Slashdot Mirror
ER1 Personal Robot Reviewed
Makarand writes "The Mercury News is carrying a review of
the ER1 Personal Robot
from Evolution Robotics Inc (of Pasadena, CA). The ER1 resembles neither a dog
nor any robot in sci-fi movies.
It is a 3-wheeled platform (resembling an industrial table) holding a laptop (running Windows)
for its brains and a Web camera for its eye.
The ER1 sells at $600 (laptop not included). For an extra $100 you get a completely assembled ER1.
Evolution plans to sell expansions like grippers and infrared sensors in the future. If your laptop
is Wi-Fi capable you can drive the robot around inside your home or control it using the Internet from anywhere."
Sigh.. VB and Windows makes for extremely rapid and cheap development, not to mention 99% of consumers can actually use the product.
Don't OSS trolls know how to evaluate simple cost/benefit ratios any more?
-1:Not Anti-MS
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Lets add armor and weapons to these things and we got autonomous robot wars! Personally, I've always wished that those robot-battle type shows on tv were autonomous instead of remote controlled. Now THAT would be a challenge.
I have heard of sumo challenges where robots try to push each other out of a circle. Anyone know any good info on those?
But then again... Maybe I wouldn't be so quick to put my laptop in something about to face a 200 pound robot with a diamond tipped blade.
would be if there was a manual with the robot kit would teach you exactly what each part does when you hook it all together, thus allowing you to learn more about robotics and electronics at the same time. Then you'd hopefully have enough knowledge should you ever want to add on some crazy little things of your own, including that infrared sensor which would probably be cheaper to add on yourself; instead of buying a more expensive offical add-on kit.
Just my $.02
You're nothing; like me.
I don't think you have to devote an entire laptop. This is really just an expensive toy, like the Lego Mindstorm but bigger.
The only use I see is as an semi-autonomous, mobile laptop holder.
When you aren't playing with it, you take your laptop with you.
Though, It would nice to see it just have something like a micro-ATX form factor case, and you could just mount whatever cheap components inside to make up the 'brains'. (though then you'd have to power it, which is probably why not)
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Palm pilot controlled robot - http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~pprk/
... -
I built a similar one
http://www.wpidalamar.com/projects/robot/
Yes, you do. Computer vision is extremely expensive computationally. It is absolutley necessary to have the laptop if you want to do anything usefull.
Also if you want to do programming on your own, haveing a laptop makes it so that you dont have to do any porting of code if you are already developing on windows x86. I imagine though that most of the people willing to shell out the cash for one of these things are probably running *nix somewhere and would have appreciated a *nix version of their software. And it wouldnt have been much to ask.
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
Evolution once had a much-more-expensive robot that used Linux. By the time I was ready to order one, it disappeared.
I'd buy some ER-1s in a heartbeat if they came with full Linux support. I could throw inexpensive 12VDC Mini-ITX boxes on the ones that don't need displays and have cheap little sentries.
Unfortunately, Evolution is probably waiting for the Open Source community to do the work for them instead of getting off their butts and providing what we want to buy. I hope someone else gets the message and provides an alternative.
>> instead of getting off their butts and providing what we want to buy
But if the 'we' you're referring to is insignificant, they have no real incentive to provide it.
My daughter would probably want it in pink, but I don't see that option either.
The linux, and OSS in general, communities dont realize how few their numbers are, and how little people care about them, when it comes to consumer level stuff like this. And it's a huge weakness that keeps it well out of the mainstream.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!