Auto giants' new robot can help the sick, pick up after people

Toyota's new R2-D2-esque robot is devoted to a single task: picking things up.

HSR, which stands for "human support robot," comes with a single mechanical arm that can hold objects of various shapes and sizes and also pick up smaller items with a tiny suction cup that's attached.

It doesn't have other tricks in its cabinet, except for a computer panel on its head for surfing the Internet. The robot can be operated from another computer and use it like a camera-phone.

"Although it can only do one simple task of picking up, it's already making disabled people quite happy. We're just getting stated, but eventually we want it to enter people's homes,"Kouichi Ikeda, engineer of the robot, said at an exhibition of health care technology in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo.

"People feel more comfortable asking a robot to pick up after them than asking a human helper," said manager and engineer at the Yokohama Rehabilitation Center, Tadashi Hatakenaka.

He also said a robot like HSR is also ideal to replace service dogs, which go through special training to help people with various disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs, have balance issues or may be prone to seizures.

Toyota came up with the basic concept model for HSR back in 2012.