Innovative robots that can mow the lawn, babysit and follow you around the home unveiled

Robots that can mow the lawn, teach children or follow you around the home — and even a hands-free suitcase — are the latest developments in artificial intelligence.

A robot revolution is happening at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as companies display bots that can teach your children, follow you around during video calls, mow your lawn, wheel your suitcase for you and one that just wants cuddles.

First off there is Temi, the personal robot who can move with you while making video calls, plays music, and can help you with basic assistant tasks like providing recipes.

Its maker Robotemi also revealed that the 100cm tall, 12-kilogram robot has plans to integrate Amazon’s Alexa assistant. The company says it is hopeful of launching in Australia but has no set date, however US customers can pre-order now for $1499 with the first units expected to be shipped by March.

Then there is Lovot, whose only purpose is to give you love.

The 43-centimetre, three-kilogram fabric-covered companion is not pre-programmed to do anything but it has touch sensors all over its body so it will laugh if you tickle it, come to you when you call it and even fall asleep if you cuddle it for long enough.

It also features a hemispherical camera on top of its head that can take photos, as well as microphones and a thermal camera.

Lovot, from Japanese robotics start-up GrooveX, can recognise up to 1000 voices

Groove X says that Lovot is designed to “nurture people’s capacity to love” by demanding the affection of its owner.

However love does come at a price. GrooveX is charging $US3000 through preorders now for 2020.

Meanwhile, ForwardX has designed a couple of ingenious robots to help us humble humans.

The Ovis suitcase is the luggage you didn’t know you needed. This clever carry-on follows alongside you, eliminating the need to pull your suitcase behind.

When you encounter stairs or an escalator, you place your hand on the suitcase handle to engage manual mode.

The Ovis suitcase will drive itself at up to 10km/h for four hours or 20 kilometres, whichever comes first

A wearable band alerts the owner if the robot gets stopped or falls behind and a GPS tracking module allows users to locate the suitcase if they happen to leave it somewhere.

However, at a relatively expensive price point of $US799 you will likely keep an eye on this suitcase, even if it is meant to be keeping eyes on you.

It is expected to be available for sale in the middle of the year

The other product that ForwardX has designed is the Ovis Lawn Mower, a computer vision-powered robotic lawnmower to take over the chore of grass cutting.

It can detect when it encounters concrete, garden beds or other people.

This product doesn’t have a release date as it is still a prototype.

“We’ve pioneered several different technologies — most importantly unparalleled computer vision — to create the world’s smartest suitcase,” said Nicolas Chee, founder and CEO of ForwardX.

“However, it’s the underlying technology — the AI brain we’ve developed — that allows us to develop AI-powered robotic applications for an unlimited number of consumer and industrial uses.”

Finally, there is the iPal Robot from Chinese company AvatarMind Robot Technology.

Designed to be a buddy to children in a country where siblings are rare, however while it may only stand 1.06m tall, it has gained attention for its babysitting capabilities.

iPal speaks two languages, English and Mandarin, gives math lessons, tells jokes, and interacts with humans through a 15-cm screen in its chest.

Parents can pair a smartphone to hear and see everything iPal does, so it is basically a nanny-cam as well.

“The idea for this robot is to be a companion for children,” said Tingyu Huang, co-founder of AvatarMind Robot Technology.

“When a child sees it, he or she will think of the robot as a friend, as another child in the family.”

This reporter travelled to CES in Las Vegas courtesy of Samsung.

Originally published as Innovative robots that can mow the lawn, babysit and follow you around the home unveiled