Matsushita Electric Works intros blood-toting HOSPI robot
Although Matsushita usually spends its toiling hours crafting gigantic televisions and ultrathin LCDs, the hard hat-wearing Matsushita Electric Works is busting out a blood-transporting robot to waltz the long, white halls in medical facilities everywhere. Designed specifically for "research institutes" which deal with blood inspections, the HOSPI droids are designed to work in groups which transport vials of blood from one workstation to another, while it "automatically analyzes" the containers on board. The self-proclaimed "sample conveyance robot" can wheel around at a blistering 2.2 mph to various destinations sans the need for tracks or human guidance, as it relies on programmable maps to understand the proper routes it should take. Sporting dual CPUs, the 'bot can presumably continue to operate (albeit less quickly) if one processor fails, and it also boasts the ability to dock itself in a recharge station if its battery is running low. Moreover, it sports a "highly precise laser radar" to avoid crashing into its blood-running brethren, walls, stray wheelchairs, and unmonitored patients. No word yet on how HOSPI reacts to EMMA's incessant requests for a date, however.
[Via Digital World Tokyo]
