A New Kind of Tour

First they were marrying people, now they are showing us around. Toyota, a leading car maker and manufacturer, has once again leap ahead of its competition; this time, however is not in its automobile division, instead it has succedded with the introduction of a robot guide that conducts tour and escorts visitors in its Kaikan Exhibition Hall in Toyota City, Japan.

The robot, which lacks legs, is equipped with autonomous movement capabilities for avoiding obstacles and with jointed fingers, allowing it to sign autographs using the Roman alphabet. In addition, the robot interacts with visitors through a combination of verbal communication and gestures.

The new robot is a result of Toyota's continuous efforts to develop robots, focusing on four areas where they can be most useful to humans — domestic duties, nursing and medical care, manufacturing, and short-distance personal transport.

Introducing the World’s Largest & Strongest Robot

KUKA Robotics today announced the introduction of their latest robot, the KUKA KR 1000 titan 6- axis robot into the Guinness Book of Records. The KUKA titan can withstand a static torque of 60,000 newton meters (Nm) with a payload capacity of 1000 kg and a reach of 3200 mm.

With such a massive machine in hand KUKA has placed themselves at the forefront of industrial design and manufacturing decreasing the space needed in manufacturing plants providing a cost effective alternative. The robot also provides speeds and dynamics never seen before.

KUKA Robotics Corporation is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots, with an annual production volume approaching 10,000 units, and an installed base of over 80,000 units. The company’s 5 and 6 axis robots range from 3kg to 570kg payloads, and 635mm to 3700mm reach, all controlled from a common PC based controller platform.

The German based organization can be contacted at 866-873-5852 or via its web site at www.kukarobotics.com. They will also be the Premier Sponsor of RoboCup 2007 in Atlanta, GA.