Robotics is producing some amazing innovations and the best of the best will be on display at Expo, from robots that cook and serve meals to those that help the disabled and warn intruders.

After causing a sensation at the Aichi Expo in Japan five years ago, robots - in all shapes and sizes - are set to make a comeback at Expo 2010 Shanghai.

A collection of robots will turn out for the 184-day Expo, beginning on May 1. Their roles will range from cooking and serving meals for visitors and feeling pulses to detect possible ailments, to impersonating an ancient emperor and his imperial concubine.

Visitors to Expo will also encounter robotic bomb detectors, street patrol and security guards to ensure the event will run smoothly and safely.

"Expo offers the public, especially young people, access to cutting-edge technology," said Hong Hao, bureau chief of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. "It's an important education that goes beyond school textbooks."

At the Aichi Expo, one of the most unusual robots was the humanoid female Repliee Q1 expo from Japan. It is covered with a skin-like substance and imitates breathing by moving its mouth and shifting its torso.

The number and variety of robots at Shanghai Expo are even more spectacular than Aichi.

Wu Yulu, a robotics engineer from Beijing, has only a primary education, but he has been building machines for more than two decades. He will be displaying his work at Expo, including 38 robots with different functions like walking, climbing and pulling.

It is the robots at the host city's exhibition at the Urban Best Practice Area, Shanghai Eco-house, which will steal much of the limelight.

The Eco-house, on the Puxi section of the Expo site, is driven by solar and wind power and is geothermally heated, creating a zero carbon footprint.

Visitors to the pavilion will be greeted by a robot band consisting of three machines, which look like young ladies, performing folk music with traditional Chinese instruments. Developers at Shanghai Electric said it is the world's first robot band that can play Chinese folk songs.

On the fourth floor of the pavilion is the robotic "caretaker" Lingling, which allows user interaction using mobile phones. Its two mechanical arms open doors, pour tea, fetch goods and scan for fires and intruders. Its design allows it to be used as a wheelchair to aid the disabled, who can control its movement with a lever.

Developers said visitors to Eco-house can interact with a robot capable of preparing Chinese cuisine. The model, the size of a two-door refrigerator, is programmed with information to prepare up to 600 kinds of dishes. It can fry, boil, simmer and brew food and beverages.

Japan, the world leader in robotics, will show off new innovations with robots that can take care of the needs of elderly people, an important direction in an ageing society like Japan.

Toyota, for instance, will exhibit a model that can play the violin. Developers say the robot can draw the violin bow as gently as a human, with its left hand able to hold the strings with the correct amount of pressure.

This robot is not designed for entertainment. It is being developed for use in various ways, including helping with household chores.

At the Japan pavilion a robot, designed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, for taking care of the elderly who live alone will be on display. The model is programmed to understand languages and react to the user's facial expressions.

At the Life and Sunshine pavilion, researchers at Jiaotong University will demonstrate how robots can be used in aiding the disabled. Different from traditional robots, this prototype has "eyes" in the form of laser detectors; a microphone that acts as ears, and a computer control system as its "brain". Audio- and facial-recognition technology enables the robot to understand user commands and give appropriate responses.

"To complete a series of movements requires further studies in cutting-edge technology," Jiaotong University professor Chen Weidong told the Xinmin Evening News. The model can understand language commands and read gestures, he said.

Expo also boasts a lineup of robots whose purpose is to entertain. Two of these, which resemble Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and his concubine Yang Guifei, will be a huge draw at the Shaanxi province pavilion.

The pair is programmed to deliver greetings and recite the long narrative poem, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, which tells the story of Yang Guifei.

The Aurora pavilion, the only corporate pavilion underwritten by a Taiwan company, will feature robots that can talk, sing and dance.

Only a fraction of Expo visitors will be able interact with the robots, given the huge number of tourists expected to visit the pavilion, said Tan Baijuan, the deputy director of the Aurora pavilion.

(China Daily March 30, 2010)