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SEOUL (AFP) – A city council in South Korea said Wednesday their first administrative officer robot was defunct after throwing itself down some stairs, with local media mourning the country’s first robot suicide. South Korea’s Gumi City Council announced the robot was found unresponsive after having apparently fallen down a two-meter (six-and-a-half foot) staircase last week. Witnesses saw the robot officer “circling in one spot as if something was there” before the accident occurred, but […]
by Natsuko FUKUE / Tomohiro OSAKI Agence France-Presse FUJISAWA, Japan (AFP) — “Excuse me, coming through,” a four-wheeled robot chirps as it dodges pedestrians on a street outside Tokyo, part of an experiment businesses hope will tackle labor shortages and rural isolation. From April, revised traffic laws will allow self-driving delivery robots to navigate streets across Japan. Proponents hope the machines could eventually help elderly people in depopulated rural areas get access to goods, while […]
After dominating the electric vehicle market and throwing his hat into the billionaire space race, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced the latest frontier he’s aiming to conquer: humanoid robots. The irascible entrepreneur said Thursday he would have an initial prototype of an androgynous “Tesla Bot” by next year. Based on the same technology as the company’s semi-autonomous vehicles, the robot will be able to perform basic repetitive tasks with the aim of eliminating the need […]
by Harumi OZAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nami Hamaura says she feels less lonely working from home thanks to her singing companion Charlie, one of a new generation of cute and clever Japanese robots whose sales are booming in the pandemic. Smart home assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa have found success worldwide, but tech firms in Japan are reporting huge demand for more humanlike alternatives, as people seek solace during coronavirus isolation. “I felt my […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A robot at a hospital in the Mexican capital is providing a lifeline for coronavirus patients separated from their relatives and reducing the risk of infection for medical workers. “Hi, I’m LaLuchy Robotina! What’s your name?” the 1.4-meter-tall (4.6 feet) robot asks patients as it goes from room to room. It moves around on wheels and has a camera and display screen enabling relatives and doctors to chat with patients […]
by Rob Lever Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — What looks like a rolling picnic cooler stops at the crosswalk, waits for a car to pass and then navigates its way at a leisurely pace down the sidewalk in suburban Washington. Three blocks away, Jake Williams and his three-year-old daughter Emilia wait for the delivery robot and take out bags with pizza, fresh fruit and a loaf of French bread from the nearby […]
by Julie JAMMOT Agence France Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Long maligned as job-stealers and aspiring overlords, robots are being increasingly relied on as fast, efficient, contagion-proof champions in the war against the deadly coronavirus. One team of robots temporarily cared for patients in a makeshift hospital in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the COVID-19 outbreak began. Meals were served, temperatures taken and communications handled by machines, one of them named “Cloud Ginger” […]
by Pitcha DANGPRASITH and Lillian SUWANRUMPHA BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai hospitals are deploying “ninja robots” to measure fevers and protect the health of overburdened medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak. First built to monitor recovering stroke patients, the machines have been quickly repurposed to help fight the disease, which has so far killed nearly 9,000 people around the world. They have helped staff at four hospitals in and around Bangkok to […]
by Amélie BAUBEAU / Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A French man paralyzed in a night club accident can walk again thanks to a brain-controlled exoskeleton in what scientists say is a breakthrough providing hope to tetraplegics seeking to regain movement. The patient trained for months, harnessing his brain signals to control a computer-simulated avatar to perform basic movements before using the robot device to walk. Doctors who conducted the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A robot will attempt to examine radioactive fuel at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant on Wednesday in a complex operation seen as key to clean-up efforts after the 2011 meltdown. The operation is intended to better assess the status of the melted fuel, including whether it is stable enough to be picked up for removal, or may crumble upon contact. “The operation began at 7:00am local time and will last around five […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Amazon on Wednesday began putting cooler-sized robots to work delivering packages to customers in a neighborhood outside Seattle. Electric-powered, wheeled delivery vehicles named “Scout” were created by Amazon and guide themselves along sidewalks at a walking pace, according to Sean Scott, the vice president heading the project. Amazon becomes the latest entry to the market for robotic or autonomous delivery aimed at getting meals or other goods to customers […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Hi-tech Singapore has deployed an autonomous robot with a swivelling camera for a head and flashing lights to patrol a summit venue — arresting the attention of amused passers-by who stopped to snap selfies. The white, four-wheeled buggy, measuring about five-feet (1.5 meters), trundled around the perimeter of a convention center in the city-state, providing additional security at a meeting of world leaders. The so far unnamed robot, decked out with […]
