ANDROIDS and ROBOTS in the NEWS

Jetsons-style robot by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Credit: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

The Wakamaru robot is designed in the shape of a human being so that it's not considered simply a machine or a terminal, but rather an "independent personality." It's 3 feet tall and weighs about 66 pounds.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will accept orders from Sept. 16 to Oct. 31 for the Wakamaru humanoid robot. The robots will go for about 1.58 million yen (a little more than $14,000). Here, an image from a MHI video shows the bot using laser to search for a person.

Here's what the Wakamaru humanoid robot sees. It can remind users of appointments and serve as a home watchdog. It recognizes approximately 10,000 words necessary for daily life.

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Japanese industrial designer Toshiyuki Kita created Wakamuru by imagining a growing child. Kita's concept was to create "an object that can approach its user."