On january 21st 2006 I read an article on the robot HRP-2, nicknamed Promet, a humanoid robot project created by Kawada Industries and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan. The robot is being specifically developed for home chores and assisting humans in various situations, and at the time the robot could could fetch a bottle of juice from a fridge on the command of its owner, amongst some other useful tasks. The video below is HRP-2 in a home demonstration.

In latest news, the University of Tokyo has been using the same robot platform for further development. They’re calling it HRP-2W, and I’d guess that the W stands for Wheels — as they’ve changed the legs to a wheelchair-like lower body. The robot has been given the ability to pour tea now, amongst several other awesome features.

Yahoo news report the following in the HRP story:

Already, monitoring technologies, such as sensors that automatically turn on lights when people enter a room, are becoming widespread in Japan. The walking, child-size Asimo from Honda Motor Co. greets people at showrooms. NEC Corp. has developed a smaller companion robot-on-wheels called Papero. A seal robot available since 2004 can entertain the elderly and others in need of fuzzy companionship.

Robotics and artificial intelligence are steadily advancing and most experts agree that they’ll be moving into our homes sooner than later. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that a team of South-Korean experts are drafting ethical rules to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa. From BBC news:

The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007. It is being put together by a five member team of experts that includes futurists and a science fiction writer.
[...]
The new guidelines could reflect the three laws of robotics put forward by author Isaac Asimov in his short story Runaround in 1942, [Park Hye-Young of the ministry's robot team] said.

Key considerations would include ensuring human control over robots, protecting data acquired by robots and preventing illegal use.

Other bodies are also thinking about the robotic future. Last year a UK government study predicted that in the next 50 years robots could demand the same rights as human beings.

The Robots are making their way from the labs and into our homes, accompanied by a Rulescroll of ethics. Some welcome the change but others are less enthused. I came across a blog article a few weeks back that was really hostile towards robotics and the proponents of artificial intelligence. It was creepy, this guy sounded dangerous. I wonder if there will be an onrush of Hollywood-influenced robot protesters in the near future? Terrorists? We don’t need to fear robots, humans are a lot scarier.

Watch some videos of Promet (HRP2, I couldn’t find any of the tea-pouring action HRP2W can do). They’re also available on YouTube, standing up, assembling a panel and dancing.