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Competition for AIBO: Robo Cat
bruce76 writes, "A Japanese company called Toshihiro Tashima is slated to introduce a robotic cat similar (in concept) to the Sony Aibo. This robotic cat is called Tama," They put fur on it, but the most interesting part is that they claim it can recognize its own name. That's a improvement over Aibo who isn't deaf, but sound doesn't do too much for him.
...I'd really like to see someone hack up a catnip.c snippet ;-)
A good deal of the appeal of an AIBO to someone like me is that you've got this thing that's obviously a robot, designed just out of any bad SF movie, but which actually works. Sure, the behaviour's nice but it's mostly just a funky little robot. I'd still go for them if they were half as powerful.
:)
This, OTOH, looks like a rather poor stuffed toy. Now, I don't doubt it does a fantastic job of pretending to be cat, but it just doesn't look as cool. So, unfortunately, I don't want one.
Oh well. Maybe someone will produce a proper AIBO style cat? That I can afford?
Greg
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
The reason I ask is because, in Dragonball Z, the little kitty that's perpetually perched on Dr. Briefs' shoulder is also named Tama.
Just wondering.
If you get it to purr just right, it can serve as a marital aid.
What we really need is a critter with a loadable personality module. Depending on your mood when you get home from work, you can have it greet you with frantic good cheer, or ignore you. And you'd be *amazed* the tricks you could teach him if he has a scripting language and a serial port.
--
This is not my sandwich.
I don't care much for cats, but I would buy a robotic dog. Here's why:
From job to job, with the tiny, cramped apartments I've had, it would be very cruel to a real dog to keep it so confined. With a robotic dog, I could switch it off, and not feel bad about leaving it in the closet.
Now, granted, it would be only a temporary thing until I can get a decent house to keep a dog. (Actually, I have a real dog; she's living with my parents (since they have a house with a backyard). And I would much rather have her around than a robotic dog, but it would be a terrible thing to do to her.)
This sig is false.
So if you drop it will it land on it's feet.
Now you gotta wonder how a Tama and Aibo are going to live together. Maybe something for Robot Wars.
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On a side note, I read an article in the paper a few months ago about a craft store that sold realistic looking cat statues. It was later found out some were made of real cat pelts. Maybe they'll try that.
They should've called it Five :-)
You'd want the GACS (Gyroscopic Attitude Control System) option. It's another $500.00, but isn't your robotic kitty worth it?
The people I know that have cats (extended family and friends) are usually people who are a bit lonely and anyone who would buy something like a robotic cat and then pay an additional $500.00 USD for it is an idiot.
Quite frankly for that price you can get one of the better purebreed animals or perhaps get a genetically enhanced version. I currently have a small black and white dog that is a mix of a miniture shetland shepdog and something else. Looks real nice, cost a bit but less than this cat.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
Not a perfect replacement, by any means. Heck, I would love to get a hold of one just for the fun of it. My apartment is too small for a cat as it is. It would be an interesting conversation piece, too. Probably a bit too much money to for just that purpose. Plus, needing a rack of rechargeable batteries. Yeah, I would take one. I wonder if it will have a choice of fur. Better yet....Changeable fur. Cat of the week!!
What, hasn't anybody linked to the ZDNet cartoon about why this is a bad idea?
Weblogging Considered Harmful:
Anyone ever play Catz or petz? If so, you know what I'm thinking of: I want to train my legion of robotic pets to fear me. I want psychotic pets. I want my neighbors to wonder why there's 30 glowing eyes on my roof all howling at
the moon in a tin-can like voice. I want them to BEG for their batteries. I want them to develop a strong hatred for the Energizer Bunny, Barney, and Teletubbies. They are to be lasered on sight.
No I really haven't heard of these care to elaborate?
In all reality I think you would want the robots to respect you. If you read enough science fiction you will note that irrated robots == robots on revenge. Emerging intelligence would eventually foil your plans.
For their service, I will provide robotic modifications - ultraviolet lasers with a 1.5M volt output (ultraviolet lasers leave the air the laser fired through ionized providing a path for electrons to follow. Think: tesla coil), evil glowing
eyes, 180 db pizo-electric buzzers from hell and IR / RF outputs to mess with electronics. These will be the pets from hell
If you can get them to fear you perhaps the best tactic is to not remove anything. Never make concessions not one with slaves.
I like that.. the perfect compliment to a BOFH's LART - 30 evil robotic cats. "Awww, aren't they cute - look at those 6" long metal claws.... oh.. wait..." *electronic growling* RUN FOOL RUN!!!!!
Buwhahahaahahahaha!
Robots have a great deal of power but they are usually not very accurate or swift. Plus one person with a nice solid wrecking bar or an oak baseball bat would reduce your "army" to scrap metal.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
A well-designed, inexpensive robot cat could have a place. If you cannot keep a live cat for some reason (i.e., live alone and travel a lot, or the landlord has a strict no-pets policy), a robot that fulfils the functions of a cat (i.e., receives and gives affection, responds positively to being stroked, plays with small objects/laser pointers, &c.) could be a good substitute. Implementing it well, however, is an entirely different question.
One could even envision a travel version, where the physical robot cat is dispensed with altogether, and replaced with a small box connected to a pair of video glasses and a tactile feedback glove. Switch it on and a virtual cat appears, which you can interact with.
I have 2 real dogs, & 2 real cats. When they die, I'll look into robotics for replacements.
Why? Vet bills & food for the past 5 years have totaled ~20k$, & I expect them to live for ~5 years more (some were adopted, so are older than 5).
"But where's the actual 'love' a -real- pet can give you?" Bah. Simple behaviours which should be fairly easy to reproduce - & I'd imagine in 5 years the AI's will be fairly sophisticated. Dog rubs his head against my leg when I come home, cat walks up to have his head scratched & be petted - how hard would this be to reproduce? Not very, I'd think.
I'm attached to this machine - why not to one which can walk & bark? W/ luck & upgrades, I could potentially play some video games against it, something you can't do w/ a real dog - imagine trying to teach Rover chess.
That being said, current AIBO's are seriously lacking:
a) They're puppies. Puppies are, by their nature, limited; poor balance & coordination, not very smart. In a big-dog world, they can't compete. If you want a watchdog, forget a perma-puppy: burglar deterrence factor zero.
b) They're cheaply constructed. A quick look through AIBO message boards & mailing lists shows breakdowns aplenty; lotsa AIBO's out there w/ limps or worse.
c) Batteries & power; not strictly SONY's fault, but battery technology (fuel cells?) needs to get better for these to be effective. & at the minimum, they need to be able to find their charger & plug themselves in w/o intervention when needed.
My idea of an ideal AIBO: size & shape of a doberman, full-grown; stainless steel, aluminum, & titanium construction (maybe a carbon fiber shell over aluminum would work, I'd imagine keeping weight down would help the servos a bit). Servos capable of the same output as a real dog's muscles (more, of course, would be fine). The ability to run & jump. Face recognition, voice recognition. 12 hour battery life (roughly what a real dog can do before needing sleep under rough conditions). A 10 year warranty on parts.
If this were made, I'd pay 50k$ for it happily - this would be a 'dog' without any of the current heartache of vet visits, peeing on carpets, mood swings, & eventual death.
Someone make it; I will come.
Yeah, but just think how cool it probably looks *underneath* all that fur .
I can imagine stripping the fur and creating a kinds Terminator effect robocat.
Now there's a thought!
A little planning goes a long way...
- Tama's batteries only keep her going for one hour.
No, but Tama has about the same battery life of my real cat. I wish I could sleep that much.
We have a clear and obveous faker here...e mos. [Hemos.] e mos [Hemos]
:)
http://slashdot.org/users.pl?op=userinfo&nick=h
is not
http://slashdot.org/users.pl?op=userinfo&nick=h
It's the same prank pulled on Bruce Perens a while back...
Looks like we have some FakerDots to contend with... (FakerDots meaning dot behind the nick not meaning SlashDot fakers.. Just wanted to make it clear where my mem comes from)
I don't actually exist.
Didn't this thing make a living driving cars off cliffs for Saturday Night Live?
Instead of giving a home to a REAL cat or dog that is either homeless or going to be put to sleep, stupid geeks pay $3000+ for a stupid robotic pet. GET A LIFE PEOPLE! If you want a dog, GET A REAL DOG!
For their service, I will provide robotic modifications - ultraviolet lasers with a 1.5M volt output (ultraviolet lasers leave the air the laser fired through ionized providing a path for electrons to follow. Think: tesla coil), evil glowing eyes, 180 db pizo-electric buzzers from hell and IR / RF outputs to mess with electronics. These will be the pets from hell
I like that.. the perfect compliment to a BOFH's LART - 30 evil robotic cats. "Awww, aren't they cute - look at those 6" long metal claws.... oh.. wait..." *electronic growling* RUN FOOL RUN!!!!!
Buwhahahaahahahaha!
How would you know, they always ignore you until they're hungry. A great marketing ploy
"Ignores you just like a real Cat"
Next ARPO the robotic Whelk just like having the real thing.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Homer: Ooh, I want to pet Santa's Little Helper again.
Marge: Homer, you just petted him. Why don't you pet the cat.
Homer: The cat? What's the point?
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
Not to be too contrary, but the companies name is Omron and the creator's name is Toshihiro Tashima (as stated in the first two paragraphs).
A robotic penguin wouldn't be hard.
Stan Winston made a bunch of them for Batman Returns.
Nick (hiding behind sofa)
PS For those of you who have never seen Bagpuss, think Reanimator crossed with those Chucky movies.
-- "It's a sad day for American capitalism when a man can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park" - Jim Moran
-Sit comatose for hours on end
-Meow incessantly for no reason whatsoever
-Mindlessly scratch all furniture it sees to shreads
-Ignore everything that people say to it
The technology to accomplish this has existed for decades.
:-)
--
dinner: it's what's for beer
I'm not really supposed to disclose this, but....
/* May be called anytime, anywhere */
/* Works best when passed a proper LITTERBOX struct */
/* If no arg, defaults to last FURNITURE struct */
/* May be called with claws=true/false and teeth=true/false */
/* Added 11/15/99. More realism. */
There is a software API for this thing. I wrote a large part of it. I basically modeled it on my own cat.
It supports the following calls:
sleep()
eat()
go_potty()
shred()
pounce()
sleep_more()
Pretty much covers it, I think.
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
This would be a great opportunity to showcase a new show for "Futurama"...the Aibo and Tama show? They would just stare at each other and respond slowly to one another's reactions, throw in a Furbie and we are talking about Fox's next reality show, "When Robots Stare At Each Other!"
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
What a sad people the Japanese must be. Here you have to worry about growing old with 20 or 30 cats. There you don't even get real cats. This makes me sad.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Well, this isnt't exactly the sort of artificial pussy I was hoping for ...