Japanese car giant Toyota on Wednesday unveiled a robotic best friend that can offer a helping hand around the house fetching and carrying for the elderly or immobile. The human support robot, a compact cylinder-shaped machine 37 centimetres (about 15 inches) in diameter and up to 130 centimetres tall, can be remotely controlled by a tablet computer to recognise items it is sent to fetch.
Taking their cue from dogs that are trained to retrieve things, Toyota engineers designed the robot to perform simple tasks on command, using an arm equipped with a small suction pad.