The tinkering geniuses at Willow Garage have decided to put their beer-fetching PR2 robot on the market for a cool $400,000.  Besides grabbing you a beer and informing you when the fridge is out of stock, PR2 can also play pool, clean up your mess with a cart, plug in devices, fold towels, and open doors.  The most exciting bit about PR2 is that the personal robot is open source; with the hardware platform and over 1000 software libraries open to potential buyers, developers, and hackers, Willow Garage is supplying PR2 owners with the tools to come up with their own applications.  In fact, the company imagine a future where a Robot App Store exists.  In this exciting (frightening?) world, human owners will have the option to purchase “robot apps” for their personal smart machines in effort to make life at home and work “more productive.”  Today’s PR2 is the first major step in that direction.  I’m excited to see what sorts of applications (people with tons of money to spend) come up with.

[Via WillowGarage; Engadget]