Rent makes robots affordable for work and play

In hospitals across the US, patients and staff are used to seeing a four-foot-tall, one-armed, friendly-looking white robot at work.

The robot, by its maker, Diligent Robotics, has been saying “good morning,” high fives, and even hugging nurses to greet it.

Moxie – which transports medical supplies around hospitals – can respond by flashing its heart-shaped LED eyes and its own beeping greeting.

“We get a lot of feedback that Moxie feels like part of the team,” said Todd Brueger, CEO of the Texas-based robotics company, which has about 100 wheeled robots.

But getting Moxy into the hospital doesn’t mean buying one of the machines outright. Instead, it’s among the robots available for rent or subscription.

Robotics companies use the term robotics-as-a-service. As well as the robot itself, service, maintenance and upgrades are covered in the agreement. A human engineer sitting in a remote control room can be on hand to control the robot if needed.

In the case of Moxie, Brugger says, “It reduces costs and expenses for the hospital because you’re not paying the full cost upfront for the purchase. Second, and most importantly, this technology is evolving rapidly…we’re regularly improving the robot’s software and capabilities.”

Robot rentals are being offered for anything from moxie hospital deliveries to robot bartenders or autonomous weeders for farming, from day to year.

This increasingly includes early human models that are designed to look and feel like humans and operate in environments designed for humans.

Humanoids are currently hired for clearly defined tasks as they are still a work in progress. It usually means entertainment. Depending on the model, a machine can dance, sing or serve guests at a wedding or corporate event.

According to Ethan Qi, associate director at Beijing-based Counterpoint Research, an act like humanistic dancing is easy to pull off.

“You hire a real dancer and you make the video. The video is then used to train the robot. Then the robot knows how to dance. But if the environment or the stage is not easy, the engineer still goes with the robot,” he said.