Samsung robot feeds you and helps you with laundry

AI is making amazing breakthroughs in medicine and science. It helps cure disease, fight global warming, grow crops, and provide cleaner and cheaper energy.

But can he do the laundry?

Samsung answered this question at the CES online convention this week.

The Seoul-based tech giant said it is working on three robots that will serve as a personal assistant and tackle various tasks around the home. One, the Handy Bot, will help you sort the laundry.

The Bot Handy has a single arm and three pivot points allowing sufficient flexibility to grip, transport and position such delicate items as dishes. It has cameras that, with the help of AI, can recognize objects and manage them accordingly. Its ability to detect the material of retained objects ensures that the correct force will be used to secure them and transport them to a destination. It detects, lists and helps sort laundry. He can even pour a glass of wine and bring it to you after a hard day’s work.

“Bot Handy uses AI to understand objects, like a glass cup or ceramic plate, taking note of their shape and materials to work as a trusted partner,” said Sebastian Seung, president and director of Samsung Research. “Bot Handy can move around and do things like set the table or put away the groceries. It tilts the script on what a robot might look like in your house.”

The robot’s elongated “face” has two eyes that close or dilate to convey emotion. A rolling base allows it to move seamlessly around a room. It can easily be lifted up to place items on the top shelf of a closet.

The robot is an effort to tailor AI more specifically to consumer needs, according to Seung.

“Among other things, your home has taken on greater importance,” he said. “But what if this house and the technologies it contains were actually built around you? At Samsung, we find ways to do it.

A second robot was unveiled at the CES show, organized virtually because of the pandemic. Bot Care was designed “to take care of the little details in your life,” Seung said.

Acting as an assistant and companion, the Handy Bot was shown in a demo video chatting with his human companion. At one point, Bot Handy calculates that the person had been on his computer for a long time and needed a break. He later wrote down the time and informed her of an upcoming meeting, stepping closer to her and opening a built-in display screen to prepare for a conference call.

Samsung has not released any details on when or if these models will be available to the public. No pricing information was available.

A third robot that is expected to be available in the first half of this year is the JetBot 90 AI +, a smart vacuum cleaner. Equipped with LiDAR laser technology that enables precision 3D mapping, the Jet Bot 90 AI + can do a superior job of detecting objects in its path, avoiding fragile objects such as vases while still approaching the sturdiest.

As Samsung CEO Hyunsuk Kim said at last year’s CES convention, this new generation of more user-friendly and convenient robots is an extension of the company’s philosophy that focuses on “Human-centered innovation”.

“In the age of experience, we need to rethink the space we have to accommodate our diverse and evolving lifestyles,” Kim said.

© Science X Network 2021