PC maker Asustek has teamed up with the Taiwanese Government to develop an educational robot for children that will be called EeeBot. The gizmo will be powered by the free open source Google Android operating system and in an effort to further reduce total cost, Asus will subsidize the hardware. By doing so, the hope is to have an affordable android that can be used in schools as well as by families. Although we’re still at least two years away before trial production begins, initial reports do indicate that EeeBot will come with human robot interaction (HRI) technology, navigational capacity as well as both visual and voice recognition software. There is no specifics as to what educational software EeeBot will come programmed with.
Although Asus will be subsidizing the hardware, it’s expected that this venture will generate $155 million dollars in four years. In addition, adding the EeeBot under the Asus umbrella simply allows the company to expand their consumer electronics line which already includes such devices as the Eee Keyboard and the Eee PC netbook.
Via: Electronista, Gizmodo
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