Meet the robot that‘s on a mission to get rid of short car trips
When a six-year-old boy first “woke up” the Gitamini robot, it was surprising he didn’t flinch – robots these days tend to be ominous. But as November leaves swirled around the sidewalk, the squat personal droid gave a friendly “chirp” and popped up on its two large wheels, ready to follow a new friend.
With the cream-coloured droid following about six feet behind, the boy glanced back to monitor Gitamini’s loyalty, occasionally prodding it with a “c’mon”. An hour later, the snacks and stuffed animals had company: a handful of new books and a pile of leaves deemed too beautiful to leave behind.
Service robots are now an $11 billion industry, according to the International Federation of Robotics, with nearly 200 new fleets launched during the pandemic. Most of those bots are in hospitals — assisting in surgery, for example — and many can be found trundling around warehouses and factories.
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on The National website.
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