Samsung’s CES 2021 robots will clean your home and serve you a glass of wine

This story is part of CES, where our editors will present the latest news and the hottest gadgets from CES 2021 entirely virtual.

Would not be CES without some new Samsung robots. The company on Monday, at its virtual press conference, exhibited three new Bots to help collect items around the house and act as personal assistants. And one of those, a smart vacuum that also doubles as a security camera, will be available in the United States in the first half of the year.

Unlike previous CES press conferences, Samsung’s event on Monday focused on technology broader than listing dozens of new products. Which included the importance of AI for all Samsung products, whether the technology is obvious to users or runs in the background. Samsung Research chief Sebastian Seung hosted the press conference instead of the CEO of the company’s electronics business.

“Our world looks different, and many of you are faced with a new reality – one where, among other things, your home has taken on a greater meaning,” said Seung. “Our innovations are designed to provide more personal and more intuitive experiences that express your personality. We are working hard to bring next generation innovation, with AI as the central enabler, for your best tomorrow.”

Like almost all major technology companies, Samsung is giving a big boost to artificial intelligence. The technology, which gives devices some ability to act on their own, is seen as the next big wave of computing, the way we’ll interact with our gadgets in the future. Instead of running your finger across the phone screens, we will talk to our devices or microphones that we always hear in our homes and offices. The final promise for AI is to predict what you want before you even ask, although most smart assistants are still not that smart.

Rather than putting your Bixby voice assistant at the forefront of your technology, Samsung, over the past few years, has used AI in its products. It has washing machines that optimize the use of water, smartphone cameras that improve photos and videos and TVs that can scale HD content to an “immaculate” resolution of 8K. But Samsung has also developed robots.

AI means “to be more personal and predictive,” Seung said during Monday’s virtual press conference. “It’s about benefiting you every day, being an essential part of the products and services you appreciate. AI is transformational technology. When AI is involved, it creates something entirely new.”

This includes the JetBot AI Plus robot vacuum cleaner, the Bot Care personal assistant robot and the Bot Handy robot that can clean up messes and move things around the house.

At CES 2019, Samsung showed four different types of robots to consumers. This included its Bot Air for air purification, Bot Care for health monitoring, Bot Retail for restaurants and stores and GEMS (Improvement and Motivation System for Marching) to help people with mobility problems. At the time, Samsung said the robots were just research. There was no timetable for when to launch them. Later that year, he exhibited his Bot chef who can help home cooks prepare ingredients and cook meals.

At CES last year, the company introduced Ballie, a “life partner” robot similar to a tennis ball. The bright yellow little robot followed co-CEO HS Kim around the main stage and responded to his commands. Ballie “understands you, supports and responds to your needs to be actively useful at home,” said Samsung. Like other futuristic robots from Samsung, Ballie has no release date.

Soon vacuuming a house near you?

Samsung showed on Monday a robot that may soon appear in homes in the United States. The company’s JetBot 90 AI Plus, arriving in the United States in the first half of the year, looks like a normal round robot vacuum cleaner, but it has improved intelligence to better clean a home.

The device uses object recognition technology to identify and classify objects to decide the best cleaning path. Lidar and 3D sensors – the same type of technology that powers autonomous cars – allow the JetBot to avoid cables and small objects. Users can define prohibited zones and monitor JetBot progress using their mobile devices. The vacuum cleaner even empties its own compartment in its charging station, eliminating the need for users to clean the robot itself frequently. And the JetBot has a camera that allows it to function as a home monitoring device when paired with Samsung’s SmartThings app.

“When the robot stops somewhere, you can use your mobile device and get a live feed of what it’s seeing,” said Rich Leonarz, director of product marketing for small appliances at Samsung Electronics America, during a meeting with reporters. before the news. “Maybe not today, when we are working at home and at home so often, but think about when you go on vacation, even at business meetings. Now you can have a robot at home, which is actually your sentry.”

Other new Samsung Bots

Along with the JetBot AI Plus were several other more futuristic Bots. Samsung’s new Bot Care, similar to what it showed two years ago, uses AI to recognize and respond to its behavior. He can be requested as both an assistant and a robotic companion. Bot Care can learn your schedule and habits and send reminders during the day.

The robot shown on Monday is similar to Pixar’s Wall-E character. Bot Care has a white body similar to a garbage can with wheels and a thin neck that elevates the machine head. The head has a digital screen in front of it, allowing eyes and other icons to flicker on the screen, while a tablet-like monitor opens on top of the head for video chats (with real people, not Bot Care).

The Samsung Bot Handy was designed to be an extra hand in the home. It uses AI to recognize and pick up objects of different sizes, shapes and weights, and can tell the difference between the material composition of various objects. Knowledge allows the Samsung Bot Handy to calculate the right amount of force to grab and move household items and objects. It can help you do things like clean up messy rooms or separate dishes after a meal.

Like Bot Care, the machine’s body is finished in white with a black display on the front that can show blinking eyes and make the robot look more real. Protruding from the left side of the robot’s body is a single arm with hinges in the armpit, elbow, wrist and hands of the Handy robot. The practical Bot can grow taller or lower, and its claw-shaped hands are capable of performing tasks such as pouring a glass of wine, placing dirty dishes in the dishwasher, or placing a flower in a vase.

And Samsung continues to optimize its Bot Retail for shopping environments and its GEMS exoskeleton mobility aid.

“These innovations allow robots and robotic devices to coexist with humans, improving their lives and catering to a variety of different lifestyles and environments,” Samsung said in a press release.