Photos: Raising CB2, the child robot

Researchers at Japan's Osaka University are working on a "Child Robot with Biomimetic Body," nicknamed CB2 (CB square), to teach lessons about child development.

CB2 is equipped with 51 air actuators, 5 motors, and 197 tactile sensors under its soft gray silicone skin. It measures about 4 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 73 pounds.

Osaka University professor Minoru Asada's team is trying to teach the android to think like a baby that evaluates its mother's countless facial expressions and "clusters" them into basic categories, such as happiness and sadness.

Researchers say the CB2 is slowly developing social skills by interacting with humans and watching their facial expressions, mimicking a mother-baby relationship.

An Osaka University researcher displays the mechanical innards of the CB2, which was designed to function as a 1- to 2-year-old child. The researchers say the robot has the ability to learn, and that they are beginning to teach it to walk--with human help.