The Amazing Robot Innovations At The Goodwood Future Lab

The Mirokaï are intended for hospitals, nursing homes, airports and other human-centered environments. They can carry items, navigate autonomously, communicate in multiple languages and use animated expressions to signal what they are doing. Their wheeled bases also provide stability and energy efficiency.

Their early applications show how personality can create practical value. A Mirokaï has worked as a concierge at Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport. Another has engaged elderly people experiencing cognitive decline through conversation, music and games. At the Montpellier Cancer Institute, a Mirokaï has accompanied children into radiotherapy rooms, where human companions cannot remain during treatment. At Goodwood, OLO brought together an impressive collection of machines. The Unitree G1 is a compact humanoid built for agile movement and dexterous manipulation. The DEEP Robotics LYNX M20 combines wheels and legs, allowing it to roll across suitable ground and tackle more difficult terrain. Fiction Lab’s Leo Rover combines mobility, autonomy and sensing technologies to explore places that may be inaccessible or dangerous for humans.

Watching each machine move was impressive. Seeing different types coordinate their actions was far more revealing. Its robotics exhibits ranged from humanoids that could walk, run and manipulate objects to quadrupeds and mobile rovers built for difficult terrain. Some could dance, do Kung Fu or play hide-and-seek. One robotic arm was even programmed to play Jenga, a game capable of exposing the shaky hands of many humans.

The demonstrations were entertaining, but they carried a serious message. Robots are becoming more capable, approachable and easier to put to work.

Teaching Everyone To Speak Robot

Sheffield-based OLO Robotics, chaired by Raspberry Pi co-founder Liz Upton, has developed a cloud platform that lets people program robots through a web browser using plain English.