Herb, the home exploring robotic butler will get you chips too

Rolled out of Intel’s research labs with new features, HERB, the Home butler was developed by Quality of Life Technologies and Carnergie Mellon. It was shown off with its latest features on Intel’s annual research day. It cannot only efficiently map and search indoors, but also recognize and localize several household objects in high clutter. It can also perform tasks such as, carrying pitchers, getting a pack of chips, sorting dishes and fetching drinks too. It is designed in such a way that it sets on a segway with a laptop and speakers that are mounted on a footrest. It has arms that are driven by cables, as it allows the robot to be extremely agile. And, it is its eye, which I assume is in the form of a camera that serves as a laser scanner, allowing it to identify objects.

herb

You can also communicate with it in one way by using iPhone interface that the team has built. With the help of this interface you can tell your butler what you need. And, HERB speaks to you with the help of text-to-speech synthesis. However, there is one thing that is still in the works and that is a voice recognition program in the works so you can tell the robot in your own voice what you want it to do. This robotic butler could be a revolutionary thing in the home service robotics, as it can do various complex tasks and could also be integrated in the care of the elderly.

Via: Wired/Pcmag