Wouldn't it be great if you could command a robot to fetch another brewski from the fridge while you kept right on watching the big game on Sunday? Judging from this picture of the HRP-2 in action, that's exactly what scientists at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have in mind. But how many robots does it take to retrieve a can of suds? AIST did it with three HRP-2s: one to map the room, one to understand the spoken command, and a third to actually walk to the fridge and collect a frosty beverage. The three robots communicated with each other over a network, but AIST says it will soon get one robot to do all three tasks. AIST also has a great FAQ on its Web site on why humanoid robots are superior to robots with more than two legs. One reason: bipeds can make turns in a smaller space. At any rate, now we know why Sony's Aibo robot dog was put to sleep on January 27 along side Sony's humanoid robot, the QRIO — both were too short to reach the fridge door.
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