The Hospi robot, developed by Panasonic, already serves drinks and assists customers in a hotel and an airport.
Hospi slips slowly to the customer and offers his assortment of drinks. The customer opens a small fridge, where the robot’s stomach would be if it were a person, and chooses one of the bottles. On his screen, where his face would be if he were a real waiter, Hospi displays a smile. The Panasonic automaton demonstrate your care skills in a hotel and at an airport from Japan.
The design of the robot dates back to 2004, when Panasonic decided to start working on the project. Ten years later the result came to light: a care robot. The tasks performed by Hospi consist of moving objects and reporting through a speaker.
Panasonic has now embarked on public demonstrations of its product. For four days in January the robot serve drinks and inform customers at the Crown Plaza Ana Narita hotel in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo. It will also offer ads on your screen, such as bus schedules for the airport. He then goes on to demonstrate his talent at Narita International Airport, specifically in a restaurant. There the robot has to pick up the dirty crockery and take it to the kitchen to be washed.
The machine is completely autonomous. It moves at low speed and has sensors to avoid hitting walls or people. Currently Hospi is already used in hospitals to assist the nursing staff. Take medicine and medical equipment wherever it is needed, and always with a smile on the screen.
In the airport hotel and restaurant demonstrations are aimed at the public and companies to see the potential of the robot. In 2020 are the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Japan expects a huge flow of visitors. To assist this mass of newcomers the country wants to count on a fleet of robots that perform care tasks and Hospi is one of the candidates to be part of this campus.
The land of the rising sun sees in robots a way to counter the shortage of workers. The stagnation of the population, which has barely grown since the 80s, makes it difficult to find a workforce. The unemployment rate is currently at 3%, one of the lowest.
Image: Panasonic
