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Segway-Based Robot Opens Doors
Roland Piquepaille writes "In this short article, Technology Review tells us that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have built a new robot, named Cardea, which is able to push open doors and has the bottom half of a Segway scooter. Cardea will be five feet tall with a torso, three arms, a variety of sensors, and a human-like head with expressive features and vision, and mounted on a Segway base. More details and references are contained in this review which also includes several pictures. For even more details, go to the Cardea Project homepage."
How long do the batteries last, anyway? It's not much good if they run out in, say, five minutes.
A recent article in SciAm described small robots that can be thrown through windows and will run around and map the area. I wonder if this robot could do the same? But what if it runs into stairs?
Just some thoughts.
Shouldn't robots get away from the 'two wheel' system? I mean, it's going to be limited to (fairly) flat plane areas. I would think the IBOT would make a much better base for a robot.
I personally welcome our segway based robot overlords.
Seriously though this is an intresting hack/use of segway technology. It'd be interesting to learn how it copes with some of the limitations of the technology. What happens when the batteries run out? That could be an expensive crash. How does it cope with moving over larger obstacles that a segway rider might just be able to cope with. I guess I really don't know enough about how Segway+Human works to think about possible solutions. Anyhow, well done MIT!The base for that robot is an official development platform called, I think, the Segway RMP, not just "the bottom half of a Segway." My college has one, too. It acts a bit differently from a regular Segway and can reasonably easily be remote controlled, balancing itself with up to 250 pounds on it. At the moment, it seems they've stuck a robot torso on top of the RMP. Not to say that's not a reasonable accomplishment in itself. I'm an undergrad research assistant in a robotics lab, and real-world application can be extremely frustrating.
Honor Among Slackers. A veri
It only accounts for one type of door handle. The handle has to be at 90 degrees and be the type that pushs down. Any type of door knob would just fluster this expensive two wheeled disaster just waiting to happen. Though the last few seconds shows how easily this thing gets excited. Some guy talks demanding to it and it springs up some sort of levers in front and back of the thing... I don't really know what to make of that.
Too many robotics researchers are messing about with toys rather than trying to solve the hard problems. This is yet more grist to his mill.
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"The worst fad has been these stupid little robots," said Minsky. "Graduate students are wasting 3 years of their lives soldering and repairing robots, instead of making them smart. It's really shocking."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,587
...without falling off. Headline: "Robot smarter than U.S. President - Scientists predict they will surpass humans within 100 years".
${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
The Segway balances itself, actually you shift your weight to control it.
Now, the genious part. You robot only has to shift its weight in order to move about. You've eliminated a lot of relatively hard problems by piggybacking on the segway.
It's really kinda like using a library instead of implementing everything from scratch.
Stop the brainwash
I can deliver a memo to everyone in the office on multiple floors and even in offices around the world in seconds (or minutes at worst).
I don't need a friggin robot zooming around the office delivering 'memos' and waiting to run me down as I pop-out of my cubicle to replenish my caffeine supply.
Now give me one that can fetch my coffee and then we're talking.