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I remember reading something like that a few years ago, but it could have been a Wowwee Flytech Dragonfly:

http://www.wowwee.com/en/support/flytech-dragonfly

I have one myself. The wingspan is a bit over a foot and they make loud squeaky noises when they fly, but that could have been drowned out in a protest.

Why don't you get your hand on a Rovio? Rovio is a groundbreaking new Wi-Fi enabled mobile webcam that lets you view and interact with its environment through streaming video and audio, wherever you are. It embarks a 1 x Head-mounted VGA camera as well as 1 x Speaker and 1 x microphone for 2-way audio. You can control it from your computer (you log in through your web browser) or from any flash enabled mobile phone. This little bugger will make you feel like being at home with your family! They will just need though to get used to you being a few inches plastic big bug... Else a Nokia N900 with built in Skype (built in Skype is COMPLETELY different from any downloadable version of Skype on any other device, as it is perfectly stable) can do the trick: you can do great video calls in a matter of seconds (thanks to the multitasking ability of its Maemo OS you can keep Skype running in the back), see the people you're talking to, and thanks to the built in camera, they can also see you! I have one of those, and I have to say it completely changed my approach of using VoIP. a must try :)

Not a complete solution, but possibly part of a solution. WowWee (The company that made the Robosapian) has a mobile webcam 'robot', the Rovio

http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/tech/telepresence/rovio

They sell it for pretty much your situation. So, whenever it's wondering around, the family can know "Dad is here !"

Let's face it, only the $400+ Roombas really clean well compared to a manual Dyson/Hoover vac in a typical house.

For half that price, you're better off with Rovio. And buy a nice 200 vac, and get some exercise, and really clean your place.

That's almost as good as the Bladestar, available now for only $24.95 Yes, an indoor helicopter with radio control and collision avoidance for $24.95. WowWee manages to produce incredible capabilities at very low price points.

The MIT thing is neat, but it's mostly possible because IMU units and laser scanners are finally small enough for this.

The time-of-flight laser scanner thing has been frustrating. That's what you want in a robot; they're just too expensive for volume or hobbyist use. 3D LIDAR scanners have been around since the 1980s. For a long time, the SICK LMS devices, which worked well but were both bulky and expensive, ($9000), dominated the field. The DARPA Grand Challenge resulted in the Velodyne scanner, which was 3D (the SICK units are line scanners), but that cost $50,000 - $100,000.

There's no fundamental reason why the things should cost that much, except that they are produced in small volumes. Back in 2004, I dragged a venture capitalist down to Advanced Scientific Concepts, which has a $100,000 flash laser rangefinder with a custom imaging chip. That thing should cost under $1000 in quantity, and eventually it should cost like a webcam. But ASC was selling only to the military, and they weren't thinking in terms of a volume product. It was too early, though; no volume market was on the horizon.

When robots at the Roomba level get laser rangefinding and a decent IMU, they'll be able to navigate without getting lost or stuck. An automatic vacuum with enough smarts to do the job right could take over much commercial floor care.

This is almost as good as WowWee's Bat and Dragon. They're little, they fly with moving wings, and they can hover. $39.99. Available wherever toys are sold. That's the entry-level product; the next step up, the Green Dragonfly, is an indoor/outdoor R/C ornithopter capable of hovering.

Those models doesn't have any onboard intelligence, but some of the other WowWee flying machines have collision avoidance. WowWee has a whole line of flying and robotic toys, and they deliver impressive technology at prices well under $100. Maybe DARPA should outsource.

This is almost as good as WowWee's Bat and Dragon. They're little, they fly with moving wings, and they can hover. $39.99. Available wherever toys are sold. That's the entry-level product; the next step up, the Green Dragonfly, is an indoor/outdoor R/C ornithopter capable of hovering.

Those models doesn't have any onboard intelligence, but some of the other WowWee flying machines have collision avoidance. WowWee has a whole line of flying and robotic toys, and they deliver impressive technology at prices well under $100. Maybe DARPA should outsource.

They even sell a fembot.

But will it survive in a manbot's manputer's world?

That was expected; it was predicted in Robotics Business Review last month. The price point was far too high.

WowWee's RoboReptile is almost as advanced, and has a price point around $90.

WowWee is a company to watch. They have a broad line of reasonably good robotic toys at modest price points. They even sell a fembot.

That was expected; it was predicted in Robotics Business Review last month. The price point was far too high.

WowWee's RoboReptile is almost as advanced, and has a price point around $90.

WowWee is a company to watch. They have a broad line of reasonably good robotic toys at modest price points. They even sell a fembot.

Very nice. If you haven't been paying attention to Japanese hobbyist robotics, you may not have realized how far things have come. They're way beyond Lego Mindstorms. Humanoid toy-sized robots are going through obstacle courses. The robotic toys in the $100-$200 range are becoming quite good, too. WowWee Toys has a line of advanced robotic toys, including the first production fembot.

At the high end, there's Big Dog, of course. The successor to Big Dog is the Legged Squad Support System, now in the bidding stage at DARPA. LS3 is "Big Dog on steroids". Big Dog was an experimental machine; the LS3 will be a combat-ready prototype. The specs for LS3 call for military temperature requirements, a quieter engine, more payload, faster running, longer range, operation in snow, sandstorms, and rain, and the ability to ford a rushing stream three feet deep. LS3 is intended to haul the heavy weapons of a squad just about anywhere an infantry squad can go.

All the technology is falling into place. The navigation and vision from the DARPA Grand Challenge, the success of the newer algorithms in machine learning, the balance and slip control of Big Dog, and the cost structure of the toy industry are coming together. We have not yet seen the "killer app", but I think that robotics is now where personal computers were in about 1976, after the Apple I but before the Apple II.

Robosapien comes with the ability to respond to noises out of the box.

The manufacturers instructions for programming it to act as a noise sensitive guard are here.

Apparantly their next product is going to be a robot dog... everything goes round in circles

Darn, somebody beat me to the submission. Anyways, here's my version, which has some more information:

Robotics physicist Mark Tilden has unveiled his follow-ups to the Robosapien, which was mentioned on slashdot last year and sold rather well during the holidays. The foremost is the $200 Robosapien V2, which will be able to lie down, stand up, speak, use its built-in camera to recognize objects and people, and follow a laser-traced path. The $70 Robopet will be able to perform simple tricks and learn through positive and negative reinforcement. The $100 Roboraptor is covered with sensors and will have three different moods: hunter, cautious, and playful. The Robopet is scheduled to launch in July, with the Robosapien V2 and Roboraptor scheduled for September. I can't wait to see what hacks people come up with for this.

and it's cheap too

Based on the bits of research I've followed on various robot types (IANAE), it seems to me that analog robots in swarms might very well be the way to deal with those "unwanted things" like loss of signal from home, as well as keep costs down. How about a fairly complex base station with 1K cheap analog robots as explorers which have only digital "brains" enough to perform basic tasks based on their series/design, report findings, and "stay alive". (yeah I know I'm moving into digital/analog hybrid, but I say use each tech where it is best suited and damn the definitions)

Maybe I've just been overly impressed with videos of analog robots being crushed/tortured/dismembered and continuing to find a method to operate or "live". Hell, to me they look like a more viable "AI" than most other attempts to mimic life, especially the Eliza/chatbot variety, and some even have a better personality.

Jonah Hex

http://www.wowwee.com/robosapien/robo1/robomain.ht ml

I picked up a couple of these on sale at walgreens for some ridiculously low price ($10 i think, but they usually retailed for about $50 at the time). I'd read a few things about them, they had rudimentary AI and a lot of hack value physicaly. After about 20 minutes of them crawling around my floor exploring the place i got fed up with the noise, it was this awful screeching that could be heard through the entire house. Took em to the basement cracked em all open (i turned them off, leaving them still screaming while i did this would make me one sick bastard...) and soldered in a, i think 100 ohm, resistor right before the little piezo chip thing. Put em back together and their screeching was quieted to an acceptable level that you hear the motor grinding before you hear the bugs noise when their approaching.

I know him from when he was still at the University of Waterloo many years ago. Whenever there is a piece on TV about simple, emergent robots, he's quoted without fail.

I hear B.I.O. Bugs are quite hackable, and are based on work by roboticist Mark Tilden.

The SliMP3 is quite hackable, as the code's all in Perl (see the developer's list).

LEGO MindStorms are a perennial favorite, and are extremely hackable.

And let's not forget TiVo, which is a hacker's playground.

Finally, one of the new Compaq iPaqs can be hours of fun once you install Linux on it and begin having wireless fun with it.

A new kids toy B.I.O Bugs was first advertised on the premier of the new Star Trek series. These BEAM robot toys seek out IR signals to 'feed' on, but there are other such experimental robots that convert sugar to electricity. Consider a toy of this sort with thermolytic batteries where it seeks out body heat to 'feed' on. I can see it now. "Jonny, don't let that bug shove his antena up your..." Oh, damn!

OK, this technology has potential but it could also make for some really creepy toys.

--CTH