Friday, November 23, 2007

From Navigating Passageways to Frying Eggs!

________________(Photo from endgadget: see article below)
From Post-Gazette.com
"Robotic aids for the disabled and elderly"

"For now, a robotic wheelchair viewed as a future all-purpose assistant for disabled and elderly individuals is in pieces in different rooms of the University of Pittsburgh's Human Engineering Research Laboratories: a motorized chair here, aluminum arms with end-claws over there, computer sensors elsewhere.
By March, its developers hope to put the components together to have it open a door for a wheelchair user.
In 10 years, they want it to prepare an omelet for that person.
That kind of dramatic leap, from navigating passageways to frying eggs, represents just one aspect of a wide range of advanced technology research taking place jointly at Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University to help people stay independent..."
Read full article @: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07318/833537-114.stm
Also see: "Inventor shows off robot chef"
"While it may not boast quite the same capabilities of the AICookingrobot that came out of China last year, this robot chef designed by retired professor Liu Changfa looks like it should be more at home in your kitchen, if you're brave enough to let it into your house, that is. According to InventorSpot, the apparently unnamed "food robot" stands nearly five feet tall, and packs a pot and induction cooker inside its torso, along with a robotic arm to aid in the cooking process. Apparently, hungry humans simply need to pick a (presumably simple) recipe and wait while the robot works its magic. While there's no word on a commercialized version just yet, the bot has reportedly served dinner for some 200 taste testers already, and its inventor is now hoping it has what it takes to take home the top prize in China's upcoming national invention contest."

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