Useful, playful robots are the future at Tokyo exhibition

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Useful, playful robots are the future at Tokyo exhibition

03 December 2015  By Lars Nicolaysen

International Robot Exhibition 2015 - © Franck Robichon, EPA

International Robot Exhibition 2015 - © Franck Robichon, EPA

Tokyo (dpa) - Leonardo da Vinci welcomes visitors from Beijing inaccent-perfect Chinese. "Nihao," comes the response from the visitor,who remarks in astonishment: "You can speak Chinese?"

"Only a little," the long-dead Da Vinci returns. This genius of theItalian Renaissance has returned to life in the form of an android -a human-like robot - thanks to the work of Japanese robot expertMinoru Asada.

Asada's project is currently on view at the iREX International RobotExhibition in Tokyo, the world's largest showcase for robots.

The gadgets on display are intended to grant the average consumer aglimpse into a brave new robot world of the future, in which thesedevices will serve and entertain people.

One example is the HSR from Toyota. Equipped with an array of camerasand sensors, this one-armed "Partner Robot" hums gently through thehouse picking up objects off the floor, opening drawers and bringingits human owner drinks in bed - all on command from a tablet.

"In the future, the robot will be able to carry out tasks like thesequite independently," Toyota spokesman Hiromichi Nakashima says.

HSR is intended to help the elderly and frail, and it is this groupthat many robot developers in Tokyo have in mind. After all, no otherindustrialized country is ageing as fast as Japan.

Kanya Tanaka, a professor at Yamaguchi University, has developed arobot that feeds elderly people and invalid patients. The user isable to select a meal, such as sushi, by a mouse click or themovement of his or her eyes.

A wooden spoon moves to the appropriate position, as in a standardvending machine, and pushes the food onto a second spoon below, whichin turn takes the bite-sized snack to the patient's mouth.

"Many robots are able to grab things, but with soft foodstuffs itbecomes difficult," Tanaka says.

By contrast, providing added strength is the top priority for theportable robot "Exo-Muscle." Also called a "Muscle Suit," this robotcan be worn like a backpack and assists the user in picking up heavyitems thanks to "artificial muscles" pumped up with pressurized air.

Up to 30 kilograms can be lifted, depending on the model, even thoughthe robot itself weighs only between 4.0 and 5.5 kilograms. It couldbe useful for care workers who regularly lift elderly patients.

Robots could also ease the load for farmers and transport companies.Other devices could climb inaccessible concrete walls, such as thosesurrounding the Fukushima nuclear disaster site.

Cleaning solar arrays and harvesting crops like tomatoes or berries,which generally have to be picked by hand, are other potential tasks.

There are also playful robots intended primarily to entertain. Theseinclude the diminutive humanoids "Alpha1S" and "Alpha2" from UBTECHRobotics, with realistic movement and the ability to dance toJapanese pop music.

And in line with the Japanese love for everything "kawaii" - cute orsweet - some of the singing, dancing robots are made up to look likeyoung girls.

For all their frivolous appearance, these robots also have a moreserious purpose. "This is one way of introducing robots into people'slives," says British robot inventor Armando De La ROSa T. from thecompany Shadow.

He believes that, in contrast with the West, where people are oftenfrightened by robots, Japan is creating a culture in which ordinarypeople are being prepared for the robot age in a playful andentertaining way.

Given ageing societies, robots are likely to become increasinglyimportant. But the best robot is of little use if people are notprepared to learn how to cope with it, the British inventor says.

His company is working on sensitive robot hands that are finding usefor delicate tasks at Bielefeld University in Germany.

What would Leonardo da Vinci say? Asada is convinced that, if he werealive today, "he would certainly go out and make a robot."