[Tyler]

CES 2011
     



 A series of robotics novelties were showcased at the annual Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas. Among the
most remarkable novelties was a new telepresence robot by iRobot called
AVA. The working prototype uses Microsoft Kinect-type sensors for safe navigation. It moves using
omniwheels and can be controlled using an ipad mounted on its
height-adjustable head or by simply pressing touch sensors around its
neck. Another interesting robot was demonstrated by CMU's
Quality of Life Technology
Center. Rather than using a stiff robotic arm, the group showed how
an assistance robot can use inherently safe
inflatable arms to perform tasks like sponge-bathing a patient (much
more QoLT@CES2011
here). Other novelties included Dreambot's Wheeme massage robot,
two new Robovie
humanoids by Japanese company Vstone, a new Scooba floor-scrubber by
iRobot, the relaunch of robot toy dinosaur Pleo by Innvo Labs, the Hom-Bot
vacuum cleaner robot LG
Electronics, the first US demo of Cyberdyne's
HAL exoskeleton, and the smart-phone controlled Sphero
robot, essentially a small, remote controlled sphere, shown in the
video above.

   

http://robots.net/article/3086.html