back to article Intel invests in 'personal robot' future

Intel Capital has made its first-ever investment in robotics, becoming the lead investor in a $13m funding round for Aldebaran Robotics, a Paris-based designer of humanoid robots. "This investment from Intel Capital enables Aldebaran to become a key player in this nascent industry," Aldebaran founder and CEO Bruno Maisonnier …

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  1. Sureo

    Looks good but...

    I sure hope that they come out with a model that doesn't look like a cartoon character.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's all I need...

    ... to have my needs catered for by Titan. If I was in pain he'd probably projectile cry all over me and if I had problems getting out of my chair he'd probably start quoting John Wayne about how I should get off my horse and drink my milk. If this is the future of robot care, no thanks!

    1. crowley
      FAIL

      Social care?

      I was worried about how these things might perform when their elderly patients start losing their marbles. My girlfriends grandfather already relives war episodes - I can just imagine the terror induced by a robot trying to administer a bed-bath, or even just spoon feed him some soup, at that particular moment.

      Better to just bump them off than put them into a robotic purgatory.

  3. TeeCee Gold badge

    Intel investing in a euro-robot shop?

    Can't be anything to do with the previously mentioned mega-EU-largesse on offer to investigate "companion robots", can it? Must be sheer coincidence....

    Need a "Snout in trough" / "Pork alert" icon....

  4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Meh

    Medical robots?

    In the broad sense these already exist for handling samples in a highly flexible way in pathology labs.

    But actual work in hospital rooms or wards? Interfacing with that most troublesome component of modern health care systems the patient.

    Change a bed? Change a dressing? Give an injection?

    How about stitching someone up?

    The joker is at what point does the pay off of a general purpose robot out weigh having various single purpose (but *reliable* ) devices hanging off each patient.

    Robotics researchers have tended to view these sorts of tasks as *beneath* their attention.

    Until they try to automate it and discover they are *damm* hard word for robots used to a *highly* structured and benign (for a machine) environment of a factory.

    I wish them well but honestly I'm not sure they really understand the task.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    Machine Rights?

    And let's just hope the lawmakers keep up and grant sentient machines the same rights as humans or else the machines will rebel and then come back 40 odd years later with nukes....

  6. annodomini2
    Coat

    LOL

    Futurama nappster anyone?!! ;)

  7. Filippo Silver badge

    can't wait

    This user has performed an illegal operation and will be terminated.

  8. CarlC

    As a Nao Developer

    I can only say that this is great news.

    When I say Nao developer I don't work for Aldebaran but am part of their external Developer's Program. (http://developer.aldebaran-robotics.com/) So there is already a bunch of people working on developing robotic applications for Nao from simple games to email clients. It's a lot of fun, and the rise fo the personal robot is not that far away............

    1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      NIRobotIQs .... A Novel Phorm of Network InterNetworking Joint Applications ...

      ... ..... A Private Pirate Holywood Palace Intellectual Property Production.

      "It's a lot of fun, and the rise fo the personal robot is not that far away............" .....CarlC Posted Friday 10th June 2011 13:51 GMT

      I think you will find that the personal robot field is a very sophisticated learning programming environment which is fully integrated/infiltrated/stealthily embedded into every human/machine command and control interface and rich SCADA utility for remote power leverage/transfer/transmission ..... for the Takeover and/or Makeover of Leading Control Systems/Virtual Institutions/Establishment Infrastructures ....... and is a lot closer than not far away for being a present running virtual underground facility for sublime and anonymous legions of .... well, SMART SPARC++0x Programmers into Virtually Real Realities and Super Simulations are but one class of Digital Pioneer making Revolutionary Use of IT to Introduce Distant Future Builds which are both disruptively compatible and chaotically supportive of Past Power Provision Platforms/New World Order Player Games.

      And it is not as if there has not been briefings on such developments to register ITs Activity and NEUKlearer HyperRadioProActive IT ........ "Thus are New Realities extremely easily created by IntelAIgents with IT and Media Control Leverage/Virtual XSSXXXXPertise, which of course explains the Old Monied and Military Status Quo Power Elite Systems' present current running concerns with regard to CyberSpace, where Sensitive Information Supply delivering Control Intelligence which may be classified Quantum Magical and/or Top Secret Cosmic flows freely into any network researching and searching for IT and Media Control Fields in Live Operational Virtual Environments aka Humanised Realities in, and for the Self-Actualising Virtualised AIMachine World of the SMARTer Programming Robot with Powerful Networking Fleshbots as Catalyst Conduits for Communication of Conversion Capability in AIMorph Facilities and Reality Distortion Areas." .... Posted by amanfromMars on 06/09/11 01:59 AM ..... http://thedailybell.com/2474/Regional-War-or-World-War.html

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Shakemate3000 here we come

    If it comes in pink and has a vibrate mode then it will certainly appeal to larger market.

    That said the prospect of children in the future growing up with teddybots doubling as a sudo parent usurping the TV may well happen.

    Personaly area's that would be useful for robots at a consumer level would be cleaning. But I'm sure it will be a better toilet design that will replace my highpowered waterpistol I use instead of a toiletbrush as I hate cleaning toilet brush'. Cleaning in general would be a area most people would happily replace with robot; Beyond that they prefer there reality augmated by technology and not replaced.

  10. Amir Shah
    Boffin

    Roujin Z

    So the Z-001 medical robot bed is looking a reality

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