Humanoid Robots on the Rise: Get Ready to Invite One Home
From: Electronic Design - 10/27/2005 - page 17
By: Mark David

In a stroke of good timing with our cover focus on smart motion, I visited
the Robots and Vision show in Chicago last month. 

While the exhibit floor was filled with excellent industrial robotics
applications, the advances in humanoid robots really illuminated the future
of smart motion. In our quest to engineer a mechanical man, we're also driven
to improve on our innate shortcomings wherever possible. 

... 

Out on the Robotics show floor in the Emerging Robotics pavilion, a US
startup called Gecko Systems showed its own version of a partner robot, the
Mobile Service Robot, which targets safety, security, and service operations.
Gecko's fully autonomous MSRs are capable of automatic self-navigation,
meaning they can avoid obstacles and plan routes. Talk about "smart motion,"
the MSRs use a scanning, stepping positioning system with a sensor array of
340 ultrasonic sensors mounted on the output shaft of a stepping motor.  

One possible Mobile Service Robot market is elder care. The robot could
follow elderly people to monitor their vital signs, verbally interact and
provide reminders about medications, and enable virtual visits by family
members and medical professionals via cameras, microphones, and Internet
connectivity. With the Gecko System going from prototype to production, the
era of robotic assistance may be here in time for us baby boomers to enjoy
our golden years in Jetsons-like style. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=11297

Link:
Gecko Systems
http://www.geckosystems.com/