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RoboPorter robot caddie is going to make a lot of RealPorters mad
Weary travelers flying into Japan's Kita Kyushu airport will be pleased to know that they can give their arms a rest — on certain afternoons, Yaskawa Electric will have RoboPorters cruising the airport, ready to serve. Each RoboPorter can haul over 100 pounds to any destinations it's programmed to go to. Just tell it where you're headed or, if you're not quite sure, the 'bot has a display on it with a virtual assistant, map of the airport and additional information.
Right now the RoboPorters are only programmed to head off to airport locations for taxis, buses and cars, but, as the tests progress the porters will no doubt learn new tricks.
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Robot Watch, via Digital World Tokyo
By Anonymous Coward at 12:06 PM ON 02/14/08
ummm... so the title led me to believe that the story would include information regarding real porter's discontent for automation. Did I miss something or do the editors need to be smacked?
By hmind at 7:52 PM ON 02/18/08
hmm, cool except what keeps someone from stealing one of the bags when its en route? Or does it always stay with the bag owner?
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hmind:
hmm, cool except what keeps someone from stealing one of the bags when its en route? Or does it always stay with th...More »