We all have, at some points in our lives, wanted to own a robotic assistant such as Rosie from The Jetsons. With the influx of technological progress, it comes as no surprise when we look at the robots that are being manufactured today. This article looks at some of the robots that perform their tasks by following you.
The RoboBusiness conference was held in Boston featuring a number of robots aimed at following their leader. The first stop was the robot known as Budgee, created by Five Elements Robotics, and is aimed at the elderly and disable persons. It has been designed to carry heavy items, e.g. shopping bags. The design imparts a friendly look to these robots. The user will have to wear a small device and, via a smartphone app, set the distance that they want the robot to keep between them. Budgee will be able to attain a speed of 3.9 Km/hr and in case it can’t keep up, it will send a text to the user. The sensors installed in the robot allow it to manage not falling down on steps while allowing it to navigate through obstacles without bumping into them. Budgee will be available in different sizes and it shall be foldable. The robot weighs 9 kg and will be able to carry 23 kg. The robot is to go on sale in January 2015 with a price tag of $1,400.
CaddyTrek is another robot which targets golfers, with capability to follow the player with the golf clubs. The player simply needs to wear a module on the belt that has a remote control as well. This allows them to maintain enough distance between them and the cart when playing a crucial shot.
Also worth mentioning here is the robot Harvey, coming from Harvest Automation. It is designed to work in groups while attending to plants in nurseries.
So you can pretty much predict that the time is not far when people of almost every profession will be taking help from robotic assistants. Check out the video below for more details:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yOCTgVqmeQ
