The Samsung robot feeds you and helps with laundry

AI is making impressive inroads into the fields of medicine and science. It is helping to cure diseases, fight global warming, grow crops and provide cleaner, cheaper energy.

But can you do the laundry?

Samsung answered that question at the CES online convention this week.

The Seoul-based technology giant said it is working on three robots that will serve as a personal assistant and perform a variety of tasks at home. One, Bot Handy, will help you separate the clothes.

Bot Handy has a single arm and three points of articulation, allowing enough flexibility to hold, transport and position items as delicate as plates. It has cameras that, with the help of AI, can recognize objects and handle them properly. Its ability to detect material from insured objects ensures that the correct force is used to hold it in your hands and take it to a destination. It will detect, list and help to classify the clothing. You can even pour a glass of wine and bring it to you after a hard day at work.

“Bot Handy uses AI to understand objects, such as a glass cup or ceramic plate, observing its shape and materials to work as its trusted partner,” said Sebastian Seung, president and chief of Samsung Research “Bot Handy can move and do things like set the table or store groceries. Reverse the script about what a robot looks like in your home. “

The robot’s elongated “face” has two eyes that close or expand to convey emotion. A mobile base allows him to move smoothly in a room. It can conveniently stand up to place objects on the top shelf of a cabinet.

The robot is an effort to adapt AI more specifically to consumers’ needs, according to Seung.

“Among many things, your home has taken on a greater significance,” he said. “But what if this house and the technologies it contained were really built around you? At Samsung, we are finding ways to do just that.

A second robot was revealed at the CES show, held virtually because of the pandemic. Bot Care was designed “to take care of the small details of your life”, according to Seung.

Acting as an assistant and companion, Bot Handy was shown in a demonstration video talking to his human companion. At one point, Bot Handy calculates that the person has been at the computer for a long time and needed a break. Later, he noted the time and warned her of an imminent meeting, approaching her and opening a built-in screen to prepare for a video conference.

Samsung has not released details about when or whether these models will be available to the public. No pricing information was available.

A third bot that should be available in the first half of this year is the JetBot 90 AI +, a smart vacuum cleaner. Equipped with LiDAR, laser-based technology that allows for accurate 3-D mapping, the Jet Bot 90 AI + can do a superior job of detecting objects in its path, avoiding fragile items such as vases and approaching more resistant ones.

As Samsung President and CEO Hyunsuk Kim said at last year’s CES convention, this new crop of more friendly and practical robots is an extension of the company’s philosophy that focuses on “human-centered innovation”.

“In the age of experience, we need to rethink the space we have to accommodate our diverse and evolving lifestyles,” said Kim.

© 2021 Science X Network