Robots today and tomorrow

Nowadays, wealthy people have maids (служанки) and nannies (няни) to help them with their household tasks¹. But futurists (футурологи) say it is only a matter of time before the work is passed on to machines: robotic² servants who generally follow directions and never ask for a raise (повышение зарплаты).

So far, consumer robots are mostly limited to vacuum cleaners (пылесосы), lawn mowers (газонокосилки) and рet (домашние) dogs and cats. But electronics companies have also created several multiskilled, multitask prototypes that will yield important products tomorrow.

Some of the first products to offer robotic household help to the mass market (рынок) were self-propelling (самоходные) vacuum cleaners. They appeared nearly l0 years ago and performed pretty much as expected for beginners — banging into (натыкаясь на) walls and table legs, missing corners³ and falling down stairs (ступеньки).

But the model has improved in recent years. The Trilobite (трилобит) from Electrolux⁴ is named after the prehistoric insect it resembles (напоминает) but it relies (основан) on computer technology and ultrasound (ультразвук) to deterɪnine the size and shape of a room, avoid obstacles (препятствия), return to its docking station, recharge its batteries (перезаряжать батарейки) and resume where it left off⁵. Its price is £ 999.

Considerably cheaper is America's Roomba, developed by Massachusetts newcomer iRobot with help from the artificial intelligence (искусственный интеллект) division of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Roomba models range in price from $149.99 to $269.99.

Cooking is another task now being tackled⁶ by specialised computers. The TMIO — Tonight's Menu Intelligent Ovens (пeчкa) — is a combination refrigerator and cooker with separate, well-insulated compartments⁷ (камеры) that can heat and cool independently of each other. Anyone going out to work in the morning can leave his or her dinner in a compartment that keeps it cold during the day but changes into a cooker at a preset (заранее установленное) time so dinner is ready at the end of the day. When plans change, the device can be contacted and the settings (настройка) changed by phone⁸.

Other worthy (ценные) home robots include the iBot Mobility System, an advanced wheelchair (кресло для инвалидов) that climbs stairs, raises the user to eye — (or counter - or mirror-) level and navigates (передвигаться) uneven terrain (неровная местность). A blind couple are currently testing a talking washing machine⁹ developed by engineering students at Michigan State University.

Of course, most of these early examples are just highly advanced machines, but fully fledged (полноценные) household robots — the kind that walk and talk like people — may not be far off¹⁰. Honda's Asimo is 4ft tall and humanlike in physique (cлo-

жены как люди) and can turn sideways, walk forwards and backwards, negotiate corners (заходить в утлы) and climb up and down stairs. Meanwhile, Fujitsu's smaller bug-eyed Maron-1, already available commercially¹¹, can take pictures, be operated remotely by mobile phone and remember a home's layout. Sony also has an improved model of its pet dog, Aibo¹², which understands dozens of voice commands and can engage in two-way communication with mobile phones¹³ and other computing devices. The company also makes the humanoid Qrio, which walks, sings and dances. These are manufactured in Sony's entertainment division¹⁴, but could eventually be modified to take on household tasks.