A Robot Straight Out Of A "B" SF Movie

It's kind of like the chicken/egg question about which came first, but when we got a look at the new Hitachi office robot we really had to wonder whether it's inspiration came from a real life need, or from some "B" science fiction movie.

From the photos it really looks like a giant rolling mushroom with a pop open hatch and a periscope surveillance camera that pokes up to spy on you.

Reading through the Japanese news reports and the Hitachi press release, it appears that the robot is intended to replace human security guards. It goes about its appointed rounds transmitting images via a wireless network connection.

For navigation, it's equipped with a laser type sensor, tire encoders, and of course it's on-board camera. The robots software can detect changes in the area it's viewing by comparing older photos with the current view and is capable of correcting for small differences in placement, angle, and position using statistical analysis techniques.

Hitachi also indicated that the robot is able to correct for and move around unexpected obstacles - for example, if an office chair happens to be left in its path. Hitachi hasn't fixed a schedule to commercialize the robot and is still in the feasibility, proof of concept stage.

Related links:

BCN Ranking Article  (Japanese)

Hitachi Press Release (Japanese)

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Posted by Lem on Mar 8, 2006 in Misc., Weird Robots | 1 comment