OK, so it might look a bit like one of the giant cigarettes from the quit smoking adverts, but I’m reliably informed that the Care-O-Bot 3 will amply replace most housewives (erm…). By using billions of sensors (probably) it can find its way around the kitchen, taking the necessary items out of the cupboards and either placing them where needed or taking them to the person that needs them.
In reality, work on the prototype robot has largely been concerned with the mechanics of moving the robot, how to teach it where to find stuff, how to prevent running into people, and writing the three laws of robotics into its tiny little robotic brain so it doesn’t attempt to take over the world. And, thankfully, it was a success.
The Care-O-Bot 3 can easily navigate around a kitchen and other confined spaces, thanks to its omnidirectional wheely thing and is uses masses of sensors to plot a 3D virtual model of its current environment. This way, if somebody were stupid enough to walk in front of the robot, it would stop moving. Ahh, it cleans and its subservient – does life get any better?
