BEIJING, June 25 -- Sweep the room, sir? Yes, sir.

    Obstacles in the way? Not a problem, sir.

    And by the way, we have an unwelcome visitor, sir.

    China's first robot for use around the house is expected to be available by the end of the year from the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, university researchers said on Friday.

    Hong Bingrong, the professor in charge of the programme, told China Daily that the university is developing a humanoid robot designed exclusively for family use.

    The half-metre-tall wheeled robot can talk, do the vacuuming and guard the house. It can clean a 30-square-metre room within 20 minutes using its built-in vacuum cleaner.

    With ultrasonic and other sensors around its body, "it can carefully avoid obstacles and will not hit people or furniture in the room," Hong said.

    The robot can also distinguish people using voice and image recognition systems.

    "He will be friendly when he meets an acquaintance and will sound an alarm when he meets somebody he doesn't recognize," Hong said.

    The robot can also tell its owner if certain domestic emergencies are happening. "Basically, its intelligence is like a child of 7 or 8 years," Hong said. It can even be programmed to know where to recharge itself once its battery gets low.

    The whole idea of the design and development of the domestic robot is based on the "self-navigation" technology Hong and his colleagues developed after forming a Robot-Soccer Player Research Group at HIT eight years ago.

    The players Hong and his colleagues designed achieved considerable success, including top prizes in the Robot World Cup.

    The outside design of the robot is already completed, Hong said, and the whole thing should be finished by the end of this year.

    Its market price will be between 10,000 and 30,000 yuan (US$1,200-3,600) depending on the various functions.

    What's next? A robot sweeper and home security system is one thing, Hong said, but "it may take us decades to develop a robot housemaid like a real one."

(Source: China Daily)