Robot Bartender Pours, Listens

The T-Rot thinking robot will make its public debut at the APEC forum underway now in Busan, Korea. T-Rot is shown below tending bar at the Robot Cafe, pouring a drink for Kim Mun-Sang, director of the Ministry of Science and Technology Robot taskforce).

(From T-Rot thinking robot tends bar)

T-Rot has two cameras which help it recognize both people and objects -- like bottles, glasses and refrigerators -- and see their position in three dimensions. It also has the capability of listening to customers and responding with appropriate conversational comments.

In order to correctly apply force to different objects, T-Rot has special skin developed by the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science. This allows T-Rot to apply the correct pressure in a handshake with a person, or in holding a delicate glass. T-Rot can even pick up eggs without breaking them. See the story Robots Get Pressure-Sensitive Skin for more information.

Fans of writer Harry Harrison will remember the robot bar from his 1965 novel Bill the Galactic Hero:

Drinky, drinky, make you stinky," a robot bar said, rolling up and whispering in his ear. It made the sound of ice cubes rattling in a frosty glass.
(Read more about Harry Harrison's robot bartender)

Learn more about T-Rot's predecessors at Koolio the Refrigerator Robot and Pressure-Sensitive Skin; read more about T-Rot the Thinking Robot Bartender.

(This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission from Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction.)