Tea time with robots

[chaminga_d]

You probably won't see a robo-barista at your local Starbucks anytime soon, but in Japan a new generation of robots is in training to serve tea. In a demonstration this week at Tokyo University, a pair of humanoid HRP-2 machines from Kawada Industries showed off their dexterity with a demitasse.

Credit: Ken Shimizu/AFP/Getty Images

 

[magichashan]

ela ela machoo ela

 

[chaminga_d]

It was a tag-team event for the robots--one did the pouring and the other, equipped with wheels, did the serving. (They also washed the cup afterward.) The event took place in a demonstration room with sensors embedded in the floor and elsewhere, and cameras on the ceiling. Both robots have camera eyes.

 

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Tomomasa Sato, a professor at Tokyo University, awaits his beverage. "A human being may be faster, but you'd have to say 'Thank you,'" Sato said, according to an Associated Press story. "That's the best part about a robot. You don't have to feel bad about asking it to do things."

And Japan does plan to ask robots to do a great many things in settings such as homes and hospitals. The machines are expected soon to be able to straighten up rooms (by 2008), make beds (by 2013), and lift and carry the infirm (by 2016).

 

[magichashan]

mooota ela badak athi wage penne he he he
kawata passe yanawada danne na neda
he he he

 

[magichashan]

amooooooo elane

 

[chaminga_d]

Self-propelled tea dispensers are actually not a new thing in Japan, where robots are expected to provide service with a smile. In the 18th century, affluent members of society were fond of tea-serving dolls like this well-dressed one (a modern re-creation of the original). The 8-inch-tall windup doll could be programmed to travel a certain distance on its hidden cogwheels, then return after a guest placed the empty teacup back on its tray.

 

[chaminga_d]

mooota ela badak athi wage penne he he he
kawata passe yanawada danne na neda
he he he

Ow... Ow eka parak kae woth.. aye kanna geriwenna yanawa...

 

[magichashan]

he he he
ela ela mchooo ela porak