Robo helper

There's nothing special about making a piece of toast--unless a robot is doing it for you. Twendy-One, a human-size, 111-kilogram (245-pound) robot designed to help people with dally tasks, not only makes toast, it's powerful enough to lift a person out of bed.

Twendy-One can handle delicate objects without crushing them and can interact safely with people, thanks to the 200-plus pressure sensors in each of its hands. "A future robot nurse or physical therapist has to be able to touch you without it being painful or clumsy," says Chris Atkeson, a roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. Ultimately, he says, the goal is to develop robots strong enough to pick you up, but sensitive enough to give you a hug without squeezing you too hard.

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