･Wheelie

Toshiba unveiled a new autonomous 2-wheeled robot at the Toshiba Science Museum on March 10, 2010.  The robot was designed to help out around the home so it is small enough to fit into tight spaces and nimble enough to handle small changes in floor height.  It carts things atop its cute little head, sort of like the equivalent of a butler version of an R2 unit.  While certainly not mind-blowing or innovative (see Sanyo’s Flatthru from 2003), I could see these being used as waiters in high class restaurants or at Kora’s Robot Land (though they’d probably need a larger serving tray).

It maintains its balance using the inverse pendulum method made famous by the Segway, but it has a pair of small retractable wheels which can be lowered when necessary.  It appears to be equipped with stereo vision in its head and a laser range finder in its chest, which it uses to avoid obstacles.  The robot’s name is Wheelie, but it certainly fits with the established design aesthetic of their line of “Advanced Personal Robots with Intelligence” (see ApriAlpha, ApriPoco, ApriAttenda, ApriAttenda ver.2).  A few stills from the video follow after the break.

Video:

[source: hdcitv @ YouTube] via [ロボットのいる生活 (JP)]

Media:

Image credit:
hdcitv

Related posts:

1. ･ApriAttenda ver.2
2. Fraunhofer Institute’s Care-O-bot Going Open Source
3. “Let me get that for you, sir.”
4. ROBO-ONE’s 2nd Humanoid Helper Project

This entry was posted on 2010.03.12 at 00:20 and is filed under Wheelie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Responses to “･Wheelie”

1. Robot brings man food; wives everywhere rejoice « Gadgetsteria on March 12th, 2010 at 09:47

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2. Toshiba’s Wheelie robot carries your dinner, doesn’t do burnouts (video) | Dominic Fallows on March 12th, 2010 at 10:46

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3. Wheelie te lleva la comida al escritorio para que sigas creciendo a lo ancho on March 12th, 2010 at 14:24

   [...] Wheelie te lleva la comida al escritorio para que sigas creciendo a lo ancho http://www.plasticpals.com/?p=21891  por everman hace 2 segundos [...]

4. Wheelie Robot Is Adorable But Performs Useless Task | Gizmodo Australia on March 12th, 2010 at 14:26

   [...] instead, all I can think is, “Who needs a robot that just balances crap on its head?” [PlasticPals via CrunchGear] [...]

5. Video: Robot Wheelie on March 12th, 2010 at 15:25

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6. ‘Wheelie’ Butler Bot Serves Dinner, Lacks Witty Banter | Everything's Social on March 16th, 2010 at 19:49

   [...] mixed with the balance of a Segway (check out the video after the break). Tech specs are slim, but Plastic Pals suspects Wheelie uses stereo vision and a laser range finder to get around and deliver [...]

7. Wheelie, petit robot serveur domestique - RobotBuzz.fr on March 17th, 2010 at 08:41

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8. toshiba’s wheelie could be your robotic butler | Marthee's Tech News on March 17th, 2010 at 17:30

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9. Toshiba Wheelie: a robot servant to bring food | ITech and Gadget Diary on March 22nd, 2010 at 11:29

   [...] Source [...]

10. Wheelie Robot Is Great At Being Adorable While Performing Useless Task [Robots] | A world of change on March 26th, 2010 at 10:11

    [...] Wall-E. But instead, all I can think is, "Who needs a robot that just balances crap on its head?" [PlasticPals via CrunchGear] More » Tags: engadget, gadgets, robots, Tech, tech news, [...]