Personal Robots on Sale for $400,000

Robots came to the rescue this summer to help seal the gushing BP oil well a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. New frontiers are now opening up for the use of robots in the office, hospitals and in the home.

The Silicon Valley robotics research lab Willow Garage is laying the groundwork for the use of personal robots. The Menlo Park lab recently announced that its Personal Robot 2 (PR2) is now commercially available for $400,000. PR2 is a spinoff of PR1, a robotics platform developed at nearby Stanford University.

"With PR2 now commercially available, we can't wait to see what our new users will develop on our platform," said Willow Garage. The team of robotics experts has already demonstrated PR2's use for repetitive tasks at work or home and suggests the robots could be developed as an assisted living alternative.