Chimps are expensive, and having a monkey for a butler raises a number of logistical and ethical concerns. But I think I've figured out how to avoid missing a minute of March Madness this week.
Making the Internet rounds is "The Wheelie," an autonomous Japanese waiter robot designed by Toshiba. It looks like a cross between a Segway and a space heater, but has a flat head and enough stabilizers to apparently carry out the duties of a waiter.
Crunch Gear explains
that the only thing required of a human is "to place plates and glasses on
top of the little guy's head and then he will do the rest." The head retracts to avoid obstacles and the slim rectangular body appears to move like a Roomba -- the robotic vacuum -- in that it senses obstacles and adjusts its path accordingly.
Although I'm impressed, I've been through heartbreak before. Snackbot
was introduced in 2009 and I'm still waiting for the robot built by Carnegie Mellon researchers to go into production so I can have
my Pringles.
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