Intel Brings Us HERB, The Robot Butler [Simple Robot Sorts Dishes, Fetches Things]

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I think we’ve all secretly, at one point or another, longed to live like Cartman in that World of Warcraft episode of South Park, with unlimited Hot Pockets an intercom button press away. But since we all don’t have a total doormat for a mother (not to mention the incredible sociopathic tendencies required to live like that), we’ll all be happy to hear about HERB, the newest robotic device from Intel.

Apparently, that Intel Core commercial with the guy inadvertently insulting the robot wasn’t so far off, because Intel’s been working on the HERB (Home Exploring Robot Butler, for you acronym buffs out there) for some time now. It’s got sufficient capability to serve dinner (but not prepare it, sadly), but also fetch things and bring them to you, remove and transport things, and do similar basic tasks.

The problem? HERB is a bit on the slow side. It takes HERB a while to do most anything–so long, in fact, you’ll probably get fed up with waiting and do it yourself. But still, a first step is a first step, and this is exactly the step we all needed to sit around and do nothing whilst robots do all the unpleasant chores.