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From corporate labs to neighborhood garages, personal robots are finally fact, not fiction. Is there a mechanical friend in your future?

Erik Hellweg

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Robot Stars Made Better

Photograph: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis
Before any of us had robots in our homes, we saw them at the movies or on television. But those robot celebs weren't perfect. Here's what we'd change about three of pop culture's most beloved machines.

C-3PO

One of cinema's most anthropomorphic robots, this Star Wars creation possessed many advanced skills but never matched the good looks or spunk of his waste-basket-on-wheels companion, R2-D2.

What we'd reprogram: We can forgive the dithering cowardice. But that supercilious British accent has to go.

Rosie the Robot

The Jetsons' always-on-duty automated maid could vacuum, cook, and answer the door. She even taught Elroy to shoot hoops--plus she looked tidy in her built-in apron.

What we'd reprogram: Rosie was ever efficient and thorough, but let's face it, her figure wasn't exactly what most men hoped to see in a French maid's outfit.

Robot B9

With a barrel chest like a slot machine and arms like ribbed gutter tubing, the robot on TV's Lost in Space looked ready for serious wet/dry vacuum work. But he mostly ended up serving as a mechanized babysitter.

What we'd reprogram: A bit of paranoia can be a good thing. But when a bot flails its arms and yells "Danger! Danger!" every half-hour, the thrill gets old in a hurry.

Ed Albro

Eric Hellweg is a freelance writer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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