. (CareBot)

The CareBot stands approximately 4 feet tall (see picture) and rolls gracefully over shag and plush carpet as well as over any smooth surface. Its clever design gives it the strength and stability to move safely over household thresholds. But you want to know if it’s a real robot. What does it do besides roll around?

It can hold a conversation, play games, go where you tell it, remind you of things, make phone calls, recognize special situations, and even alert emergency services if the need arises. Its advanced, integrated, artificial intelligence technology allows it to figure out on its own how to move around obstacles even amidst people moving about. It can recognize its owner, even in a crowd.

“After 8 years of development by many talented and tenacious engineers and programmers, we are very excited to introduce our new CareBot Mobile Service Robot,” said R. Martin Spencer, President and CEO of GeckoSystems, Inc. “The CareBot™ MSR 3.4 can watch over grandma or the kids, patrol your home, and/or run errands for 12 to 24 hours continuously without recharging. This capability, along with web-based video conferencing enables our CareBot to perform much like a family caregiver, letting them watch over their loved ones, even when they can’t be there.”

Not a simple toy, the price of CareBot is around $20K. Every CareBot comes complete with a three-day training package including round trip airfare within the continental U.S., meals, and three nights lodging. You and your bot get to know one another while it’s customized for your use. The price also includes a one-year parts and labor guarantee and free software upgrades.

GeckoSystems, Inc. is introducing and demonstrating the CareBot MSR 3.4 at the International Robots & Vision Show and Conference, September 27-29, in Rosemont (Chicago), IL. Carebots will be on display in the Geckosystems company booth and showcased in the Emerging Robotics Pavilion.

[RogerFGay]

ping

[steveo]

Can it fetch me a beer?

[RogerFGay]

Trust me .. I have a reason for posting this to the Swedish list.

[RogerFGay]

"Can it fetch me a beer?"

I think so ... as long as it weighs less than 100 pounds.

[longtermmemmory]

so basically it is a mobile tv security camera.

we are still waiting for a real robot servent. This seems decades behind the sony robot.

[cloud8]

The blue one is kinda cute. Put a blonde wig on it...

[Tijeras_Slim]

It will assist the housing bubble by "building many houses."

[RogerFGay]

No, I hope you didn't get the impression that it's just a mobil tv from the article. It's more than that.

It's behind some of the Japanese robots ... but not at this price point and current specialized purpose.

[edcoil]

Maybe it can tell the idiots in NO to get out before the next hurricane. If you think about it, robots cannot be any smarter then those they are suppose to assist and there are a lot of dummies in the world that cannot get out of their own way.

Sad, but true commentary.

[Reaganesque]

I'm having visions of a cranky old lady beating Emily with her cane, screaming "STOP FOLLOWING ME AROUND!!!".

[RogerFGay]

Who is Emily?

[Reaganesque]

The robot's name is Emily.

[RogerFGay]

Oh that ... you must have visited their website.

At least one of them is named Emily.

[Dead Corpse]

Law 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Law 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Law 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

[Reaganesque]

Come to think of it...a mindless robot that follows you around everywhere you go asking annoying questions...hmmm, they could name it "Cindy Sheehan"!

[fr_freak]

How long before these things become self-aware and see all human beings as a threat?

[schwing_wifey]

I'm dying of curiosity.... why?

Not that I didn't find it cute, amusing, and way over priced....

;D

[NYpeanut]

OK, I trust you, but huh?

[RogerFGay]

"How long before these things become self-aware and see all human beings as a threat?"

Most everyone I've met in relation to robotics has been a long time sci-fi fan. These questions have been explored a good bit in such literature. These days, with the technology becoming reality, it's all taken very seriously. There are robot ethicists, robot psychologists, and the like. I suppose that one day, humanoid robots will come in a mix of characters similar to those of humans. There might be robot bad-guys and robot cops, like in the movie Blade Runner. On the other hand, technology to control robots will improve along with the robots themselves.