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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."
Holy %$#@.... it's the robot from "Short Circuit" !!
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
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.
Just a dumb question, but if I remember correctly the regular segway works by having the operator balance it somewhat like a bicycle, hence the small learning curve to operate the Segway.
So my question is, does this robot have some sort of balancing algorithm programmed into it so it doesn't fall flat on its face?
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
www.haidacarver.com
This is such a good thing, as somehow nobody has ever been able to invent a door that opens on its own. But now Johnny 5 comes to the rescue!
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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.
Three arms and a "head". Two cameras. But what else can it do besides opening doors. The fact that it looks somehow human with it head eyes and hands is of course nice but finally more important is what is inside the head. Can it be commanded verbally ? Can it be taught simple tasks without programming ? I mean that opening a door is nothing today...
i can open doors... whys there no post about ME?!
I am very sucseptible to "let's have another drink"
- Five feet tall
- 3 arms
- a variety of sensors
- mounted on a segway base
Oh and let's throw in a human-like head so that people can feel at home with it rolling around...
Innovation I tells ya!
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!How scarey would *that* have been to be seen wandering down the highway on Halloween....
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
Two Cardeas roll into a bar..
..which is really stupid since the second one should have seen it.
Harald
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
No but this does
Rus
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It doesn't have a brain the size of a planet, but it's job is suitable for Marvin.
Cardea will be five feet tall with a torso, three arms...
Dare I ask where the placement of that third arm is?
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
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.
1 4- 2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1
"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 Goonies, I believe (although, in thse referential times, the script could well have been quoting something else). And I think it was "Your mother wears combat boots." Sounds kind of gnarlier.
evil math within Nature's Cubic Creation!
The question is why?
Wake me up when it can give handjobs or viciously attack and destroy other robots or something. Its probably not a good idea to try to include both those options though. I'd just stick to one of them and perfect it.
And replying to one's own comments is stupid.
Distressed damsel: Help, help! These new door opening robots have gained self-awareness and are trying to take over the world!
Hero: Quick, run upstairs!
I never thought we'd see a race of galactic overlords that were less capable of handling stairs than the Daleks.
Building a Balancing Scooter...
link
My cat could open the sliding door to the laundry! It also went to the loo in a drain besides the real loo! Also, i didnt teach my cat to do this, it learnt how to do it!
Maybe this computer could have learnt something from my cat?
Giving IE users a taste of their own medicine since 2005 - http://pods.-is-a-geek.net/
...without ending up in an endless loop?
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
It somehow reminds me of the Rosie-robot from "The Jetsons" cartoons from the 60'ies and again in the 80'ies.t ml
If don't remember, check it here:
http://www.cybercomm.nl/~ivo/photo_ROSIE.h
or
http://www.jeffbots.com/rosie.html
Why invest money in researching wheeled robots? Is not legged robots better for all purposes except speed?
As you can see, Just like in software, in hardware you can also take existing concepts, ideas and expand on them or derive other things from them. This moves technology. Dear MS execs, It is not a cancer nor does it harm us. Learn to adapt and play with the team!
[alk]
Does this qualify as a pusher or shover robot?
-brain
does it derive pleasure from opening doors for you, and satisfaction from closing them with the knowledge of a job well done?
thank you, the marketing division of the sirius cybernetics corporation!
- doctea
Not sure if this is off topic, I think not. /. Have a look.
I've always been impressed with this Sony robot project. Kinda strange it's never been mentioned on
Now, it may not be the fastest robot you've seen, but it sure isn't the slowest (and they are constantly developing it, so I bet it will become faster over time), and the variety of movements and its capability of balancing is quite stunning. I wonder how hard it would be to implement a comparatively simple seeming feature such as opening doors.
parasight.de
I wonder if it can pull doors open, and how much trouble it would have navigating a real world... I for one always pull/push doors every combination except for the right one before I get anywhere....
I can just imagine it now...
"Warning! Warning! Battery Low. Batte..."
Creeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaak. Thump.
Bzzzt.
IS ALIVE!
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
a dog. Forget the terrors of nanotechnology run amuck. I'm scared of dogs acquiring the ability to open refrigerator doors. Cataclysmic chaos. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I believe it was a slur long before then, implying that the aforementioned mother obtained boots from a soldier who visited her brothel. Of course it loses meaning in the modern age, when plenty of mothers legitimately wear combat boots.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
Karma? What's that again?
Choose building a robot that opens doors. Choose not to tell anyone why. Choose a flailing arm that hits door handles. Choose mounting this arm on the top half of the robot for maximum lever-instability-badness. Choose a two-wheeled inherently unstable platform. Choose compensating for bad design with electronic gadgetry. Choose a kick stand kludge for when the robot inevitably keels over.
Try designing a better door.
Or if you really need a robo-butler at least give it tracks and a low center of gravity.
Walmart already has the invisible variety of these.
Is it just me or does this look like Rosie's great grandmother?
I imagine a robot on a segway can move alot faster than a robot on treads or wheels, and is probably alot more maneuverable at higher speeds... i see a robot moving around cubicles or something to deliver a memo at the speed of a person running.
but like i said before, there's already practical solutions for this and none of them have caught on very well... if the price is low enough, maybe it will catch on, but for now, I think it's the price of acquiring and maintaining them that keeps them down in popularity...
With the advent of A.I......
Need I say more?
The dingo ate my sig.
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
You all are missing the point of this new Segway-based robot.
;) ;) ;)
If you don't already look suffiently dorky riding around on a Segway, now you can have a matching robot servant to open doors so you don't have to EVER dismount.
Did you watch the movie?
It can push an already open door open, by putting a metal stick on the door and extending it.
What if the door is closed?
And what's the thing with MIT and these kinds of fakey "news"?
Will code a sig generator for food
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.
I love the way MIT gets media attention but doesn't necessarily do things first or towards a final usable product.
:) :l /vi sion.shtml
Segway soccer isn't new.
You don't need arms to play soccer; all you need is a "kicker". CMU already has a segway robot to play soccer: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~robosoccer/segway/
The point is that people on segways can play robots on segways. I'm not sure how adding arms and a head would help...
Also, you will notice this research group lacks vision
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/cardea/technica
ha
Robo-Blogs of the world: UNITE!
Cardea looks like a Motie as realized by Gyro Gearloose. Friendly.
A $10,000+ creation that opens doors. It won't stand a chance when I release my $20,000+ robot that digs holes and fills them back in.
...a use for the Segway, or part of it anyway.
According to the marketting department of the Syrius Cybernetics Corp., a robot is your plastic pal who's fun to be with.
I don't suppose this new machine is going to have a chronically depressed mood is it?
Life, don't talk to me about life...
You know it's going to be said sooner or later so I'll get it out of the way:
You're using her as bait, Master!
...people feel the need for
a human-like head with expressive features
I think if robot designers would just quit trying to make robots look like people, real people would just get used to it. What is the value in spending so much time makeing robots look/act human? It seems like a real waste to me. Wouldn't it be better to spend more time making the robot do something useful. Sheesh if you want a friend, go to a bar or join some sort of club but for christ sakes stop trying to build one.
The only reasonable argument I can see for emulating some human behaviors/intellect is some sort of general purpose robot. However, in my opinion though this probably wouldn't work well. It would probably perform like the printer/copier/scanner combos that we have toaday. In my expierience those multifunction devices perform poorly and fail early. The way technology progresses these days spending so much time on "personality" really seems like intellectual masturbation.
"It's because they're stupid, that's why. That's why everybody does everything." -Homer Simpson
[metallic voice]
"FA-THER! Give me legs!"
[/metallic voice]
Stefan
This reminds me of Rosie Jetson, the balancing maid on the olde time carton "The Jetsons". I think Rosie only had one wheel but it's a start. ;-) The one feature of being able to balance may turn out to be a big break for robot mobility and usefulness. Just think if all the designs there have been for keeping robots from falling over just going up ramps, let alone stairs.
:)
Rosie, fetch me my Uggs.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Will we now get homeless robots opening doors at McDonald's and train stations asking "spare some amp-hours when you get out please?"
It's nice to see DARPA funding some projects with interesting possibilities.
Of course, the goal is to also make the robot able "to safely interact with humans at eye level" (Technology Review) - which I doubt interests the military much...Unless they are curious about how safe it would be around other soldiers with a giant gun strapped to its back.
Though, a gun-toting Doorman Robot would probably make people move through doorways faster. Perhaps the Robot Doorman would also have the ability to shoot terrorist suspects on sight as it scanned the Microsoft brand ID tags that will be implanted in our necks - it would know, after all, if we went to www.burqa-porn.com or http://usgov.IwantToOverthrowIt.org, downloaded a linux OS, etc - instant terrorist flags.
Sure, this whole thing is ment to be a lesson in robotics, but I don't think they are going to get a better complemnt than "That's a cute trick."
Has humanity become so lazy that they want to stop doing calculations themselves? These new fangled calculators are going to be the death of society! God help us all!
You're being a typical poster and overreacting. A Segway can be a useful means of transportation. Just because you are too short sighted to see the benefits, does not mean it has none. You know, why own a couch? Humans have legs for a reason, so they can stand! Why do you want to sit down??? What's wrong with you??
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
Can it close doors, too? It's starting to get cold outside; bad enough when people leave the doors open.
Don't know why...
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/status/Sep_Robonaut_S tatus_03.htm
Robonaut + Segway = Really, really cool! And in response to the question I know will be asked (what's with those huge braces in all the photos), the reason those are there is this: just in case, for some reason, the thing falls down, they don't want it to hit the ground. The Segway RMP part is worth about $5000, but the Robonaut torso is worth either $250,000 or $750,000 (I can't remember which), and it banging into the ground would be a very bad thing.
Mr. Spleen
Ah, typically short-sighted peon. You're a follower, obviously a leader. You can't envision a time when people thought to themselves, "Well fuck, there's no roads. What's the point in owning a car?" Short sighted short sighted short sighted - that's all you are. Don't ever reply to one of my posts again.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
At least this Segway-Robot was born in the USA, so unlike the Governor of California, it will be able to serve as President of the country...
Very much like the original Segway, I ask this question. If it weren't for the cool gyro system, would we need it? If this robot or the original Segway where on tricycle wheels and had a normal steering system, would it be needed by anyone? The Segway is only an innovation because of it's innovation. It does not satisfy any needs or wants.
Awesome, it could pinch both my nipples and give me a handjob at the same time! Please forward this to the folks at RealDoll.com
Often in Error, Never in Doubt.
This is a cool idea that will certainly lead to better things.
Honda has been developing a robot for awhile now. It was originally codenamed P1, but it's been publicly announced with the name Asimo, an unabiguous homage to "I, Robot" author Isaac Asimov.
Asimo is intended to become a household robot, so it has legs instead of wheels. It's pretty adept and can already climb stairs. It doesn't approach the dexterity of Hollywood robots by any stretch. Last I knew Asimo was unable to figure out the height of stairs on its own, either visually or by trial-and-error. By now it's likely to have some software to do this.
Eventually robots will have to incorporate a bit of both - a gyroscopic balance system, plus smart processors in the joints and head to better judge orientation - so this work at MIT is pretty useful in that area.
Of course the folks at MIT are probably most interested in giving their learning robots the ability to move around and gain new experiences. You can't do much better than a Segway base for that!
-- thinkyhead software and media
... of this TRN story is here.
Eric Smalley