At the Taipei International Robot Show (TIROS), which was held in Taiwan from August 21-24, Via Technologies Inc. showed several ''entertainment robots'' based on its boards and chips.

Hon Hai, MSI and other Taiwan concerns are jumped in the arena, which is generating interest on the island. Taiwan's private sector increased its investment of robotics to $192 million in the first half of 2008, up 17 percent from the like period a year ago, according to the Robotics Association Taiwan (ROBOAT).

Taiwan's robot manufacturers are aiming for a share of the global market, which is worth a total of $17 billion annually, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

Industrial robots are expected to increase from about 951,000 units by the end of 2006 to 1,173,300 by the end of 2010, representing an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, the IFR said.

Robots for entertainment and leisure are poised for even faster growth with projected installations between 2007 and 2010, more than doubling the installed base in 2006 of about 1 million units, according to the IFR. These robots can perform a variety of functions for their human owners including security, maintenance and entertainment. The market data was provided by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

Meanwhile, at the robot show, chip maker Via (Taipei) showed three compact robots provided by PlayRobot, a Taiwan-based robot developer. One system, the Johnny 5 robot, includes Via's Pico-ITX board and its VIA VX800 unified chipset.

The actual robot, which is made by Lynxmotion Inc., is a kit based on the movie robot. The Johnny 5 kit from Lynxmotion is aimed for entry-level enthusiasts who want to start building their own robots.

The robot can be seen on YouTube.

Another robot, the Vecna Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR), is based on Via's EPIA Mini-ITX board. Designed to rescue military personnel in combat situations, the Vecna BEAR can lift up to 600 pounds.

Based on a Linux operating system, BEAR is controlled by hydraulics with dynamic balancing behavior to navigate buildings, landscapes and even stairs. More details of the Vecna BEAR can be found here.

"With our focus on miniaturization, feature integration and that all-critical power efficiency, Via has been enabling the increasing versatility and mobility of robotics for some time," said Daniel Wu, vice president of the VIA Embedded Platform Division at Via, in a statement. "Via's processor platforms are quite literally at the heart of this new robotic age."

''Robotics is clearly the next big industry, and changes in the demographic structure make it an even more appealing industry for companies to invest in,'' added Charles Wu, product manager in the consumer electronics business unit of Micro-Star International (MSI), in a statement. Taiwan-based MSI is among the world's five largest makers of motherboards for personal computers.

''Growing elderly populations, declining birth rates and shortages of manpower have all contributed to demand for entertainment robots or intelligent robots,'' Wu said.

MSI, which has invested in robotics R&D during the past five years, is developing entertainment robots.

Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics, is investing in robotics to enhance its in-house production capability. It has no plans to enter the business commercially.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved