Robotic Nation Evidence

Segway Robotic Platform

Humanoid robots like ASIMO are the holy grail, but bipedal motion is still complicated and expensive. The humanoid chassis will not be a commodity item for several years. In the meantime, a new robotic platform is emerging that is small, fast and inexpensive. As discussed in these articles, the platform is based on the Segway:

• What's Next: A Robotic Assistant in Need of Legs Gets Some Wheels
  
  
• CNN.com - Will Segways become battlefield bots?
  
  
• Segway robot opens doors

The Segway platform has at least four big advantages right now.

• It is available today as a plug-and-play system.
• It has relatively long range and long battery life.
• It has a small footprint -- not quite as small as a human, but close.
• It can carry 200 pounds.

Imagine, for example, talking helper robots that "walk" with you to find items in Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Imagine armed security guard robots. Imagine robotic nurses. And so on.

[See also Bots, humans play together]