Robots get busy at work and fun (photos)

At the RoboBusiness conference in Boston, engineers are showing off a sample of commercial and still-under-development robots for music, the military, health care, and even the inspection of bridges.

Here is the A.M.P., or Automated Music Personality, from Ologic which is expected to go on sale in 2013 for about $400. It's a self-balancing entertainment robot which can play music and move around based on commands from a smartphone. The company is designing it to be an open-source-style product, said company co-founder Bob Allen. By removing two screws, the top of the robot comes off and can be fitted with a cell phone or tablet computer. Developers will be able to write apps to send instructions to the movement platform, Allen said.