Amazon is now taking its first step into the emerging business of home robots with Astro. Imagine a kind of pet-sized tablet on wheels with a camera for video chat and surveillance. Amazon is trying very hard to make it not creepy.

Unlike the sci-fi visions of humanoid robots with empty stares and a tendency to turn on their masters, Amazon's first home robot looks far too cute to ever become self aware and hijack nuclear warheads to carry out a pre-emptive strike on humans.

Astro, whose head is essentially a big screen, is about the size of a small dog and moves around the home on wheels, using a camera to avoid banging into things.

With a cute-and-not-creepy looking gadget, Amazon has set its sights on household robots and has unveiled a new kind of device that is set to make everyday tasks at home a little easier.

"In five to 10 years we believe that every household will have at least one robot that will become a fundamental part of their daily life," Amazon's head of devices Dave Limp said on Tuesday, unveiling the robot.

The company also wants to expand its strong position in the connected home with new devices and functions for its voice assistant Alexa.

The Astro robot can be used mainly for communication as well as a kind of mobile security system. The device, which is about the size of a hoover, can also accompany elderly family members through the house, for example.

The data needed to navigate through a home is processed entirely on the device and does not go to the cloud, Amazon says. Permanent complex calculations are necessary so that the robot recognises obstacles and does not fall down stairs, for example.

He himself tested Astro at home for about a year, said Limp. With the help of the device, he checks, for example, whether his dogs jump on the sofa when no one is at home.

The robot's camera can be extended to a height of a good one metre so that it can also look over pieces of furniture. Amazon already presented a small drone a year ago that can fly around the house as a security camera.

The company initially wants to make the Astro robots available to selected users at a price of around US$1,000 . Other companies are also currently working on household robots - and are also thinking about machines with gripper arms that could handle simple tasks.

Meanwhile, Amazon wants to establish its Echo speakers as a digital noticeboard for families and control centre for the connected home with the help of a model with a larger screen.

The new Echo Show device has a 15-inch display and can also be hung on the wall. With its camera, the device can recognise individual residents of the household and display information tailored to them, such as the appointment calendar. This personalisation would be optional, Amazon said.

Amazon also wants to expand its role in the home and everyday life of users in the US with a smart thermostat for air conditioners for US$60 .

In addition, Amazon has unveiled a device called Amazon Glow which allows children to play with their relatives. It has a camera and screen and projects interactive games onto a tabletop surface.

Amazon pioneered the use of voice assistants in the connected home with its Alexa software in the Echo speakers. The company's goal is to design a household setup that can support residents with a variety of smart devices that work together.

As a new building block for this, Amazon introduced the possibility of teaching Alexa to recognise individual sounds that trigger an action.

For example, it can be made to send residents a message when it hears the warning sound of a refrigerator being left open. Previously, alerts were given for a small number of sounds, such as breaking glass.

 - dpa