Two-armed robot takes on risky lab work

Mahoro mixes it up with its seven-jointed arms.

(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)

We've seen robot pharmacists before. Here's a robot lab technician whose speed might make "CSI" plots a little more believable.

Developed by automation giant Yaskawa and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), co-creator of the HRP series of humanoid robots, Mahoro is a two-armed droid that looks like a modified Yaskawa Motoman assembly robot.

Unlike most assembly robots, its arms have seven joints, allowing it to use human tools and to perform humanlike motions easily.

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It automates lab work and can do tasks such as culturing more quickly and accurately than human lab techs, DigInfo News tells us in the vid below.

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