[Updated March 30, 2003] — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) unveiled Wakamaru, an experimental Linux-powered robot in Japan on February 4th, according to several stories published this week in the Asian press.

The 100 cm tall humanoid robot is described as being able to assist the sick or elderly in their homes. It can conduct simple conversation using a 10,000 word vocabulary, and uses face recognition technology to find (and follow) faces and movements. Wakamaru's locomotion is based on wheels rather than leg-like motion used by several other experimental robots developed in Japan.

Wakamaru is run by a Linux-based embedded computer. It is equipped with Internet connectivity, allowing it to transmit images to mobile phones and computers and even send an email if it determines that something has gone wrong (or feels like talking to someone outside the home).

Wakamaru will be on display at Robodex2003 in Yokohama and at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco in April.

Sources for this story included the following (check them out for more details and photos) . . .

• MHI unveils house-sitting robot
• The robot gets connected

 
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