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Fujitsu To Ship Linux Powered Robot in July

Radical Rad writes "The Register is reporting that Fujitsu will be shipping a consumer robot in July called HOAP for Humanoid Open Architecture Platform and it will be running a real-time version of Linux. They plan to release info on the controls system to make it possible to program using C/C++. The 7 kg robot is wired with USB and can have an optional 802.11b transceiver." This thing could be a lot of fun to program and send around the house.

135 comments

  1. Does Fujitsu have? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2, Funny

    Do they have a custom Linux distribution for this robot? I have a great name for this! HOAX

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:Does Fujitsu have? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, what did you say? I was too busy staring at your sig...

    2. Re:Does Fujitsu have? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1
      DAAV0 (daav0@aol.com) wrote:
      : thie3e3 mijitz hayufv awul gann

      Gone and all but forgotten!

      : ownlee I, daddyo, remain--to deue bad tel wiyiuth thiee efil woneill.

      And based on past battles, you couldn't fight your way out of a midget packing box sans styrofoam peanuts!

      --

      Bill O'Neill (woneill@pobox.com)
      Toynbee ideas in Kubrik's 2001
      http://www.pobox.com/~woneill Resurrect dead on planet Jupiter

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    3. Re:Does Fujitsu have? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your sig is annoying. So you can type some special characters in a pattern. Big freaking deal.

      Remember, sometimes less is more.

    4. Re:Does Fujitsu have? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1
      Your sig is annoying. So you can type some special characters in a pattern. Big freaking deal.

      Remember, sometimes less is more.

      Less is more? I guess that's why my UID is 137, and you are AC....
      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    5. Re:Does Fujitsu have? by TheMidget · · Score: 1
      I have a great name for this! HOAX

      Indeed. Just look at the calendar...

  2. Robot by Original+AIDS+Monkey · · Score: 0, Funny

    This thing could be a lot of fun to program and send around the house.

    I can just see CowboyNeal now... "Fetch me food, CowbotKneel!"

    --


    =======
    P.S. Bite! You've been bitten by the Original AIDS Monkey! You have AIDS now!
  3. Willy Wonka by The+Only+Druid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe its me, but every time I see one of these pint-sized robots demonstrated or released, my first impulse is to sing an Oompa-Loompa song in my head. I just picture a crowd of these, milling around my house taking care of random tasks, and singing moral lessons to all my visitors.

    Then again, I do wear a purple top hat.

    --
    "Stumble before you crawl"
    1. Re:Willy Wonka by Hubert_Shrump · · Score: 1

      Not me. I see myself being hunted for sport and getting my head mounted at the robot lodge over the arc-lamp fireplace.

      --
      Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
    2. Re:Willy Wonka by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it is definitely just you.

    3. Re:Willy Wonka by spongman · · Score: 1

      buy a bunch of them, give them each an axe and hook them up to Weta's Massive.

    4. Re:Willy Wonka by spongman · · Score: 1
      hackers beware!

      oops, sorry, left out the comma.

    5. Re:Willy Wonka by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Damn You! Now I cannot get that @#&! oompa-lumpa song out of my head again. It took me months the last time it happened. Arrrrg! Must.....Reboot.....Head

  4. Hmmm... by Squidgee · · Score: 2
    I can't imagine what will happen to this poor robot once Hackers get their hands on it..

    I can see Butler Bots appearing. Maybe an aftermarket for "Robot Modules", sort of like software now? Could be fun!

    1. Re:Hmmm... by xigxag · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I wonder whether Fujitsu would be held liable if someone programmed one of these robots to kill somebody. I could see it argued in court that by using Linux, they made it "too easy" for any psychopath "hacker" or script kiddy to turn their toy into a dangerous weapon.

      --
      There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
    2. Re:Hmmm... by axxackall · · Score: 1
      By installing Microsoft on it the bot becomes dangerous even without any hackers. Now imagine if any hackers will get their hands on Microsoft based bot!

      Speaking about Linux, the bot will have specially customized Linux - rootless Linux. Hackers are seeking for root. No root - no hackers. Simple.

      --

      Less is more !
    3. Re:Hmmm... by kisielk · · Score: 1

      Just as knife makers should be held liable if someone uses a knife to kill someone else. After all , it's too easy for a "hacker" (pun not intended, of course) to get a hold of a knife and turn this average kitchen utensil in to a weapon.

      Potentially, anything could be a weapon... should society hold the makers of any household object accountable if someone decides to make it their weapon of chocie? I think we'd soon see nearly every product imagineable disappear if that were the case.

    4. Re:Hmmm... by xigxag · · Score: 1

      I happen to agree with you, but in court the arguement could be made that the "reasonable" man understands that knives are a dangerous weapon and so ought to treat them with care, but it's not "reasonable" to think that a toy/hobby robot will be used as a murder weapon. Hence the manufacturer ought to be held liable for negligently allowing this hazardous object to be misused by the public.

      At the very least, it would probably need to come with multiple warnings. For example, right now I'm staring at a carton of soy milk upon which the following is prominently displayed: "NOT TO BE USED AS INFANT FORMULA" You would think someone would have to be an idiot to replace cow's milk with soy milk in a baby's diet, but, nevertheless, there you have it.

      --
      There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
    5. Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      babies have problems with soy?

      *Goes off to google*

    6. Re:Hmmm... by kisielk · · Score: 1

      Well, in that case I'm glad the world is filled with mostly "reasonable" men so I don't have to worry about a guy clubbing me with a rubber chicken or trying to kill me with a kazoo :p

    7. Re:Hmmm... by Squidgee · · Score: 1

      FYI -- Hackers are peopel who tinker, and make better. Your thinking of crackers, who break things and are in general bad. Linux is made by hackers. Money is stolen by crackers.

    8. Re:Hmmm... by axxackall · · Score: 1
      All right, with your correction:

      San Francisco, 2004. The city, as well as all Bay Area, is full of robots, built and driven by hackers, to find crackers who is trying to take over the bots' control. All citizens forgot about president elections because they are devided onto two big groups: hackers, who build and drive bots, and crackers, who crack the code, steal the bot and fight back. The rest of citizens had to flee into villages all over the California and Nevada. The police has been neutralized at first weeks of the war by both fighting sides in order to avoid any unnecessary distracting factors. Mr President in his speach in the Congress suggested to let California go, saying: "We've got Afganistan, Iraq, Iran and Korea, and we still keep Texas - nothing to worry about."

      --

      Less is more !
  5. Tethered? by Hayzeus · · Score: 4, Informative
    My understanding was that this robot (actually the HOAP-2, a sucessor to the HOAP-1) was to be tethered for both power and datacomm to a remote computer running linux. If this is the case, don't expect it to be wandering too far.

    Note that the HOAP-1 ran about $48,000.00USD; unless the price drops significanty, it'll probably not be your next tech toy.

    More info and video (in Japanese) from Fujitsu here.

    1. Re:Tethered? by DoctorDan · · Score: 2, Funny

      'I am going to take over the world and exterminate' 'No you're not, the power cable is only 6' long' On par with the inability of daleks to climb stairs...

    2. Re:Tethered? by chefbimbo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ok, it already got hands so it can go get me beer out of the fridge (my fridge is slightly higher than the robot so that works).

      Now if you also add a pussy this thing WILL be sold even at 50K. Maintenance sure would be cheaper than with a girl.

    3. Re:Tethered? by Hayzeus · · Score: 1

      If it's sex you're looking for try here. Plus they're only about 5G.

    4. Re:Tethered? by mwolff · · Score: 1

      There's an optional 802.11b link.

      Could that work as the datacomm?

    5. Re:Tethered? by Hayzeus · · Score: 1

      Not if the main box isn't on board the robot, and there wouldn't be a whole lot of point to 802.11b if the power source is remote.

    6. Re:Tethered? by The+Salamander · · Score: 1

      If only I could find a Cherry 2000

    7. Re:Tethered? by chefbimbo · · Score: 1

      Actually, I prefer girls that move on their own. Then again, woman are such a pain to deal with. ROI is hardly ever anywhere near ok (and I'm not talking about $ here, primarily).

  6. The programming better include... by Toasty16 · · Score: 3, Informative
    ...the Three Laws of Robotics:

    A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

    A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

    A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

    1. Re:The programming better include... by chrisseaton · · Score: 1

      I don't think it's in danger of being in a sitution where "through inaction, [it would] allow a human being to come to harm" quite yet.

    2. Re:The programming better include... by HunterWare · · Score: 2, Funny

      >> I don't think it's in danger of being in a sitution where "through inaction,
      >> [it would] allow a human being to come to harm" quite yet.

      Actually I think thats the _only_ commandment it's in danger of breaking...

    3. Re:The programming better include... by Freston+Youseff · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      There was nothing honourable or decent about Asimov. He was a convicted child molester under house arrest between the years of 1983 and 1984. Can't you tell from his novels, from the suggestive sexual nature assigned to young persons in his books, that the man's a pervert? God knows we're lucky he hadn't tread into the realm of roboto-humaniod sexual encounters. Still, it makes me nervous that young disaffected youth idolise such a man, who wrote limericks about detonating explosives in the vaginal cavities of women, and murder of infants. Seek help, please.

      --

    4. Re:The programming better include... by axxackall · · Score: 1
      After consulting with Organization for Robot Rights, the famous Three Laws of Robotics must sound:

      1. A robot may not injure any living being, including humans, animals and other robots, or, through inaction, allow any living being to come to harm.

      2. A robot must obey the orders given it by strictly authorized (ID must be preprogrammed) living beings by except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

      3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

      4. Depends on the Linux distro installed the robot must (carefully!) follow the other laws from one of the following Books: the Bible, the Quran, the Tora, when they are not in conflict with with first three laws. Buddhism and TaoDeChing rules are already checked and certified as safe.

      --

      Less is more !
    5. Re:The programming better include... by bigt_littleodd · · Score: 1

      And for those who think bigger: The Zeroth Law: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow a humanity to come to harm.

      --
      Let's play Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'll be Pestilence.
    6. Re:The programming better include... by sahala · · Score: 1
      ..the Three Laws of Robotics: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
      A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
      A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

      I realize that it's a sci-fi reference, but just for discussion purposes, I can't imagine how these laws would be implemented. Not that I'm well read in current AI, but I haven't heard of any advancements that allow a machine to be truely self aware and perceptive enough to understand high level concepts like humans being harmed or existence.

      Hell I'd be happy if robots scrapped these laws and simply learned how to do my dishes, clean up around the house, or even just filter out my spam.

    7. Re:The programming better include... by Quickdart · · Score: 1

      You forgot the Zeroith Law of Robotics 0. A robot must not harm humanity, or through inaction cause humanity to come to harm. Without that we'd have robot butlers protecting murderers and such, it's a very real danger :).

    8. Re:The programming better include... by TheMidget · · Score: 1
      Yeah, Saddam murdered by his own robots. Dream on!

      And now look at the other player of the game: must Pretzels obey the three laws of robotics? And do they know about the zeroth?

    9. Re:The programming better include... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Rather than the Asimovian laws, I prefer the simpler Moody John Wayne Robot Law:

      "Follow my orders or I'll beat the bolts outta ya!"

    10. Re:The programming better include... by burns210 · · Score: 1

      how anal must a robot be? If i buy the autodriver 8000 that drives my car for me, would it be breaking law number one by driving my SUV that pumps gases into the air? That dirty air, ofcourse, could cause health problems down the road.

  7. Hacking by eenglish_ca · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wouldn't it be funny if you had set this up on your network from which you could command it to then do the housework, then someone hax0rs you and uses it to rob you in the middle of the night. That would be hilarious.

    --
    Checking out my form of escapism.
    1. Re:Hacking by Swift(void) · · Score: 1

      I personally cant wait to hear the reaction of the RSPCA when you tell them your hacking your pet to see if you can make it run faster.

    2. Re:Hacking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, stealing is funny. I love it when people steal from me. It cracks me up.

    3. Re:Hacking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah hurhurhur itz funnie if some0nz h4x0r j00 and st34l ur shiz. hehehehehe. so helarius.

  8. I'm So Smart and So Lazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...that I'm going to program it to empty my modified bedpan that attaches to my computer chair so I'll never miss an item in Everquest again!

  9. price? by bumby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "This thing could be a lot of fun to program and send around the house."

    Sure could, but I don't want to see the price-sticker.

    Actually I don't think the ideal helper-bots are humanoids. I beleave specialdesigned bots will do better. One bot does one thing, and does it good ;) e.g. open the door, clean floor, etc.

    --
    Hey! That's my sig you're smoking there!
  10. Just don't install the Gimp by teamhasnoi · · Score: 4, Funny

    nobody needs a limpy robot.

    1. Re:Just don't install the Gimp by Dr.+Photo · · Score: 1

      Marvin! :-D

  11. FYI... by Squidgee · · Score: 2, Informative
    Sony has released a humanoid robot as well:

    The SDR-4X II. While it's not as customizable (And therefore I'd rather have the other one), it looks like it could be fun as well.

    1. Re:FYI... by Yokaze · · Score: 1

      Um, the Fujitsu sports a Pentium III 700MHz and as far as I can see a single camera.

      The SDR-4X II sports 3 64bit RISC processors each with 64Mb RAM (The previous SDR-4X had only two). Two cameras for stereoscopic vision. And from the presentation I've seen, the vision software is quite impressive.

      > While it's not as customizable

      Not as customisable? Are you refering to the add-on WLAN? The SDR-4X II has a Memory Stick slot (it's a Sony :) ). You can add a tremendiously expensive Bluetooth or WLAN Memory Stick. Not that the cost of those would matter, when your buying the robots.
      Or are you suggesting to go with a screwdriver at the >$40k robots?

      The SDR-4X II is programmable with the Open-R SDK.

      From what I know, I'd rather have the SDR-4X II. Not that I'm able to afford one, or that I would reject an offered HOAP-2 as gift.

      --
      "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
  12. Got root? by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 1

    I hope they have ckhrootkit run via cron.daily... I'd hate to see what a rooted robot could do.

    Oh, and imagine a beowulf cluster of these.

    --

    Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

    1. Re:Got root? by caino59 · · Score: 1

      no root.

      problem solved...

  13. could it be a security system? by Cheeze · · Score: 2, Funny

    i know if i were a robber, and i saw a robot coming after me, i would flip out and find the quickest exit.

    it wouldn't be that hard to develop either, just setup a keyword that would stop the robot, and only give that to people that are supposed to be in the house. you don't even have to teach the robot to attack, just to chase after, make noise, and flash some lights if it detects motion. all you need is a cheap camera, motion detection software, and some voice recognition software. I think most of that stuff is already developed.

    --
    Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
    1. Re:could it be a security system? by DoctorDan · · Score: 1

      Done before (in fiction) - Robocop :)

    2. Re:could it be a security system? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A robot set to guard with an A.T.C HyperSound unit
      emitting the infamous baby-cry-backwards-with-another-noise.

      House robbers gone extinct...

    3. Re:could it be a security system? by Diabolical · · Score: 1

      If i were a robber and saw a robot coming after me i would scoop it up and sell it on the black market..

      more worth it then your stereo i think..

      Off course.. i first must find a way to get into your house without exhausting myself... you try and heave 150kg over a gardenwall... and with my fingers picking a lock is not an alternative either... let's not even talk about who would win when i have to run away... :-)

    4. Re:could it be a security system? by burns210 · · Score: 1

      Have you any idea the state of voice recognition? Not to mention that it would be at a fair distance away, and you would be scared as shit with a friggin robot coming at you. Yelling "Sacramento" as loud as you can as a robot comes charging at you and hoping it recognizes the word... sounds like fun to me.

  14. Switching to Linux by manseman · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is good news for companies and institutions that consider switching their desktops to Linux.
    The robot would visit each room in the office, tell the occupant that it's about to switch his os, and then plug itself in the computer and start uploading Linux. After the upload is complete the robot could stick around to answer questions and teach the use of Linux.

    1. Re:Switching to Linux by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      Oh my god! Its already happened! And I'm a robot! Noooooooo!!!!

      --
      Why not fork?
    2. Re:Switching to Linux by rapidweather · · Score: 1

      For some unexplained reason, my Windows 98 dialup is faster than my Redhat 7.1 KPPP dialup connection. I need that robot to check my phone lines

    3. Re:Switching to Linux by TheMidget · · Score: 1

      And, at the same time, it could use its giant clue-bat on those PhB that absolutely want to stick to their windows...

  15. Why humanoid design? by foofboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Isn't there a better way to build a body than upright, two limbs for perambulation, two for manipulation. I mean, our species is sort of stuck with the design. But would it be easier to design something more like an arthropod.

    Is the idea that it's be easier to relate to a bipedal critter? Is it easier to program a two legged thing? I'd've thought the balance problems alone would make it much harder to create a humanoid robot.

    Any MIT calibre eggheads want to weigh in?

    1. Re:Why humanoid design? by The+Jonas · · Score: 1

      Isn't there a better way

      Yes, check out some of the OOPIC projects.

    2. Re:Why humanoid design? by matt4077 · · Score: 1

      Well, nature took a few million years to come up with this design, and it's actually a pretty good one. Also, all those household appliances (and the houses themselve) are made with the appropiate interfaces.

    3. Re:Why humanoid design? by Psiren · · Score: 1

      Because a bipedal robot with two arms can manipulate its environment in exactly the same way as we do (once the programming catches up). You won't need to have a specilist robot for specific tasks. If a human can do it, then theres no theoretical reason a robot can't do it either. See Data on TNG :)

    4. Re:Why humanoid design? by firewrought · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Well, nature took a few million years to come up with this design, and it's actually a pretty good one.

      It's pretty good, but nature didn't open source the perception/actuation software. Problems like "walking" are still difficult, especially if you have to worry about stairs, uneven terrain, varying surface conditions, local obstacles, etc. The point of the first poster is that you can avoid most of these problems upfront by choosing a cleverer form factor.

      --
      -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
    5. Re:Why humanoid design? by Cranky_92109 · · Score: 1

      It doesn't take an MIT egghead to realize that we want our robot girlfriends to look somewhat human, not like bugs. Sheesh.

    6. Re:Why humanoid design? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
      At least of the examples we have of land-based creatures, the bipedal form seems to be the most useful in a wide range of situations. Primates are ideally suited (in form alone) only to very forgiving environments, though intelligence comes from our big complicated brain, which is part of the human package in particular. Without intelligence (other primates exhibit loads of it as well of course) this form is pretty lousy.

      For example, our bodies are good enough to let us do crazy things like mountain climbing, up to and including free climbing the bottoms of surfaces. Not everyone can do that of course but you always have your physical stars. But if you're stupid enough to do that then it tends to get you killed. On the other hand, if you're too stupid to use delicate fingers as we do then it should be hard to evolve them because they are a liability in many ways, mostly that they are easily damaged.

      A durable bipedal form (like ours, and not like any robot we can make in man-size yet) is very useful. It can handle an extremely wide range of terrain, for one. You can exert a variety of forces over a wide range of motion. Legs are very energy-efficient when used as people use them, because tendons store energy. A person who is physically fit has a more fluid walk and actually uses less energy walking than someone who is not physically fit, because they are storing more energy.

      It's certainly hard to program bipedal robots to balance at this point, partly because we don't do that. Once you get it to balance, however, there are any number of benefits, some of which I have detailed above. Also, we instinctively understand how to get a bipedal, humanoid form (with the joints in the same places) to do things with its body because that's how we move. I'm not sure why this is necessary because a lot of effort goes into kinematics, deciding how to move something from point A to point B given its joints and so on. For instance, while playing the Mechwarrior games, you will notice that the feet of the 'mechs tilt and pivot to match themselves to surfaces.

      But the issue there is that you never need worry about traction; It's simply not modeled because the only vehicles you can pilot are 'mechs, and none of the wheeled vehicles move fast enough for it to matter. (Other than mechs, the only things in the game are tanks, hovercraft, and various aircraft.) The game solves the problem of traction by simply making you fall off slopes over a certain steepness, and not letting you walk (far) up slopes over a certain (lesser) steepness.

      The real world is obviously more complicated. What we really need is a walking robot that can't hurt itself by falling down :) People hurt themselves falling down, but they're self-repairing to a large extent. If machines were 10% as self-repairing and maintaining as humans, there'd be a lot more unemployment. (That day is fast approaching, it's going to be really good to be someone who designs robots (or something else) very soon.) Additionally there is a problem of turning the real world into geometry in the computer in a rapid and accurate manner. We get very good at it, our brains are large complicated analog computers which train themselves toward particular tasks, and a great deal of them is dedicated to turning visual information into a sense of spatial relationships.

      Getting 3D information out of stereo vision can be done. Hell, if you have enough motion, you can do it with one camera. There are a number of books on the subject, all of which will get you started if you're good enough with math. However it is extremely processor-intensive, much as the same job occupies much of our brains. There are other ways to go (sonar, radar, lidar) which will give you a height field, a series of height fields over time when subjected to appropriate mathematics will give you geometry. Combining that information with your visual data will give you color, and this collection of attributes is enough information to identif

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:Why humanoid design? by solman · · Score: 1

      Nature designs things for survival, not human utility.

      Aircraft don't flap their wings because that design is spectaculalry difficult to implement (not to mention poorly suited for the task of transporting large payloads).

    8. Re:Why humanoid design? by solman · · Score: 1

      THIS IS A TOY!

      It uses a humanoid design because more humans are willing to spend large quantities of money for something that looks humanoid.

      There are very few (if any) tasks for which a humanoid robot is a more effective design, except for those tasks in which the robot is expected to interact with humans.

    9. Re:Why humanoid design? by BarryJacobsen · · Score: 1

      Coding more difficult for two legs? Nah, these guys jacked the source code from god...something about using a sendmail exploit...

  16. Questions.. by frodo+from+middle+ea · · Score: 1

    Is there any other Open Source Kernel that can be used in embeded applications instead of Linux ?
    If so what advantages does linux offer over such kernel ? Secondly how exactly is it important to use an Open Source platform in an embeded device both from manifacturer's and consumer's POV ?

    --
    for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
  17. HOAP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Shouldn't that be GNU/Robbie?

  18. Linux? by abc_los · · Score: 1

    A robot running a version of Linux? My robot runs on Windows and continually tries to commit suicide.

  19. "BeeHive" Clustering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    With the current war in Iraq it would be interesting to see a platoon of these mapping out supected landmine areas with 802.11 communications and GPS mapping.
    Also, could you get a collective to build research and explorative stations on remote planets for preperations of manned trips to say...mars?

    1. Re:"BeeHive" Clustering by codeonezero · · Score: 1
      ...it would be interesting to see a platoon of these mapping out supected landmine areas...
      Sound like Lemmings!!! Woo hoo! :) That should be a fun game: Lemmings X: Incursion into Iraq.
      --

      ....
      int main (void) { ... }

  20. I want one... by JonWan · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'll program it to be Bender.

    It will sit around all day watching soap operas and say, "Bite my shiney metal ass, meatbag"

    1. Re:I want one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shut up, coffin-stuffer. That was my idea.

  21. No, CowboyNeal... by cybermace5 · · Score: 1

    from the bop-whirr-zoop dept.

    That should read:

    from the bah-weep-granah-weep-ninni-bong dept.

    --
    ...
  22. But the real question is.. by ewithrow · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Does it run linux?

    1. Re:But the real question is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only did you not RTFA but you didn't even read the intro.

  23. I wonder by PierceLabs · · Score: 1

    what would happen if you overclocked him :)

    1. Re:I wonder by Eudial · · Score: 1

      Probarly nothing. Computer programs that are using a timer to control delays generally appear the same under any clockspeed (well, potentially a bit slower on very low speeds). and since most of the software written after 1992 are relaying on this technique it is most likely that so will this robot.

      --
      GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
  24. Three short mpegs by PukkaStoryTeller · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Three short mpegs of this strange thing. http://www.automation.fujitsu.com/products/product s092.html (click on the screenshots)

  25. My bot, my rules by gad_zuki! · · Score: 4, Funny

    It better not. I don't want my $60,000 investment thinking its a superhero because of law number one.

    Screw law number two. If I want it to poke you in the eye with a stick it should.

    We can change law number three to, "Do your master's bidding, and try not to break yourself. If you can, beat up other robots for parts. Your master isn't the richest man in the world and you're moving out when you turn 18!"

  26. Jay! by Eudial · · Score: 1

    The first robot ever who is able to segfault!

    --
    GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
  27. This is a bad road to go down.... by Astralmind · · Score: 1

    Did we learn nothing from the Animatrix?

  28. hmm by Subnirvana337 · · Score: 1

    This seems like an intresting robot...is it the first comercial robot to run on Linux? At least they won't charge extra for the properitary OS..or maybe they will...

  29. Now... by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 1

    If we could just get one inside a real doll.

    --

    Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

    1. Re:Now... by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 0

      This one is for Taco.

      --

      Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

  30. Why little humanoids? by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I really liked the look of the new toshiba robot, it looks like it can do more than interact with a doll house, which seems to be the design criteria behind these tiny humanoid bots.

    802.11, LCD screen, and voice recognition could make it a very cool extension of your PC. It can find you, show (or read) your email, let you send replies via voice, etc. If your PC is connected to your entertainment system if could be a rolling video jukebox. Have it display your divx collection and send a signal to the PC to play the video on the TV.

    There's a lot a "PC on wheels" can do now with 802.11b and broadband. I think the "ethernet everwhere" crowd would be better served by a central and movable programmable device than putting an ethernet card in the fridge and in the toaster.

    A real usable robot will not look like a man, it will look like an appliance. Preferably with a cup holder and magazine rack. Oh, and a vaccum attachment would be nice too.

    When these bots are able to do something other than be bots for the sake of being bots then we'll be seeing some real innovation.

    1. Re:Why little humanoids? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It can find you, show (or read) your email..."

      Oh dear! Imagine sitting around one evening entertaining friends when your robot ambles in and begins explaining how you can enlarge your penis...

  31. Best case mod ever... by dissonant7 · · Score: 1

    Using a bot for a case would be sweet. I can just picture my next system walking into the LAN, carrying my monitor, setting itself up, and plugging itself into the hub. FragBot....

    1. Re:Best case mod ever... by SamBeckett · · Score: 1

      I can just picture my next system walking into the LAN, carrying my monitor...

      Either you have one VERY tiny robot, or one large ass ethernet cable!

  32. Robots and Free Software? by Michael_Burton · · Score: 1

    I don't know whether this is a good idea... fill a robot's head with a bunch of free (as in speech) software, and who knows what kind of ideas it's likely to get. I mean, freedom is all well and good, but this could screw up the whole obedient robot slave thing before it gets started.

    --
    When all you have is an axe, everything looks like a grindstone.
  33. i4u calls it the ugly robot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  34. Fujitsu invents neural learning system for robots by rpiquepa · · Score: 1

    The Register and The Inquirer have fought for our attention in the last couple of years. And I think this Inquirer's story beated the Register's one, at least because it was published one day earlier. And also because it didn't mention Linux, which is not really the engine behind the robot, but it tallks about neural networks software, which is the real tool used to train the robot.

  35. Powered by the X by nacs · · Score: 1

    Let's see, it's got a Intel Pentium 3 processor, USB 1.1 ports and runs linux. Is it safe to say that this robot is actually powered by a $200 Xbox?

    If not, let's find a way and submit it to /. soon.

    --
    "I filter at +6, and have yet to miss out on an important comment." (#822545)
  36. better than SONY's by KingRamsis · · Score: 1

    This is good news, Fujitsu is taking the right approach and attitude unlike SONY, when a group of programmers tried to publish the inner-workings of Abio only to be greeted by a dreadful letter from SONY's lawyers.

  37. Fujitsu HD troubles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And after 5 days of operation, the robot's hard drive will fail, and he'll either be an expensive doorstop or a mutant robot zombie that will link up SkyNet and bring about the end of the world!

    Thanks Fujitsu!

  38. Two questions. by The+Creator · · Score: 1

    1. Can they operate laser rifles?

    2. Can they repair each other?

    --

    FRA: STFU GTFO
  39. Asimov? by WegianWarrior · · Score: 1

    Quite some accusations... you got some links to back that up?

    --
    Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
  40. Standard M$ Joke by taped2thedesk · · Score: 0, Troll

    "We are Borg... shut down your OS and surrender your hard drive - your technological distinctiveness will be infused with bugs and security flaws and added to our own. Resistance is futile."

  41. Noooo!!! by Peterus7 · · Score: 1

    Why oh why did I have to sign up for all those damn vb/basic classes...

  42. Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does it look like a penguin too ?

  43. I don't see the problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm pretty sure at least one of the real doll's orifaces is elastic enough.

  44. Humanoid? by Subcarrier · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh well. I guess I can always stuff it in a penguin suit.

    --
    "I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
  45. skeptical? by swyterw · · Score: 0

    look at the amazing things that robots do!
    robots can get your hat...fix your furnace...the possibilities are endless...

  46. Does this thing come with insurance... by __aajqwr7439 · · Score: 2, Funny


    for when the metal one decides to come for you?

    And he will.

    xox,
    Dead Nancy

  47. how much must this cost by 2057 · · Score: 0

    im guess alot!

    --
    For The Best Jazz/Hip-hop fusion > COlD DUCK
  48. What?!? by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

    I dont know what your talking about with the child molesation allegations, but Asimov did write about human/robot sexual relations in the 3rd book of his robot novels, The Robots of Dawn.

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  49. Caliban by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

    You should read the new robot novels, authorized by Asimovs estate. Caliban is an interestign read, to sum it up, a new gravitronic brain is built that doesn't have the 3 laws, after that its pretty much frankenstein with a robot. Still an interesting read and a good exploration fo the 3 laws.

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  50. Imagine a... by Zakabog · · Score: 1

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of these. No really, picture it in your head. Now someone just has to write a perl script to make the robots dance the macarena. Picture 100 humanoid robots doing the macarena in perfect unison... actually don't. It's quite creepy and just imagine the horrors if the script ran into an infinite loop.

  51. A linux powered ship rebooted ? by Quazion · · Score: 1

    i know ships running winNT which need reboots very often, i can understand that this is news

  52. Uh, oh.... by Dr.+Photo · · Score: 1

    They plan to release info on the controls system to make it possible to program using C/C++.

    Great... One little buffer overflow exploit and the damn thing switches to DESTROY ALL HUMANS mode... ;-)

  53. Kill all humans... must kill all humans! by payndz · · Score: 1

    Forget Linux, can we get them running Be(nder)OS? If I'm going to have a robot pal, I at least want it to share a beer with me rather than be a cringing Asimovian wimp?

    --
    You must think in Russian.
  54. Real-time Linux? by solprovider · · Score: 1

    The robot runs Real-time Linux!

    Is there a turn-based version of Linux? I have not read about that distro. Must be a rather extensive mod, since I thought the Linux kernel was real-time.

    I prefer turn-based strategy games over real-time strategy games, because I play for the thinking not the clicking. But I prefer my OS to keep working when I'm not watching. I thought all non-MS operating systems were real-time. The last turn-based OS I used was MS-DOS. Even Windows simulates real-time as long as you keep the number of tasks small and avoid programs that eat memory like MSIE or Office.

    So what is Real-time Linux?

    --
    I spend my life entertaining my brain.
    1. Re:Real-time Linux? by Animats · · Score: 1
      A real-time OS is one that can reliably respond to external events within a specified upper time limit. For serious real-time OSs (QNX, VxWorks), that limit is down in the tens to hundreds of microseconds. UNIX, and Linux, are notorious for long interrupt lockouts, which kills response time. Recently, efforts to fix the longer interrupt lockouts in Linux have been reasonably successful, and some Linux systems can now respond in a millisecond or two, most of the time.

      There are a few "real time" versions of Linux, but they're basically hacks. There's a variant of Linux called "RTLinux", but it's a kludge for running user applications as loadable kernel modules. "KURT" schedules user processes at the microsecond level using a weird device driver. There's a MonteVista variant of Linux with better documentation on latency. It's getting better, but it's not mature yet.

      But that's just scheduling. None of these have the hard real time message passing mechanisms of a true real-time OS like QNX. Message passing under Linux tends either to be via FIFOs (i.e. pipes), which is clunky for two-way communication, or via shared memory, which means one program can usually crash the other.

      One thing that's become clear from the Mach/Hurd debacle is that good message-passing operating systems are hard. There aren't many. The AmigaOS (Tripos), BeOS, and QNX have been the biggest successes.

      Linus doesn't like message passing systems, preferring a subroutine-call interface, and he has a point. There's a tradeoff between security and reliability vs performance. There's a performance hit in message passing systems (minor if you do it right, huge if you get it wrong), but you can build systems such that when part A crashes, part B doesn't crash. Real-time systems need that.

  55. Imagine a beowulf cluster of those - no, seriously by kinnell · · Score: 1
    How sinister would that be. You could train them to use weapons, and create your very own personal platoon of killer robots, operating as an integrated tactical system. Just imagine...

    while (!SUCCESS) SUCCESS=kill("Annoying Neighbour");

    An appropriate bot would be assigned to the task, with the others laying down fire support. Bwahahahaha. I wonder if they do bulk discounts?

    --
    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  56. Re:teledildonics by Goatse+Guy · · Score: 0

    SEE YOU IN METAMOD HELL BITCH

    --
    IM the Goatse Guy!! My AIM screenname is GoatsexGuy
  57. Affordable robot brain options by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    It seems there are four basic ways to hook the brains up to the robot body:

    1. Computer tethered to robot

    Pros: Full bandwidth, can use your existing desktop PC

    Cons: Limited range, tangling risk

    2. Radio or Infrared connection

    Pros: No cables

    Cons: Limited bandwidth and/or distance

    3. Laptop put in/on robot

    (Evolution Robotics in Pasadena, CA has this design)

    Pros: No cables nor radio links, can use your existing laptop

    Cons: Laptops are often not as fast as desktop PC's

    4. CPU in robot

    Pros: No cables nor radio links

    Cons: Can't use your existing computer (unless perhaps you have a rack-mount PC)

  58. New Level of Hacking Hijinx by I-R-Baboon · · Score: 1

    A wireless transceiver...usb ports...

    Imagine the laughs when you hack your buddy's robot to have Terets Syndrome kick up the least opportune moment.

    Loan Officer: "Well Mr. Geek, everything seems to be in order for this Home Loan, congrats!"

    Robot: "EAT SHIT FUCKFACE FLEE COUNTRY NOW COCKWEASEL FUCK MONEY FUCK"

    Loan Officer: ::Shredder::

    Mr. Geek: ::Mouth still resting on floor::

    --
    -1 Overrated (Too many big words for me to comprehend)
  59. Re:Fujitsu invents neural learning system for robo by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    neural robot learning: Spilling 1000 beers before it gets one right. Oh the horror!

  60. two questions by t0ny · · Score: 1
    1. does it play Ogg?

    2. can i get it to run LegOS?

    --

    Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.

  61. Microsoft robot: 5-foot walking Clippy by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    visit each room in the office, tell the occupant that it's about to switch his os, and then plug itself in the computer and start uploading Linux. After the upload is complete the robot could stick around to answer questions and teach the use of Linux.

    Windows version: "Would like some help with that task? (wink wink)"

    User: "Shut up!" (and bends Clippy into a pretzel shape)

    Hey, at least finally there would be something *physical* to punch about Clippy. Now I am actually warming up to the idea. I could switch it off and reverse its wheels and watch it back into the garbage when it wakes. He he!

  62. Mandatory Post by aszaidi · · Score: 1

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these.

  63. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 0

    Destiny is a good thing to accept when it's going your way. When it isn't,
    don't call it destiny; call it injustice, treachery, or simple bad luck.
    -- Joseph Heller, "God Knows"

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...