By David Ponce
Ok, either Finland is terribly behind the times in terms of robotic development, or else the WorkPartner robot has a bunch of ninja skills I didn’t manage to learn about in the twenty minutes I spent on the website. I’m not entirely sure what it is it’s supposed to do, or why it’s even cool. The only reason I really noticed it, to be honest, is that it has sleeves and a hard hat. And that’s got to count for something.
I think it’s a project form the Automation Technology Laboratory from the University of Finland. A funny project. One that’s supposed to, uh… well, here it is in their words
WorkPartner is a mobile service robot, which works interactively with people. It is intended for everyday life tasks in outdoor environment. Work is done by the aid of a human-like two hand manipulator. The hybrid locomotion system allows motion with legs and/or wheels at the same time. Tasks are learned and executed in close cooperation with the human operator.
Yeah, so the reason I’m a little tepid about it all, is because I saw the videos[check under the MPEG heading]. Yeah… well, maybe that’s exciting in Finland.
Anyway, the story is VIA Neatorama.
WorkPartner Robot From Finland
This is a pretty incredible looking robot. It’s got the ability to roll on wheels or lock their rotation and use them as a kind of big bouncy feet and walk around. It has a front mount for manipulator arms and a mast for sensors that is about…