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Ever since it was announced by Rethink Robotics back in September, many of us in the robotics community have been patiently waiting for Baxter to be delivered.  Baxter was developed by Rodney Brooks of both MIT and iRobot as a means to bring back manufacturing to the US and allow small to mid-size manufacturers and job shops in the US to compete with operations in lower wage countries.    

Tucked away in the labs at Carnegie Mellon University some of the most intriguing  research in the world is taking place for service robots.  HERB, short for Home Exploring Robot Butler, is currently a research robot, with the ambition of becoming a full-fledged service robot in the home.  He is, so far, the culmination of nearly seven years worth of research and currently spends his time as part of the Quality of Life Technology Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Feel like having your own mini-me follow you around, then may I present, RoboMe.  This little machine isn’t due out until later in the year, but it did debut at the annual toy fair in New York City.  Produced by Wowee, they are making another entry into the telepresence arena.  They did have a previous entry called the the Rovio, however that has been discontinued.

When does a robot cease to be less of a toy, and more of a service robot?    The Hovis series of robots by Dongbu could begin to ask that question.  While quite a ways from being able to fold your clothes and make you breakfast, this Korean company has a few models that are intriguing from a human interaction and functionality perspective.      

If you’ve ever seen pictures or videos of Kismet and always wanted one, read on.  Created and developed by XYZBot (out of Denver, CO), Fritz is their first product offering.  I was able to meet the creators at a recent National Robotics Week event.  Steven and Kerwin, the creators of Fritz, are both incredibly excited to get this into the hands of kids and makers to see what will happen.  Kerwin tells me he’s already got several additions to Fritz for future deployment.&nb

In only their third year, Innorobo held in Lyon,France has been able to bring together some of the better companies in Europe involving robotics.   Spanning the spectrum of service robots from light industrial and agricultural to medical and educational.   Some of these technologies are amazing and show a lot of potential.   I’ll get some posts up about a few of them in the coming weeks, but a few of the ones I found rather unique was the Vitorover, w

Many of the micro-telepresence robots out there are almost exclusively for the iOS ecosystem, and more in particular the iPhone.  The Wheelphone by GCtronic, went against the grain and developed a robot for Android, and took a step way beyond as well by including ROS libraries.     

Originally released on Kickstarter in 2011, Romotive, the makers of Romo have already developed a 3rd generation.  Romo 2.0 was again released on Kickstarter back in November of 2012.  With a sleeker design, new features and updated programming, Romotive is doing a great job at taking feedback from customers, taking what works, and implementing.

I thought I would take a post to provide some perspective.  Occasionally I come across articles, blogs or books, that vilify technology. A recent blog post I read highlighted this impression when referring to email.  According to experts like Steven Johnson author of Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life:

One of the few companies we haven’t reported on yet is Robotex.  They introduced their telepresence robot Avatar Home and Security at CES 2013.  Robotex knows how to make a solid mobile base for a platform and this entry into the consumer market will potentially lead to some interesting products in the future.  Earlier products by Robotex were almost strictly for law enforcement.  With the introduction of Avatar they have entered the home security market, allowing you to patrol your home from afar.