Chinese robot Astribot S1 performs household tasks
The Chinese robotics company Astribot has developed a robot that can be used in the home. However, some questions remain unanswered.
The Astribot S1 vacuums dust.
(Image: Astribot)
The Chinese robotics company Astribot has announced its semi-humanoid household robot S1 and immediately presented a few suitable moving images showing the robot performing various household tasks. However, Astribot does not provide much information about the S1, although the "launch" video indicates that sales will start soon.
How nice it would be to come home from work and find your home in top condition: the crumbs from the previous day have been vacuumed away, the dishes have been washed and put away, and the bathroom shines in unprecedented splendor. Robots that can do this do not yet exist. The various tasks are too complex to perform, and they still need to be learned. Astribot promises to have found a solution: the S1. The robot should also be able to look after its owner, bake waffles, make tea and feed the pet.
The S1 has a human-like torso with several degrees of freedom, a head and two movable arms. They each have seven degrees of freedom and can each lift a weight of 10 kg. The robot performs delicate tasks with its two-finger grippers. Complex, human-like hands are not used. Apparently, simple grippers are sufficient to perform various household tasks.
Mobile with wheels
The humanoid, mobile upper body sits on a wheeled base. This concept is mainly used when complex movement control on two legs is too complex. This mobile concept is also likely to be significantly cheaper to produce. However, wheel-driven mobility also has disadvantages: It does not allow the robot to move freely in man-made environments, such as a household. Stairs, for example, are then insurmountable for it, meaning that it can only move around on one level in a house or apartment. It is unclear how good the robot's mobility actually is. In one sequence of the video, it can be seen that it is still connected to a cable, presumably for the power supply, which restricts its freedom of movement. It is conceivable that it will later be powered by internal batteries.
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In the video, Astribot shows which household tasks the S1 robot should be able to perform. This starts with vacuuming and tidying up and does not end with making tea. Astribot states that the individual trained skills in the video are performed independently by the robot in real time, without the need for an external operator. Astribot does not provide any precise details about the training, the underlying artificial intelligence (AI) or the machine learning methods. The robotics company is also keeping a lid on the envisaged price and release date.
(olb)