Page 239 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

• Floor cleaning
• Greeting visitors
• Intrusion detection
• Meal preparation
• Photocopying
• Telephone answering
• Toilet cleaning
• Typing
• Window washing Phoneme
Practical robots versus toys
Some personal robots have been designed and sold, but until recently,
they were not sophisticated enough to be of any practical benefit. Most
such robots are more appropriately called hobby robots. A good household
robot, capable of doing even a few of the above chores efficiently and
reliably, is beyond the financial means of ordinary people. As technology
improves and becomes less expensive, the cost (in terms of a person’s real
earning power) will go down.
Simpler machines make good toys for children. Interestingly, if a robot
is designed and intended as a toy, it often sells better than if it is advertised
as a practical machine.
Questions and concerns
Robots must be safe to live around, and not pose any hazard to their
owners, especially children. This can be ensured with good design. All
robots should function in accordance with Asimov’s three laws.
Suppose a practical personal robot were available for about the same
price as a fine automobile. Would many people buy it? This is hard to
predict. As boring as some of the above-mentioned tasks might seem,
plenty of people enjoy doing them.Lawn mowing and snow removal can be
good exercise. Lots of people like to cook. Some people will never entrust
a robot to do things right, no matter how efficient and sophisticated the
machines might be.Some people might prefer to save or invest money they
could spend on a personal robot. Related definitions in this book include
ASIMOV’S THREE LAWS, EDUCATIONAL ROBOT, FIRE-PROTECTION ROBOT, FOOD SERVICE ROBOT,
GARDENING AND GROUNDSKEEPING ROBOT, HOBBY ROBOT, MEDICAL ROBOT, OFFLOADING, ROBOT
CLASSIFICATION, ROBOT GENERATIONS, SECURITY ROBOT, SMART HOME, SPEECH RECOGNITION,
and SPEECH SYNTHESIS.

PHONEME
A phoneme is an individual sound or syllable you make when you talk.
Examples are “ssss,”“oooo,” and “ffff.”

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