Zhejiang University developed this friendly robot, called Hai Bao (“海宝”), one translation of which is “maritime treasure”.  It stands 155cm (5’1″) tall and has animated facial expressions on its LCD screen. The robot has an intelligent hand-shaking system and can make multilingual greetings in 6 languages. Hai Bao is an entertainment robot designed to interact with tourists by taking photos for them, doing simple quizzes, performing a dance routine, telling jokes, and singing songs. Multiple Hai Bao robots can lead tours together, perform a “changing of the guard” ceremony, and group dance performances. Reports suggest that 37 of these robots will be deployed at the Shanghai World Expo.  It appears the robots use a laser range finder in their base to help with obstacle avoidance, which should help them out when surrounded by the throngs of visitors expected at the upcoming expo.  A few more photos follow after the break.

[source: Xinmin (CN)]

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Image credit:
Xinmin

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