Robot Kitchen in Hong Kong, China, opened in July 2006. It has two robot staff members capable of taking orders from customers and delivering their meals to them. A third robot is being constructed that should be able to perform simple culinary tasks, such as preparing omelettes and flipping burgers.
At around 10:30 am (PST) on 29 October 1969, the first ever attempt to connect two computers remotely occurred. Computer scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, attempted to log into a computer at the Stamford Research Institute. The first log in failed but the second attempt was successful shortly after.
The earliest rhythm action video game was PaRappa the Rapper, which was released in 1996. The game saw players taking on the role of a cartoon dog, pressing the right button at the right time to make him perform raps.
The 1st International Robot Olympics was held on 27–28 September 1990 at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK. An Olympic torch was carried from the Parthenon Greek restaurant through the streets of Glasgow by Trolleyman (a golf-cart-like wheeled robot that eventually suffered power failure) before robot representatives from the USA, Japan, Canada, Europe and the former Soviet Union participated in events such as collision avoidance, wall climbing, speaking and bipedal walking. Unfortunately, a carpet laid especially for the event was the undoing of most
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NEC’s (Japan) range of “Partner-type Personal Robots”, or “PaPeRos”, are designed for maximum interaction with humans. The Papero Childcare robot has been specially adapted with two (stereoscopic) camera “eyes” to recognize surroundings and faces, eight microphone “ears” to detect and recognize speech – even from multiple sources – and mobile-phone connectivity that allows PaPeRo to stay in touch with the absent parents. It can also speak with a 3,000-word vocabulary and react to touch via nine sensors. Children in the care of PaPeRo wear an
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The earliest launch of a liquid-fuelled rocket (patented 14 Jul 1914) was by Dr Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) of the USA, at Auburn, Massachusetts, USA on 16 Mar 1926, when his rocket reached an altitude of 12.5m 41ft and travelled a distance of 56m 184ft.
Playing a brass instrument requires constant changes to the embouchure (the arrangement of the mouth, lips and tongue) to reach certain notes. The first robot to achieve this is an as-yet-unnamed bipedal invention designed by Toyota (Japan). In the same “family” are robots with the dexterity to play the tuba and drums. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3501336.stm http://www.honda-robots.com/english/html/p3/frameset2.html
NEC System Technologies and Mie University, Japan, have developed a robot capable of tasting wine and recognizing the differences between a few dozen varieties. To “taste”, the “wine-bot” fires an infrared beam through the wine and analyses the various wavelengths of light that are absorbed. A built-in speaker is used to announce the variety of wine selected.
The first women’s four to row an ocean are Kathy Tracey, Paula Evemy, Sarah Day and Lois Rawlins-Duquemin (all Guernsey, UK) who rowed the Atlantic East to West from San Sebastian de La Gomera, Spain to Antigua in Mission Atlantic between 30 November 2005 and 5 February 2006.
Ben Gordon (USA) of the Chicago Bulls (USA) is the first-ever rookie to win the NBA Sixth Man Award, honoring the league’s top player in a reserve role. Gordon appeared in all 82 regular season games of the 2004-05 season for the Bulls, coming off the bench in 79 of them to average 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.