Sanbot is lurking around IFA again. The little robot helper won us over last year, but something seems different this time round. And, this one wants to hang out with you -- yes, you. You see Qihan, the China-based company behind the new child-like machine, has a range of robots for various tasks. There's Sanbot King Kong, which is designed to man reception desks at hotels, and deliver food for restaurants, among other business-oriented jobs.

Passengers making their way through airport customs could soon be greeted by a fleet of pint-sized robots. Looking more robo-penguin than Robocop, the Chinese-built Sanbot is being trialled in a number of industries, but will be used at airports to process travellers. Designed and built by Shenzhen-based Qihan, Sanbot is designed to interact with people in a range of environments. It can answer programmed questions in 28 languages, and transfer people to a human operator. In place of arms, the robot has a pair of flippers and moves around on a set of wheels. Sanbot uses a Microsoft Kinect-style tracking system and HD camera.