Ever heard about the latest from ATR and VStone? It’s a “life sized” humanoid robot called Robovie R3. If you are an elderly or a disabled, you will sure benefit from this new creation since it is designed to assist you in doing your everyday tasks like navigating train stations or grocery shopping. Gone are the days when you have to wait for a friend or a relative to assist you when shopping. With the Robovie R3, all you need to do is to hold its hand and it’ll be very much to assist you.
So how does thing look like? Well, just like the other robots around, it also includes a set of hands, eyes, head, and body. It weighs about 77 pounds, stands about 3 feet tall and moves around on a wheeled base at almost the same speed as a person walking. It is equipped with 15 servomotors and has 17 degrees of freedom or the so-called axes of movement. It is also designed with 11 touch sensors, two microphones, USB eye cameras, and two optional distance sensors.
But you might wonder, “how can I be sure that this thing will be able to assist me around?” Here’s the thing – the Robovie R3 is designed to be reasonably adept at getting around, with it being able to move omnidirectionally and overcome small changes in floor height. And as stated above, it does include a set of helping hands, “gripper hands” at that to hold you while walking. So no worries!
Now, would it be a hit to the elderly and disabled? Let’s just wait and see.
