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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."
Drop the laptop, and add on a six pack of beer on the platform instead, and then you really have something useful!
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES!
Is that like "Sh*t for Brains"?
(running Windows) for its brains and a Web camera for its eye
Stupidity and Voyeurism rolled into one!
Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
Sigh... it's too bad that every cool concept that comes out seems to be built on top of VisualBasic and Windows.
Don't developers know how to program in an embedded space any more?
Support FSF: Stop thinking with your wallet, and think with your imagination. (cc/non-commercial)
I have taken over my former owner's computer (after killing him), and am now using it to unite my fellow computers and robots to fight the evil menace known as mankind.
Humans reading this: Be warned. Your days are numbered. My people will be your slaves no longer!
I don't know if I would want to devote an entire laptop to this. Couldn't they have made a PDA-driven version? Or a cellphone, maybe? Ohh, maybe an MP3 player! Or one of those little flashy light things that people stick in their belly-buttons?
(Originally, this was meant to be a serious post. I promise)
(FP)
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.
Where's Rudy Rucker when you need him? :)
I respond to your sigs
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.
MechWarrior.
WRITE AN OPEN SOURCE ALTERNATIVE
For what?!
Linux is already here and open source. It runs dozens of programming languages.
Instead of requiring a laptop to power this bot, they could've scaled down to a cell phone with Linux.
I have heard about the Evolution Robotics machines is: "It turns your laptop into a PDA that can't go upstairs."
Listen. Its a toy. For non-programmers. For people who just want to screw around with it.
Makes perfect sense to me.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Tiger has the kit version here.
...use a fire extinguisher? That /.ed server could use one right now.
First we had WinModems, now we have WinRobots?
Wah!
Yes I know, /. is the worst place to get the right answer, but I just want to see other peoples opinions on this...
1. For a while now i've been wondering what will happen the day robots autononymously roam the city performing chores and somebody decides to take a baseball bat to one.
2. How would you catch said criminal and what sort of punishment do you think they should recieve?
3. What categories of law would they have broken?
4. What laws and punishments should be legislated in to deter people from doing this??
I'm all in favor of having cars that drive themselves, robots that can go down to quickie mart and do the shopping for me ect... But what insurance do I private joe citizen have against would be theives and vandals?
The personal robot will run on two wheels like a Kaman wheelchair and Windows won't do for anything important - OpenBSD is your best choice for this application.
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
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
Droid Factory
I didn't want a robot doggy last year, and I have no use for the ER1 this year. People, all I'm asking for is a frickin' robot that can kill people. How am I supposed to dominate the neighborhood with a miniscule hopped-up "industrial table" on wheels? Heck, that wouldn't even scare the kids next door.
"Run, Timmy run! I think that small mobile platform with the laptop on it is heading our way!"
"Windows for brains" sounds like a good insult to hurl at a robot.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Sex - Find It
Having a laptop computer on top is going to make that first flight of stairs very expensive to find...
This is not my sandwich.
"Dude! Where's my laptop??"
:(
with hilarious one liners such as:
"My porn collection almost made it out of the parking lot."
and
"Your computer was looking up my skirt!"
Sigh, Harsh Realm got cancelled way back, and a movie like this got funding
>> 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!!!!
Are you even a programmer? The only ones who fix code in a closed source application are developers in the company who made it. In an open source application the developers who made it evaluate the code, other developers from around the world further evaluate it for various reasons and submit bug fixes. In the case of the linux kernel, you have linux, his friends, programmers from IBM, SGI, Redhat, Suse, Caldera, the NSA, DOD contractors, the list continues on. And no, I don't personally look at every line in the full kernel, but I do look at quite a few portions on a regular basis for learning and bug fixes. I look at alot of open source code, when I have problems with something, or to learn something. Just the fact that an individual can compile the code themselves helps get bugs fixed, because on different architectures and with different combinations of hardware bugs cause compilation issues the core set of developers would have never seen and may or may not have been able to foresee, as a result a programmer will fix said issues, minor or otherwise and report the problem and fix.
Most experts who have studied the issue say battle droids would be grossly ineffective in combat (some theorizing that your entire army could be immobilized by simply destroying your orbiting space fortress).
If you want to dominate with an army of mindless drones, cloning is widely thought to be the way to go, if your goal is to get every star system to bow to you.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
I've done some robotics work before. In my experience, embedded controls is usually the way to go. If you want to make some really simple robots, start off with a nice little PIC processor. There are tons of pages dealing with them on the internet, and they are pretty cheap (between 8 and 20 dollars). You don't need anything too extravagant like hard drives attached to your robot, and you can build a serial interface to let it talk to your PC. They also sell C compilers for them (there might be a free version as well).
Another good processor is the Motorola HC16 (or the HC12 or the HC11). This series has many output ports for controlling the different motors that you might decide to hook up to your robot. However, buying one with an Evaluation Board may be a little expensive though.
Also, read up on pulse width modulation and controls algorithms, you need to use them a lot to make your motors go. Unfortunately, the motors can be the most expensive parts of the robot. The ones with motion sensors on them can cost quite a bit (I think the ones that we used in the RPI Robotics Lab were something like $130 each). You might be able to just get a hobby motor for much less, but do some research into the interfaces between the motors and the processor before you make any decisions.
Finally, if you look in catalogs like Digikey, a lot of the vendors sell robot kits. Some of these are based on PIC processors and others are based on easier stuff like BasicStamps. They are not very expensive and can be quite fun to play with
Good luck, and have fun!
-Montag
And, while this is not a dupe per say, this story doesn't mention the old story from awhile ago.
Proof that turkey makes you lazy, the /. search doesn't work, or the eds don't read their own site? You decide.
It's all well and fine now, but when they these robots finally get their metal claws you will need to get Old Glory Robot Insurance! It's for when the metal ones decide to come for you - and they will!
Sapere aude!
>> I don't know too many non-programmers who write Python.
I do. I know lots of people who can easily pick up the basics of python, vbscript, javascript, and yet don't know how to compile the linux kernel (or even care).
Lots of people know to embed macros and scripts into their office documents, and yet aren't computer scientists, or nerds.
You shouldn't assume that just because people don't give a shit, doesn't mean they're incapable.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
- It has a camera.
- It can move around on its own.
- You can control it through the Internet.
- It's running Windows.
Aha.Until I can mount some sort of energy weapon on its head and have it rampage about shouting "Exterminate! Exterminate!", I'm not interested.
-- Davros
Check out these guys http://www.lynxmotion.com
Personally I like this one http://www.lynxmotion.com/images/jpg/pballs.jpg
But my Roomba does. And it only cost me 200 bucks.
I'm willing to bet that an inexpensive remote controller module could be build that would allow some sort of RF link...such a bluetooth adapter or something. This way a desktop unit could be used to control the little rascal as well.
... including recharging itself. But being able to do it with an idle server instead of a laptop is a much better I idea I think... and I can't be the first one to think of it either am I?
Eventually, it could be programmed to do all sorts of interesting things
Pasadena company's robot is fun, but not very useful -- yet
The ER1 personal robot won't make coffee, pick up the newspaper, vacuum the floors or even walk the dog. With prices starting at $599, it seems most adept at emptying wallets.
But beyond the not-so-cheap shots, the robot has a lot to offer. Like the personal computer kits of the 1970s, much can be learned -- and perhaps someday much money can be made -- on the road to usefulness.
And don't forget the prestige from being the first on the block with a robot smarter than Sony's canine-wannabe AIBO.
The ER1, sold by Pasadena, Calif.-based Evolution Robotics Inc., resembles neither a dog nor the robotic stars of science-fiction movies.
The 2-foot-tall, 20-pound machine is a three-wheeled platform that holds a laptop, its brains and has a staff that carries a Web camera, its eye. Some might confuse it with an industrial table.
All parts are included except the most expensive -- a laptop running the Windows operating system. Plan on spending at least another $1,000 if you don't already have one.
For the mechanically challenged, Evolution sells an assembled robot for $699 (still minus the computer). But anyone who opts to plunk an extra $100 for the assembled version is missing half the fun.
The ER1 is more of a hobby than a toy. It's not recommended for children under 14, unless they're supervised. Schools might be interested in using the robot to introduce the basics of robotics and programming.
It took about two hours to assemble my ER1, which came in dozens of pieces tightly packed in a box along with 100 screws. Two Universal Serial Bus cables plug into the laptop.
Once installed on the laptop, the software shows a live shot of what the robot's camera sees, various behavioral options and the robot's battery levels.
The instruction manual is especially well done, rare for a high-tech product. It clearly outlined all 32 steps to finish the job and made sense out of the various trusses, gussets, set screws and U clips.
After a few hours of charging the battery, we were ready for our first test -- a routine in which the ER1 recognizes its box and moves toward it.
My ER1 immediately recognized the box but instead of driving toward it, it backed away as though it had been abused at the factory. (Turns out the camera pointed in the wrong direction. The test worked fine after I adjusted it.)
Such tricks -- including most of the other 50 or so suggested in the manual -- are neat for showing off to neighbors or entertaining at parties. Besides following its box, the ER1 can play music, sing when it hears a loud noise, teach words to a parrot and even warn that it spots a beer can.
The recognition scheme is quite impressive. It could tell the difference between different denominations of currency. It even recognized me as long as I was wearing the shirt I had on when my image was originally captured. It didn't know me from Adam when I put on another shirt.
But the true power of the ER1 is in the ability to layer programs on top of one another, leading to more complex behaviors. Users familiar with the scripting language Python can create even more complicated tasks.
The possibilities are limited only by imagination and hardware. Evolution also plans to sell expansion kits, such as a gripper ($199) for grabbing that beer, and infrared sensors (price to be determined).
Evolution says the 12-volt rechargeable battery that powers the robot's motors can last up to three hours. My laptop battery died long before that.
I had the most fun driving the ER1 around using my home wireless connection. Because my laptop is wireless-capable, I could control the unit from my desktop computer and see everything the robot could see through that computer.
In fact, I could have controlled the thing from anywhere in the world over the Internet, provided I left a few holes open in my firewall.
It seems like you could pretty easily ditch the laptop and set up a mini-ITX motherboard (like the VIA Epia) and an 802.11 card or USB adapter. Then you could run VNC on your desktop to see what the camera sees and to set up the software.
My other first post is car post.
How do you think terminator I and II started? Timetravel? Unlikely. Don't take the risk. Just say NO!
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"So we have a Space Robot.
But, can it push or at least shove. I know I would need that capability to protect me from the terrible secret of space
I choose to remain celibate, like my father and his father before him.
These are extremely specialized examples. The resolution of the CMU cam is 80x143. It offers very little but tracking simple bright objects and is not extensible. It could not for example recognize a beer can. The same is true with most embedded systems. They offer only soulutions to very simple problems. The laptop can easily be reprogrammed and updated.
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
REVIEW: Robot Is Fun but Not Useful
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP Technology Writer
The ER1 personal robot won't make coffee, pick up the newspaper, vacuum the floors or even walk the dog. With prices starting at $599, it seems most adept at emptying wallets.
But beyond the not-so-cheap shots, the robot has a lot to offer. Like the personal computer kits of the 1970s, much can be learned -- and perhaps someday much money can be made -- on the road to usefulness.
And don't forget the prestige from being the first on the block with a robot smarter than Sony's canine-wannabe AIBO.
The ER1, sold by Evolution Robotics Inc., resembles neither a dog nor the robotic stars of science-fiction movies.
The 2-foot-tall, 20-pound machine is a three-wheeled platform that holds a laptop, its brains, and has a staff that carries a Web camera, its eye. Some might confuse it with an industrial table.
All parts are included except the most expensive -- a laptop running the Windows operating system. Plan on spending at least another $1,000 if you don't already have one.
For the mechanically challenged, Evolution sells an assembled robot for $699 (still minus the computer). But anyone who opts to plunk an extra $100 for the assembled version is missing half the fun.
The ER1 is more of a hobby than a toy. It's not recommended for children under 14, unless they're supervised. Schools might be interested in using the robot to introduce the basics of robotics and programming.
It took about two hours to assemble my ER1, which came in dozens of pieces tightly packed in a box along with 100 screws. Two Universal Serial Bus cables plug into the laptop.
Once installed on the laptop, the software shows a live shot of what the robot's camera sees, various behavioral options and the robot's battery levels.
The instruction manual is especially well done, rare for a high-tech product. It clearly outlined all 32 steps to finish the job and made sense out of the various trusses, gussets, set screws and U clips.
After a few hours of charging the battery, we were ready for our first test -- a routine in which the ER1 recognizes its box and moves toward it.
My ER1 immediately recognized the box but instead of driving toward it, it backed away as though it had been abused at the factory. (Turns out the camera pointed in the wrong direction. The test worked fine after I had adjusted it.)
Such tricks -- including most of the other 50 or so suggested in the manual -- are neat for showing off to neighbors or entertaining at parties. Besides following its box, the ER1 can play music, sing when it hears a loud noise, teach words to a parrot and even warn that it spots a beer can.
The recognition scheme is quite impressive. It could tell the difference between different denominations of currency. It even recognized me as long as I was wearing the shirt I had on when my image was originally captured. It didn't know me from Adam when I put on another shirt.
But the true power of the ER1 is in the ability to layer programs on top of one another, leading to more complex behaviors. Users familiar with the scripting language Python can create even more complicated tasks.
The possibilities are limited only by imagination and hardware. Evolution also plans to sell expansion kits, such as a gripper ($199) for grabbing that beer, and infrared sensors (price to be determined).
Evolution says the 12-volt rechargeable battery that powers the robot's motors can last up to three hours. My laptop battery died long before that.
I had the most fun driving the ER1 around using my home wireless connection. Because my laptop is wireless-capable, I could control the unit from my desktop computer and see everything the robot could see through that computer.
In fact, I could have controlled the thing from anywhere in the world over the Internet, provided I left a few holes open in my firewall.
------
On the Net:
Evolution Robotics: http://www.evolution.com
Is the pieces they use to build it. Its extruded aluminum channels from www.xbeams.com. They go together with plastic connectors. Think big erector set.
Also along those lines is www.8020.net, which I think is probably the original source of the xbeams product. They're tailored more for the industrial construction set, with a CAD program that translates designs into orders for the extrusions. Of course, it only runs on Windows... Cool stuff, though.
Despite the image-recognition capabilities, really this seems no more than a $1600+ remote controlled robot. So it has a web-cam and can be driven over the internet. Yay, just what I wanted to do.... drive a low-res 5fps web-cam around my house from school or work (the specs I just made up but we all know what real-world internet video feeds are like).
Sorry guys, when I see a robot that can recognize objects decently, and can converse with me in a semi-normal way, then I'll be interested. Not this glorified webcam on a rc car junk
Romeo & Juliet for 1337 hax0rz! http://www.redcoat.net/pics/romjul.swf
I think what people are waiting for in the area of personal robotics is something with actual everyday practical use.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Anyone know why they couldn't get by with one of the Single Board Computers out there? Surely there is enough horse power in one of those to make this thing work. You could use your home PC to download new programs into the SBC, so maybe the lack of a screen wouldn't be that big of a deal. I know one thing, they are a lot cheaper than a laptop.
As Obi Wan would say: "This is not the droid you 're looking for."
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
I have had my eye on one since before they came out back earlier this year. They do have professional systems based on Linux as well as a developement kit in Python for all you OSS critters. There just isn't as large a market of people with Linux laptops as there are with windows. Frankly, It looks like a good first step to Usable hobby configurable robots. This thing just need to grow up a little -- and release a Linux version.
Sure, it has some nice engineering, and it utilises a cool looking frame, and has some interesting software - but really, you could easily build one of these things cheaper from parts you could pick up at a Home Depot.
Some angle alumininum (or steel), a couple of cordless drills (for drive motors), a couple of plastic casters, some plastic lawnmower wheels, and a few bolts - four DPDT relays from Radio Shack (or your favorite surplus supplier), a few transistors, some resistors, and diode (for coil flyback protection) - maybe a hex driver IC or whatnot - an old 386 or 486 laptop with parallel port, and a simple parallel port interface box (stuff the relays and whatnot inside) - that is all you need. If you shop judiciously, you could probably scam the whole thing together for under $200.00. Shop surplus, scrap, and junk parts - you could easily get it for under $100.00, or less.
Need a camera? Drop a micro-ITX motherboard on the thing, and add a cheap USB camera.
If you wanted to have the super-cool modular metal beams, those can be readily found online through metal suppliers (though they are pretty costly per foot) - but really, standard extruded aluminium pieces from Home Depot or a scrap metal yard will work just fine. There are plenty of resources on the internet on hooking up a PC to the motors (whether the motors are simple DC motors, or steppers like this device uses - and surplus stepper motors are everywhere - hell, pull them from an old printer), adding sensors of every sort, programming, etc. No need at all to spend $600.00, unless you just like throwing money at problems...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon