With high expectations I sat down opposite the Japanese robotics executive. My interest intensified when he pushed away the restaurant chopsticks to make room for a beautiful lacquer box that he drew out of his suit coat pocket. With a look of pride, he solemnly opened its lid to reveal a doll-like Japanese warrior in a full suit of armor.
The metal-clad warrior, the size of a mobile phone, shone in the candlelight as it lay beside two light green rods in the red silk lining. “Titanium,” said the man answering my wondering eyes, “and these…jade, jade sticks.” He picked up the warrior and clicked a stick into each of its feet.
“This, first technological advance in chopsticks in five millennium,” he added, “We call it Chop Bot.” And then, pressing on the helmet to widen and narrow the legs, he proceeded to eat with them. My heart sank and I replied in disappointment, “But those are no more than motorized tweezers. I was promised a state of the art micro robot.”
The businessman only winked, rested the Nippon fighter on his index finger and gave it a flip upward. Amazingly, instead of falling to the other side, the warrior stood, slightly swaying, high over the plate. Not glued to the porcelin, it took a step now and then, almost losing its balance stumbling over a sushi. “Excellent!” I burst out.
“Yes,” the guest smiled, “Like walking on stilts. Next product, two Chop Bots in samarai combat.”-- FarmerJohn, Feb 09 2004 (?) chopstick history http://www.calacade...utensil/chpstck.htm[morrison_rm] fuel shortage -> small bits -> small utensils [FarmerJohn, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] <Badly sync'd> Ha! Eat soup lanky warrior man! </badly sync'd>-- Fishrat, Feb 09 2004 Yes, I would buy them, [FramerJhon]. I'm hard pressed to think of anything you couldn't sell me... +-- k_sra, Feb 09 2004 I thought this was going to be more battle-bots -esque. Beautiful idea, John. Next test for the ChopBot - croissants.-- Letsbuildafort, Feb 09 2004 (I liked it better when you were having lunch with Charlie Chan)-- half, Feb 09 2004 (Mostly portrayed by a Swede)-- FarmerJohn, Feb 09 2004 I want a little samurai robot that sits next to my plate and chops up my food for me with his tiny little sword. Heck, I want a real samurai to stand next to me and chop up my food...-- luecke, Feb 09 2004 There are no real samurai anymore, [luecke]. Unless you can make do with a psuedo-samurai like in that film "Ghost Dog" or whatever it was. *That* was a waste of a fiver.
[FJ] What is this for. Is it just a robot that can walk on stilts? What does it do next? Can it feed me with sushi?-- squeak, Feb 11 2004 //Is it just a robot that can// Yeah, a tiny robot that can do more than walk on chop stilts and help you feed yourself sushi, seemed bordering on magic - maybe a karate chop through a sugar cube?.-- FarmerJohn, Feb 11 2004 So how are you supposed to tell the time with this?-- DrBob, Feb 11 2004 The Chop Bot Clock?-- FarmerJohn, Feb 11 2004 random, halfbakery