Robot + Linux = something, were not sure what

Fujitsu, a company which acquired its name from a now defunct ninja star manufacturing facility, has finally realized how boring it is to make computer parts, and has branched into the exciting world of making computer parts fit onto robots.

Fujitsu has launched a humanoid robot – based on a real-time version of the Linux operating system. The HOAP-2 is driven by an Intel Pentium III running at 700MHz. It is half a metre high and weights 7kg, and is scheduled to ship to Japanese consumers in July (Fujitsu will begin taking orders next month).

According to the article in the register, Fujitsu has no firm plans on how this real time robot will be used.

We’re not entirely sure what buyers will do with the thing, which lacks the aesthetic appeal of Sony’s robot, also unveiled this week, the DR-4X. HOAP-2 looks like a cruder version of Honda’s Asimo droid.

Now this statement has me concerned on two fronts, one in which I am wondering what exactly do Japanese consumers want to do with a robot that requires aesthetic appeal, and two, how is it possible to be unsure what consumers should do with a REAL WALKING TALKING ROBOT.

This would be a start:

I figure that group of skills alone is enough to get him accepted at most colleges (except maybe the kill part, but wtf good is a robot if it can’t execute the simple task of offing something? thats right, ITS NOT GOOD AT ALL).

See, as I have mentioned before, and certainly will do again, scientists have a bad habit of overestimating themselves and the remainder of humanity when defining the word ‘useful’. It would be sort of useful if they made a robot that could drink tea, rescue kittens from a tree, and recite the complete works of Shakespeare, but try to convince me of that when I can’t find my remote.

I rest my case.