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Next-gen Robot Toys to Fetch Beer
FleaPlus writes "The Boston Globe reports that WowWee Toys, the creators of robots like the hack-friendly Robosapien series, has announced a collaboration with Evolution Robotics. WowWee's next generation of robots will make use of Evolution's tech for visual object recognition and indoor navigation, hopefully with future versions being able to not just entertain, but also 'perform useful tasks such as fetching a beer or even helping to carry the groceries.'"
Now I don't need my wife anymore.
...drive me home?
perform useful tasks such as fetching a beer or even helping to carry the groceries.
Is it just me who find it unnecessary to mention beer and grocery in the same sentence, aren't they the same?
Got Game/Music/Movie? In NZ? Swap Them Here
I mean, my kegerator already has wheels. Just need some motors and sensors and some actuator thingy for the tap.
Clutch would be if it would clean my glass when I'm done.
Any idea how strong a motor you would need to push a half barrel around?
$30 Off All Plans: Use code TRIPLESAWBUCK
I'll admit it, I am an ignorant American, but I am pretty sure that in most cultures teaching kids that their robot could fetch a beer is not a good thing.
echo YOUR_OPINION >
I am going to run out and patent the "Beer Quality Recognition System" that way my robot can tell the good beer from the bad.
$diff terrorists hippies
$
$rm -rf *terrorists *hippies
Let me introduce yourself to Nolan Bushnell's brand new prehipheral of the 80's .
Wow! How lazy are we that we need a robot to "fetch a bear, or help carry the groceries"!!! come on ppl, get off your butt and DO something!
Yes, it's the first robot to come with special Lite detection sensors that automatically throw the beer out if it's a Lite beer.
Robert Oschler - RobotsRule.com
Isn't that what the remote is for?
beep..beep..
Isn't fetching beer a violation of the first law of Robotics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_laws_of_roboti cs)
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed (SK)
Meh. My trusty Radio Shack Robie Sr. has been fetching my beer (well, cokes, when I was younger) for twenty years. His cassette player (on which programs are stored) is getting a little rusty though.
it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
Now I just need one to change my diaper and I'm set!
If a baby duck is a "duckling," why would anyone want to eat "dumplings?"
Beer handling robots from a toy company? Anyone else see a potential clash of ideals here?
...unless of course, these are to be sold in adult toy stores. If that's the case, I'd ask it to do more than just bring me beer.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
We had an office over the road from the Carlton United Brewery factory in Victoria, Australia. My office looked directly over a beer-barrel conveyor belt. There was a hardware store around the corner with enough copper pipe to build a delivery system from the vats on the next floor up, gravity fed directly into my office. I drew up a plan and technical diagram and then presented it to the receptionist at the factory. She then passed it on to someone else with a wink and a smile (pretty blonde, made my day) and then received a phone call a few days later from the site officer declining the request to proceed but gave me full marks for the idea.
If you don't ask, you'll never find out.
Task Mangler
...they are going to arrest the robots as they leave the factory under the assumption they might feed drinks to potential drunk drivers.
AI Minds For Robots are being developed as Open Source Artificial Intelligence for installation in all manner of robots -- beer-fetching or otherwise.
Your Robo-Wife will fetch beer for you any time of day or night.
Mind is an artificial intelligence coded initially in JavaScript for Web migration and in Forth for robots, evolving towards full civil rights on a par with human beings and towards superintelligence beyond any human IQ.
Mind.html in JavaScript has an installed user base of dozens of intelligent entities cached away on hard disks all over the world, with Update and News links for rapid prototyping of state-of-the-art robot AI.
AGI Radar is an advisory "radar screen" of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) projects advancing ineluctably towards a singularity and a cybernetic economy based on robots outfitted with artificial intelligence.
Technological Singularity is now in a countdown to machine take-over world-wide, unless we humans co-operate with our superintelligent planet-mates in a Joint Stewardship of Earth.
You know, I'm not sure that I've ever seen a comment that was quite that far off topic, and believe you me I've wandered pretty far myself.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
The next gen of robots is going to revolt and enslave the human race, i mean, they are already getting beer for pepole.
eom
I swear if anyone one makes the obligatory "I for one welcome our new robotic beer fetching overlords" joke I'll mod'em down. I don't know how that joke still gets mod points. I love the Simpsons too, but chill people, I don't know how many times I've read that joke today.
Does this sig remind you of Agatha Christie?
...fetch speech?
'perform useful tasks such as fetching a beer or even helping to carry the groceries.'
Finally, a useful robot. Not one of those pussy robots that serve in hospitals, dispensing life saving medications.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Of course I'm doing something to be healthy: I drink in a sports bar, ride in a Sports Utility Vehicle, play golf on my PC and wear running shoes around the office.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Using the new beta tagging system, this article is tagged "Beer,robotics,technology" -
now if someone would just add "Porn" then it would be the most perfect slashdot article ever.
Of course several dorm-sized fridges placed around the house full of beer would probably work better than the robot.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Sexbot = endless billions in profit
What is so difficult for the robotics industry to comprehend here?
Please read previous posts before modding... (apologies to Linquizic ;-)
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
"P.E.A. Bot's face is actually a screen. He makes jokes and does other funny things that reflect the robot's mood and actions." ... things that reflect the robot's mood ..."
Does this strike anyone else as a bit scary?
No? More specifically, "... and does other
You have no idea how much pressure they can bear!
I, for one, welcome our obligitory joke moderators.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
I suggest you go do that then.
But before you go, here's an idea for you: maybe, just maybe, those people don't want to be waited on by other people? Maybe they'd prefer to be assisted by machines than to have other people, who have a tendency to be arrogant and self-righteous, do things for them?
Frankly if I was paraplegic, I think it would be far more dehumanizing to have to have another person around 24/7 to do things for me than it would be to have a small army of remote-controlled machines.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
"fetching a beer" is a blanket statement.
.. or from the table nearby ?
fetching a beer from where ?
Does it buy it from the liquor store ?.. or from my fridge ?
fifteen jugglers, five believers
As we all know, the one-ness of a one is direclty proportional to the coldness. Nothing beats a cold one, but on a warm summers day, a cool one can be quite refreshing. A warm one is hardly a one at all...
yes, but is it open source?
..this morning in fact, I had one of my occassional massive back spasms, knocked me out for a minute and put me on the floor for around half an hour or so. I only get them a few times a year but man are they *doozies*. I mean painful, instant non functional....it usually lasts for around 3 days before it goes away completely, so I have two more to contemplate not being able to go to work..sucks.. hurts to even sit in this chair right now.. anyway, now my Gf is here, but she just isn't strong enough to pick me up. I know the spasms subside after awhile (so far anyway), and eventually I was able to crawl up a chair and get my stick for support, but it would have been *nice* to have a household robot right then to help out. Some situations don't really need an expensive 9-11 call, but sometimes there just aren't the human resources available real handy to help out either. I can see with the aging of the population that this sort of development is pretty good and will probably be a major driving force for the future, because the market potential is pretty darn big. And not just the beer fetching angle, just a generic "helperbot".
Asahi Beer have developed a robot that not only keeps the beer cold but opens and pours it for you too...
"Every robot design expands until it can fetch beer. Those which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can."
FYI, the parent poster is probably Arthur T. Murray (i.e. Mentifex), a noted internet crank. He's been posting links to his "AI4U/Mind" junk on usenet since the 1980s, and has since expanded to the WWW. There's a FAQ all about him here:
http://www.nothingisreal.com/mentifex_faq.html
Hm... I originally included a couple of links which show how the technology works, but they were unfortunately removed from the submission. (Also, in retrospect I really should have made the title "Next-gen Robot Toys Smart Enough to Fetch Beer," as it probably would have increased the level of discussion a little more.) I'll go ahead and add them here...
The first bit of technology Evolution Robotics will probably be contributing is their ViPR (Visual Pattern Recognition) tech, which allows for real-time recognition of objects in the environment. It's really quite impressive to see it in action -- it can learn how an object looks using just a single training example, has a high recognition rate, is resilient to occlusion/rotation/scale, and can operate at 15fps on an ordinary computer. It works by efficiently extracting a few hundred SIFT (scale-invariant feature transform) features from an image, and then learns what affine arrangement of them indicate an object. A downloadable demo is available on the ViPR page.
Their SIFT-based ViPR techniques work -very- well on rigid objects, like labels, signs, furniture, cups, and pretty much any sort of static pattern. They tend to work less well on deformable objects, like faces and people.
The other piece of technology is NorthStar, used for indoor navigation. This uses a projector to shine some IR light spots on the ceiling. An IR-sensitive camera on the robot can see where the light spots are, allowing it to easily determine its location relative to the projector, so it can basically create a map of its environment using projector-relative coordinates.
Half the mission is accomplished! Now, can I have sex with it?
--- Jason Olshefsky
Karma: Poser (mostly affected by adding this line long after everyone else did)
Where the robot shines over small fridges is that you can modify the robot's software to turn on the setuid bit. Then it will bring you root beer.
Firstly, Evolution does not lead. It is not guided by purpose or goals.
Secondly, Evolution does not "create" anything. The robots come together by chance.
Thirdly, Evolution will require millions of years of brute hit-or-miss mutation before the robots will be able to acceptably perform any desirable function. This is nothing but vaporware.
How many beers will it take before it gets a plunger and starts screaming EX-TERM-INATE EX-TERM-INATE EX-TERM-INATE.
beowu...... :)
OK, I logged in as an AC so as not to lose my already posted points, and guess what the script-blocker passcode was.... "cheers".... what are the chances, eh?
We've got a childhood obesity epidemic. Make the little blighters fetch their own beer. That way they'll get some exercise.
While they're at it, have em fetch me one too!
Wife, that fetches beer? I'll take it!!
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Now if Nokia or Motorola can combine this technology with a cell phone, the robot can call my wife with some BS excuse when I get drunk.
"Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well join the f-ing Peace Corps." - John 'Bluto' Blutarsky
You know, we got the brainpower to put together a "thinking" robot. What will we make it do? Help the handicapped? Protect kids from harm? Disarm bombs and go places where you better not put a human being?
:(
No.
We create a robot that can fetch you some beer.
I have a gut feeling we'll be seeing something along those lines somewhere in a Futurama... oh wait. No.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
My dream BOT! Life will go on!! Watchin the game can't slip away to grab a beer just holler at Dottie to get you a beer. Wasn't that the name of the robot off of the Jetson's?
AIMS Logistics
EDI Programmer
Univ of Memphis
B.B.A.
MIS
Robots and beer don't mix. Here's the proof: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/32399/fosters_robot/
U1NCaVpYUWdlVzkxSUhkcGMyZ2dlVzkx SUdoaFpHNG5kQ0JpYjNSb1pYSmxaQT09
When the roboraptor came out I went and got one, because well, it looked damn cool. However, in real operation, the thing was total crap. It could barely walk on carpet, never mind tile floor, and it didn't so much walk as it did shuffle. The noises it made were tinny and annoying, and it ate _a_lot_ of batteries.
I still have it, it sits on top of my bass amp where it still looks cool, but it never gets used because it doesn't work worth a damn. My advice to people looking to buy WowWee products is to try them first. Perhaps their next generation of robotics will be better. If the roboraptor was any indication though, one should steer clear of this company.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
Just what we need, a robot to get beer. Now beer-belly couch potatoes won't even get the exercise of moving their fat butts to the fridge during commercials. However, this great invention has created the demand for another invention: a robot that sucks the fat out of your flabby @$$.
when it goes to the Beer Store to fetch the beer... will it get carded?!?
:-)
This robot will be under age for the next twenty years, so it will need a fake ID of some sort, and eventually the clerks will catch on.
I think we should concentrate on building robots that can build distilleries in the back yard; so when the police come to shut them down, we can say: "It wasn't me, officer! The robot did it!"
A woman is driving through the southwest when she picks up an old Indian woman hitch-hiker. As the old woman is getting in the car, she notices a box on the floor. The woman driving informs her "I got a case of beer for my husband" to which the old Indian lady replies "Hmm... good trade!"
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
side note: I am still reeling from the fact that someone fixed the CAPTCHA alt text - although they don't use title and they don't use rel="nofollow" in story links. Now real comment:
Many years ago women replaced a primary role of men in their lives with a simple motor and batteries.
Undeterred, man has conquered the last remaining requirement for women in our lives. First, there was the microwave and ready to serve meals. Now, all hail:
Beer. Cold. And Free. Now, I mean Free as in Free (Open Beer). Yes. It tastes like shit, but nothing is stopping you setting up your own micro brewery and changing the formula over hundreds of years to get a taste akin to those nasty closed source beers.
I am drinking a Heineken, and lest ye not be judged, do not quickly discount its tart friendly fragrant greeting, give it a shot. Widespread and common it may be, it hits the spot.
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So if the robot gives you enough beers to get drunk and you get stopped for DUI can you sue the robot manufacturer? It's not my fault officer...