"Robo Revolution" - Maid In Japan
Thursday, May 07, 2009SUSIE GHARIB: Picture this. The house is a mess, but you're late for work, so you close the door and leave. That is a common occurrence in many homes. But how would you like it if when you returned the dishes are done, the laundry is folded and the house is in perfect order? As we wrap up our series of "Robo Revolution," Lucy Craft reports Japan is leading an effort to make robotic maids a reality.
LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: A veritable army of robots is on the march at the University of Tokyo, training for chores like loading the dishwasher. The snake's head contains a camera programmed with the algorithms for handling standard-sized dishes. The sensor- embedded, gel-covered jaws clamp carefully. A little swish through the rinse water and the dishes are placed in the dishwasher, says Professor Ikuo Mizuuchi.
TRANSLATION OF: IKUO MIZUUCHI, PROF., DEPT. MECHANO-INFORMATICS, UNIV. OF TOKYO: With industrial robots, the objects it's grabbing are clearly defined. But we can't program the robot to recognize every possible eating utensil.
CRAFT: If they can conquer this problem, researchers say their work could ease Japan's demographic plight.
MIZUUCHI: The elderly are one target user. But what we really have in mind are working couples with small children. It's hard to do the dishes while you're putting the kids to bed or rushing to get everyone ready in the morning.
CRAFT: Companion to the dishwashing snake, this mechanical maid. Its stereo camera head can see in 3d. A laser rangefinder calculates distance allowing it to move furniture out of the way and attack dusty corners while sweeping. It can also recognize and pick up soiled laundry and says an engineer, even do the wash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the future, the robots will be able to smell whether clothing is soiled or not. If the clothes are wrinkled, the robots will iron them. It will possess that judgment ability.
CRAFT: Professor Masayuki Inaba says if their vision comes to pass, the best way to clean your house will be to leave it.
TRANSLATION OF: MASAYUKI INABA, CHAIR, INFORMATION & ROBOT TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INITIATIVE, UNIV. OF TOKYO: We designed robots to houseclean, tidy up and do laundry, while the owner is out of the house. It doesn't matter if robots work slowly, so long as they don't make mistakes.
CRAFT: The Japanese say that for robots to be commercially successful, they have to be like PCs: reliable, versatile and relatively cheap. Yet so far, robotics experts like Rob Buckingham are impressed.
ROB BUCKINGHAM, MANAGING DIRECTOR, OC ROBOTICS: This has got a long way to go, but what they're doing is establishing the building blocks that will enable us to do some pretty amazing things in the next 10-20 years.
CRAFT: The Japanese are racing to install personal robots throughout their society. For the Japanese, the personal robot is no longer the stuff of science fiction, but a dream only a decade or so away from reality. Lucy Craft, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Tokyo.
