Japanese robot gets kissie-kissie
TOKYO, JAPAN: Japanese robot maker Tmsuk unveils a new guide and floor cleaning robot “RIDC-01″ which can recognize human voice and speaks to guests during a press preview…The robot, 1.3-meter tall and weighing 100-kg, is also equipped with a projector on its head and can show DVD movies or information. Tmsuk will start order with a price of 10 million yen (85,000 USD).
That Japanese version of a floor cleaning robot ought to get real kissie-kissie for 85,000 dollars. This is especially so when the Home Shopping Network sells a Roomba(tm) for $200 that does the same work.
According to the Japanese website of Tmsuk the manufacturer the “RIDC-01″ the name comes from the Robotics Industry Development Council (RIDC).
The robot’s specs are:
1,300mm H / 700mm W 960mm D
Weight approximately 100 kg
Power source: 24-volt DC lithium ion battery (100V AC power charger)
Operating time: 120 minutes maximum continuous operation time
Independent 2 wheel drive
Maximum speed: 3.0 km/h approximately
WiFi and cellphone enabled
Speech recognition and synthetic-speech enabled in conversational Japanese
Robot arms with 10 degree of freedom in 3-axis
Emergency stop and obstacle sensors
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November 27th, 2005 at 9:30 pm
The RIDC-01 was exhibited at a robot fair in Akihabara this weekend, and I had the chance to play with it a little and talk to the manufacturer. My blog Robot’s Dreams covers a lot of Japanese robots, and most of them are reasonably functional and interesting. Unfortunately the RIDC-01 isn’t one of them. The people demonstrating the robot couldn’t give a reasonable explanation why anyone would want to buy one - at any price. Just across the aisle, Wakamaru was being demonstrated, and drawing a big crowd.
November 28th, 2005 at 11:21 pm
Normally I go to ROBODEX which is held at Pacifico Yokohama every year. But this year’s EXPO in Aichi made ROBODEX unneeded….plus interest is dropping in serious aspects of ROBODEX.
The robots I seen shown are underwhelming and more valuable as “companions” than servants.
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December 13th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I would like to have a robot !!!!!!!