Guests at a hotel here will soon have their room service orders delivered to them by talking robots, reports asiaone.com.

From June, two robots will take on the roles of bellboy and housekeeper at Park Avenue Rochester Hotel, delivering bottled water, linen and toiletries and, later on, food, luggage and mail to guests' rooms.

The 311-room hotel in Buona Vista is the first hotel in Singapore to turn to robotics to cope with the labour shortage.

Techi the robot, developed by an American company, uses driverless technology and has sensors that prevent it from knocking into walls and people.

Techi will have the building map built into its system, enabling it to navigate the hotel and even ride the lifts on its own.

Commands can be keyed into the robot. Upon arriving outside a guestroom, Techi will "call" the guest, via the unique phone number linked to each room.

Guests who pick up the phone will hear an automated voice saying: "Your order has arrived."

The two robots, which cost $100,000 each and can carry loads of up to 80kg, can do the same amount of work as four full-time employees in a year.

bbabo.Net