Robots are increasingly taking some of the burden of mundane tasks away from human beings.
Robotic assembly lines have reinvented manufacturing, and now small machines, seemingly with a mind of their own, are starting to be used in the service industry.
Rebecca Bowring reports.
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One hi-tech hotel in Cupertino, California, hopes to be spearheading a room service revolution.
It's trialling the first on-call robotic butler.
Botlr wears a bow tie, has a touch screen face, and resembles a mid-twentieth century vision of the future - that's according to Brian McGuinness, Global Brand Manager at Starwood Group.
SOUNDBITE #1- Brian McGuinness, Global Brand Manager, Starwood Group
It really is that moment of Rosie the maid on the Jetsons and R2D2, that sense of just something new and different, really just to bring a smile to the guest's face.
The mini concierge is tasked with delivering items like phone chargers, snacks or toothbrushes from the lobby to guests' rooms.
It finds its way around with sensors and lasers, and uses wi-fi to call the elevator or alert someone to its arrival.
Rather than tipping, guests can show their appreciation via a tweet.
Botlr was built from 3D-printed parts by a Silicon Valley company specializing in robotic helpers for the disabled.
Dr. Tessa Lau is Chief Robot Whisperer at Savioke.
SOUNDBITE #2- Dr. Tessa Lau, Chief Robot Whisperer, Savioke
What Botlr does is that he frees up the talent at the hotel to actually really look after the guests the way they want to, to provide a high level of service and to delight their guests better.
Like Dyson's new robotic vacuum cleaner, Botlr belongs to an expanding class of mobile robots that support humans by taking on labor-intensive tasks.
Self-driving cars such as the one Google's developing promise to shake up the automotive industry and take the pain out of the daily commute.
While robots are now much more than factory-based heavy-lifters or paint sprayers, Christina Bonnington, robotics writer at Wired, says navigational limitations mean truly autonomous machines remain a long way off.
SOUNDBITE #3- Christina Bonnington, Robotics Writer, Wired
They need a really structured environment, in order to survive and thrive they need to be able to sense where they're going, see what obstacles they have and those obstacles need to not be moving around a lot.
Interacting with Botlr is not yet a glitch-free experience.
But as processors, sensors, batteries and software all grow more sophisticated, our robot helpers should too.
Rebecca Bowring, San Francisco