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October 30, 2005
Asimov's 4th law: A robot must serve a mean cuppa
 When you think of Japanese robots, you probably think of Asimo, Honda's cutesy dancing-and-soccer robot, or Qrio, Sony's jogging robot. Or perhaps you think of Transformers, or Gundam, or Neon Genesis Evangelion.
But either way, you probably *don't* think of 18th-century Edo-period tea-serving robots: This Kabuki-styled doll approaches surprised guests with a full teacup on a tray; it stops walking when the teacup is taken, waits quietly, bows, then slowly turns around, smoothly scooting away with the empty teacup on its tray...
How does it work? When a tea cup is placed on the tray, the stopper is released by the whale spring attached to the doll’s arms; the spring forces the stopper to engage again when the cup is lifted from the tray. Further reading: Robotics timeline, featuring similar contraptions.
[Link via Boing Boing]
Posted by chris at October 30, 2005 06:31 PM | Permalink
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