(2 Jul 2015) LEADIN:
From emotion-reading bots to movement-mimicking droids, a wild array of robots are wowing visitors to Lyon's Innorobo exhibition.
Having increased by 50 percent in size since last year's event, exhibitors are demonstrating robots built for a variety of applications, including industrial, personnel and professional service bots.
STORYLINE:
Serving up at a treat.
At 'Innorobo', an international robotics event in Lyon, this high-speed packaging droid, built by Swiss mechatronics makers Staubli, is going into overdrive.
It's one of many high-tech creations going on show at the three-day event, thought to be Europe's only international event completely dedicated to robotics.
"It's is the place where I want to gather all the roboticists of the world and I want them to talk to other industries," says Innorobo organiser, Catherine Simon.
"To demonstrate to those other industries that they will have their world, their business model, their innovation transformed by technological innovation. And the robotic innovation can help us to solve societal challenges and I hope for a better world."
While there's a wide range of applications in the robotics industry - including industrial, personal and professional service bots - this year, robots are interacting with humans like never before.
Aldebaran's latest creation - named 'Pepper' - is a robot designed to live with human beings.
He doesn't clean or cook, but is able to converse with his human owners, even recognising and reacting to different emotions.
"Pepper lives with us. So needs to understand what's going on and needs understand and to adapt to things that are going on," explains Magalie Cuvier, global marketing manager for Aldebaran.
"So the idea is that he can detect if I'm happy, if I'm sad and then act depending on that. So that you know when I'm happy he's not doing things that are not appropriate. So it's really, the reason why we want to read these emotions is to make sure the robot takes the context into account and can interactive in the best way."
This year's event is much larger than last year's, there's 50 percent more exhibition space.
There are over 200 exhibitors this year, with around 500 robots from 20 different countries.
It's yet another sign of the expanding use of robot technology is an array of industries such as agriculture.
According to a study by Wintergreen Research, the agricultural robotics market is forecasted to reach $16.3 billion USD by 2020 - that's a 20-fold increase since 2013 ($817 million USD).
Event organiser, Simon, has high hopes for this year's event.
"Further exhibitors out of 140 last year so we have a great progression," she says.
"As much as the robotic market is growing exponentially and we have about 500 technologies and robots demonstrating here and to 15,000 I hope, because it's the number of last year."
And robots here are helping humans in a variety of ways.
Paris-based robot makers Criif - meaning Centre de Robotique Integree d'Ile de France - have created this robot called 'SAMI'.
He's a life-sized, semi-humanoid robot that uses motion detection to mimic a person's movements, potential applications include the manufacturing and healthcare industries.
Rolling around the event floor is 'Buddy', a home assistance and companion robot created by Paris-based Blue Frog Robotics.
Attending the event from Japan is tech maker Kawasaki Robotics, which create bots used for a wide range of applications including food handling and machine tending.
Innorobo runs 1-3 July in Lyon, France.
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