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Hacking the RoboSapien

Posted by michael on from the t-1000 dept.

unassimilatible writes "The RoboSapien is a cool humanoid robot toy with pretty decent dexterity and 67 pre-programmed instructions. But the folks at The University of Freiberg have made the RoboSapien autonomous by installing a Pocket PC to its head. The Pocket PC is equipped with a camera and communicates via infrared to the robot, and the whole monstrosity can be programmed with Visual C++. The full API is available for download. I, for one, welcome..."

8 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. 67 Pre-programmed instructions by thedogcow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well that is cool, but no robots will need more than 640 pre-programmed instructions anyway.

    --
    Yes! I listen to NYC Speedcore and do math at 3AM. I suggest you try it too.
    1. Re:67 Pre-programmed instructions by Hobadee · · Score: 5, Funny

      I only need my robot to understand a few commands.

      1. Beer me.
      2. Get TV remote.
      3. Get rid of annoying girlfriend.

      O wait - I'm a slashdotter, I don't have a girlfriend! Scratch that last command.

      --
      ...Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been informed.
  2. Be careful with these suckers by mofochickamo · · Score: 5, Informative
    My boss got one of these about 3 months ago as a preview release from a friend who is a distributor. Some of the pre-programmed motions were quite funny (like the Neandertal roar for scaring small children). The robot also has good walking ability and dexterity in general.

    Though be warned, it isn't made out of the highest quality components. Much to the embaressment of my boss, the robot broke in his care. The head got stuck to one side. My boss and I considered opening it up and hacking it ourselves, but all we both had visions of giving the robot back to the distributor in many pieces.

    --
    Honk if you're horny.
    1. Re:Be careful with these suckers by robfoo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey! That happens to my head too - I always thought maybe I needed a chiropractor, or just better posture.

      Turns out I just needed to read my FAQ!

  3. Freiburg not Freiberg by frostman · · Score: 5, Informative

    In case anyone's curious, the name of the town is Freiburg not Freiberg.

    But you probably figured that out from the URL, even if our noble editors did not.

    Nice town, by the way.

    --

    This Like That - fun with words!

  4. hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Robosapien

    dexterity: 16
    strength: 8 (very small)
    constitution: varies on battery pack
    charisma: 14 (drops to 12 after 2 months of gismo newness)
    intelligence: varies with loaded program
    wisdom: ditto

    movement: 5
    Hit points: 20
    Attacks: swinging arm
    Damage: 1d2 of temporary damage

    My Dog

    dexterity: 14
    strength: 14
    constitution: 16
    charisma: 16 (drops to 14 after christmas)
    intelligence: 10
    wisdom: 6

    movement: 14
    Hitpoints: 30
    attacks: vicious bite
    Damage: 1d6 in initial bite, 1d4 of gnawing damage each round afterwards.

    Robosapien: hundreds of dollars
    Dog: free
    Watching my dog steal your robosapien and destroy it in around 4 rounds with gnawing damage: priceless

  5. Robosapien in Servo Magazine by Psion · · Score: 5, Informative

    Servo Magazine had a feature last month on the Robosapien. Apparently, the designer felt very strongly about letting users hack the device, so he left plenty of space to add capabilities. The current issue of the magazine has a hacking contest for the toy. See Hack-a-Sapien contest.

  6. Mark Tilden by Smerity · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mark Tilden, the designer of Robosapien (and of BEAM robotics for any of you who have heard of it) purposely left the Robosapien open for modification (god bless his soul ^_^) More people/companies should do this! =)

    I'm actually quite interested in this, as I'm in the Australian Robocup Junior atm (Year 9) and this is a great platform to begin experimenting in bipedal robots. Heck, it could even begin it's own competition section (the robotic AIBO dogs have their own soccer competition)

    Mark Tilden is also heavy researcher in the biomorphic robotics field, and through his experiments he has essentially created the BEAM robotics field.

    If you haven't ever looked at BEAM robots, DO! They're can be amazingly simple (start here) and can then lead up to quite advanced and fun projects in robotics! And did I mention they're cheap =)

    Solarbotics, one of the best resources for BEAM robots I know of

    Robocup Official Website

    Mark Tilden at WIKI