What Can a Robot Do for You?

We were supposed to be in the robotic age by now. There are robots in many factories, but we don’t see them much when we stroll around the mall. I haven’t seen one robot out shopping for its master. Have you?

I haven’t seen a robot drive a car down the highway. If there was such a robot, I would want one. Then I could sit in the back of my conversion van and watch television or a VCR tape like Sahara starring Humphrey Bogart.

No robot cleans my house beeping me to raise my feet. No robot cooks me lunch. No robot brings me my graham crackers and milk. My wife still does all of that.

Shoveling snow should be a snap for a robot. My local hardware store is fresh out.

At Christmas time we usually see a robot at Radio Shack. It can move a round but not do much useful. I haven’t been able to buy a robot to polish my car. (Actually, I never polish my car either. I think the dirt forms a protective layer.)

I went to the Robot Store to see what was available http://www.robotstore.com/catalog/list.asp?cid=61.

There I found that I could buy a robotic bug for about fifty bucks.

I considered the CYBUG Scarab Artificial Lifeform Kit #3-466. If I bought two bugs I could add the CYBUG Predator/Prey Instinct Add-on Kit #3-501 for about thirty-three bucks. My total would be $132.85. Now I would have hunter and hunted action.

I decided to take a look at the butterflies. I could get a Monarch, a Swallowtail, or a Ulysses for thirty bucks.

Then the queen ant caught my eye. You can buy a set of solar wings for her. The total would be about seventy bucks.

The inch-worm robot (which everybody loves) cost one hundred eighty bucks. Pretty pricey for something you’re going to squish if you step on it.

Honda has a humanoid robot. See this handsome critter at http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/. There is a lot of stuff on this site but it was slow. I didn’t see much of what was offered.

I learned at http://world.honda.com/news/2006/c060126ASIMO/ that “ASIMO made a guest appearance at this year’s Digital Lifestyle Day (DLD06) in Munich, Germany, on January 23 - 24. DLD06 is one of Europe’s most influential technology forums and is organized by Hubert Burda Media.”

ASIMO gets around.

You can learn ASIMO’s capabilities at [http://asimo.honda.com/docs/News/newsarticle_0048.asp]. He can hold your hand and walk along your side. He now has a basket to put stuff in. You can watch him climb stairs and do other things at [http://asimo.honda.com/inside_asimo_movies.asp].

I’ve decided to make an appointment with ASIMO so I could chat with him (or it or her). I sent an email to him at Honda.com. I got an immediate answer that said,
”Hi! I’m not in right now. It’s time for my hot bath and polish. Please contact me later.” It was signed, “Your faithful robot, ASIMO.”

Well, people are serving ASIMO and not the opposite. I’ll check back in a year or two.

The End

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com), a retired college professor and business executive, Former editor of an international engineering magazine. To learn more about Wealthy Affiliate University go to his info site. If you desire a flagpole to Fly Old Glory, go to the business site.

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