Meinü robot

A Meinü robot is a Chinese fembot that was reported on in Chinese news sources in 2006.[http://www.chinanews.com.cn/other/news/2006/08-04/768715.shtml ChinaNews article] in Chinese[http://tech.sina.com.cn/d/2006-08-03/16281069586.shtml sina.com Tech article] in Chinese[https://web.archive.org/web/20121013220310/http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2006-08/04/content_4920844.htm Xinhua report] in Chinese[http://tech.tom.com/2006-08-04/04BI/06762669.html tom.com Tech article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017041243/http://tech.tom.com/2006-08-04/04BI/06762669.html |date=2007-10-17 }} in Chinese In Mandarin, Měinǚ Jīqìrén 美女机器人 literally means "beautiful-woman robot" and is officially translated "beauty robot". The first Meinü was later named Miss Rong Cheng.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4770000/newsid_4775900/nb_wm_4775951.stm BBC News video]

The unit is capable of locomotion, using visual navigation to avoid obstacles, speech recognition, emotion recognition (whether audio or gestural is not stated), and speaking. It speaks English, Standard Chinese and Sichuanese Mandarin, and can recognize and respond to 1,000 words.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/rise-of-the-machines/10/|publisher=CBS News|title=Rise of the Machines: Rong Cheng|date=January 2014 |access-date=April 6, 2018}} It can tell jokes, sing songs, etc. It is intended for tour-guide applications, businesses and hotels, advertising, and possibly for TV-show hosting. Rong Cheng is 163 cm tall and weighs 60 kg.{{cite web|url=https://www.roboticstoday.com/robots/miss-rong-cheng-description|title=Miss Rong Cheng|publisher=Robotics Today|access-date=April 6, 2018}}

Rong Cheng was sent to the Sichuan Science and Technology Museum to be a receptionist or tour guide. The first copy build cost was approximately 300,000 yuan ($37,500),{{cite news|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2006-08/07/content_659088.htm|publisher=China Daily|date=August 2006|title=Beauty Robot|agency=Reuters|access-date=April 6, 2018}} but the inventors expect this could be reduced to a third of that if 100 were to be produced. Only one year of research was required to produce it, which suggests it was built upon other projects.

It was worked on by 10 researchers from the Robot Research Center at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. ChinaDaily's English edition named the principal designer as Li Chengrong,[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/04/content_657625.htm ChinaDaily English article] whereas Reuters and Sina English said it was Yue Hongqiang.[http://www.sabcnews.com/world/asia1pacific/0,2172,132733,00.html Reuters report][http://english.sina.com/p/1/2006/0808/85533.html SINA English article] (also has a picture of the robot's internals, apparently showing hydraulics)