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Toy Robots Can Guard Your Home
Orome1 writes "Worried about burglars ransacking your house? Buy yourself some toy robots! It is what Robert Oschler, a Florida-based programmer, did. He bought a Rovio — a Wi-Fi enabled mobile webcam robot that can be picked up from toy sections of many stores — and modified it to suit his needs. The robot already has a camera, a microphone and speakers, but the improvements he made to the software allowed him to enhance the audio and video quality of this existing equipment, and to create specific routines for the robots. This way, every time he feels the need to check what's going on in the house, he simply goes online with his laptop and directs the robot through the house."
Imagine a Beowulf cluster army of these things.
This way, every time he feels the need to check what's going on in the house, he simply goes online with his laptop and directs the robot through the house.
This way, he can witness the carnage of open drawers, their contents scattered about wildly, upended furniture, and a missing HDTV from the comfort of his office.
Suggest article title be changed to 'Toy Robots Can Provide Security Theatre For Your Home'.
Is simply multiple cameras.
If I was Burgling you, and I heard a noise from downstairs starting to head up, I might sneak into the nearest closet - wait for that thing to pass, then bolt out the door.
Whereas if you simply had a realtime view from many angles - there's no real chance I'd be able to dodge you seeing me - and possibly identifying me.
What we need are some cannibalistic robots that'll go around the house feeding on old PCs and other consumer electronics. It should cut the cost, help them grow (and reproduce?) and save us the hassles of other recycling methods.
I win.
Next: I am going to steal your car with my robot.
Yours In Osh,
K. Trout
Enhance 224 to 176.
Enhance, stop.
Move in, stop.
Pull out, track right, stop.
Center in, pull back. Stop.
Track 45 right. Stop.
Center and stop.
Enhance 34 to 36.
Pan right and pull back.
Stop. Enhance 34 to 46.
Pull back.
Wait a minute, go right, stop.
Enhance 57 to 19.
Track 45 left. Stop.
Enhance 15 to 23.
Give me a hard copy right there.
This is how Davros got his start, isn't it? First it's just one or two remote units for home security, then the next thing you know they're heavily armed and armored killing machines intoning "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" at the neighbors.
"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." - Mark Twain
After getting a few of these to guard my home, I just need to purchase and upgrade a few more of these robots to do my job, and then I can live the life I really want to live!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I would think that the microphone would run afoul of wiretapping and eavesdropping laws.
...if only...
He'll have to check the camera footage every couple of minutes for this to be of any use (i.e. to catch an intruder in the act). Guarding his house has just become a full-time job. Also, the robot would have to be pretty quiet to allow it to sneak up on an intruder. And how good are the camera images going to be in the dark?
In an odd turnabout, the summary is better written than the linked article, which reads like someone writing in English as a second language.
This set up may not be reliable enough for guarding, let's say, a bank, but for the home is well enough. And Oschler is no the only one who experimented with this type of home security.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Everyone knows that the best way to scare off buglers is to call out into the darkness, in your most shaky and unnaturally high pitched tone, "I have a gun! ... I've already called the police!".
This, followed shortly by turning on all the lights and tip-toeing around in your boxers wielding a golf club is more than enough security for anyone!
then these machines aren't guarding your home. Get an alarm system.
That said, I owned a Rovio for a few weeks last year. I bought it as an xmas present to myself and found it lacking. I thought it would be cute to watch the dog from work but the CMOS webcam on it just required too much light to be usable. Even under well-lit conditions the compressed video was of marginal quality. I also wanted to use voice chat feature, which is IE only btw, but that didn't work out well either. The audio was either horrible or badly delayed. Not was there a "listen" button. It simply decided to broadcast audio when it decided to (whenever sound hit a threshold). It also had a low battery life and failed to dock often. Luckily, Amazon accepted my return and I got my money back.
Its a neat device and cheap for a telepresence robot, but not that great. I'd love to see a v2 of this, especially if it was easily hackable.
At least, that's what the toy robot did in A Fistful of Yen.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Bart: Milhouse. You were supposed to be the night watchman.
Milhouse: I was watching. I saw the whole thing. First it started falling over, then it fell over.
Get the humanoid! Destroy the Intruder!
is now a reality.
There, fixed that for you.
Yeah of course it's free. He added hooks so that he can access any robot equipped with his software to spy in other people's homes!
Cute, but I still think my home security system is better. Unlike a robot with a camera, mine will actually scare a burglar away.
Plus, she's warm and cuddly in the winter and is almost trained to fetch a beer for me. If only beer came in plastic bottles (she doesn't like the glass, and aluminum is too thin), i'd be set! :)
http://www.robots-everywhere.com/ these are Android based, have a range of anywhere you get a cell phone signal, and cost $500. Why won't anyone take them seriously? I sold only half a dozen so far...
TOY ROBOT! was the first thing I thought of when I saw this
Oh no! A toy robot! Ruuunnnnn!!!
A classic from the Kentucky Fried Movie
http://jb5353.tripod.com/kfm/toy.wav
What would really be ideal is a robot docking station. Most of us already have a device that takes WiFi, has a camera, microphone and runs software - it's our laptops. Why not just a robotic docking station with some software that lets me control it from anywhere? Just eliminating this once a year situation alone would be worth the cost: "Turn the car around! I think I left the curling iron plugged in!"
Is this device a man trap if I mount a flash bulb device on it and it takes a "flash" picture?
Dogs are self-reproducing, live longer than modern electronics, more effective, loyal, warm and cuddly. They also cost less.
This a great way to capture footage of somebody in a ski mask smashing your camera.
The only "security" this provides is the secure feeling of looking at your stuff so you can sigh with relief that you haven't been robbed yet.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
That will work great, until someone cuts the phone and cable lines to your house and your modem goes dead.
When I used to work on security systems we would bring along a shovel for installs. We would bury the phone line and move the phone box inside to the basement. Made it inconvenient for the home owners if they needed changes to their service (they would have to be home to let the phone guy in), but gave them a heck of a lot more security.
For my own place I put up a dummy box with some wires running into it. If they cut the wire it set off the alarm.
I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people. - Jack Handey
How useful are cameras, either? So you happen to catch a guy on film robbing your house. Even if you happen to be watching while it happens, the guy is going to be long gone before the cops get there, and what good is the video really going to do you? It's fine for evidence... IF the cops ever catch the guy who did it, which is highly unlikely. But I don't see how it deters a break-in in the first place.
It seems to me you'd be a lot better off to invest in more secure locks, alarm systems (more for scaring off the burglar than anything else), and similar stuff.
If you can do any type of programming that hits URLS, you can program the Rovio... it's whole interface is HTTP Puts and Gets with custom URLs, and it's well documented. After Wowwee released some of the advanced documentation, someone published the commands to brighten the camera within a week, solving a problem of way-too-dark video that had existed since the beginning. With this level of control, throwing together an interface you can operate from your cell-phone becomes very plausible... no laptop needed.
The person the article is about is actually the author of RoboDance, which is a complex application that controls a bunch of robots, with an emphasis on the infrared controlled kinds like RoboSapien. His next version of RoboDance is the one that will include Rovio control and probably all the capabilities described in the article.
I've been really impressed with the Rovio... my only complaint is that the battery life is pretty weak, right out of the box.
...would be the cool robots.
Perhaps after hacking in to them to see if there was anyone, like, at home.
-- Alastair
The BOFH is in the middle of an amusing battle with robot security at the moment.
“So the robot company has overhauled the faulty unit and think they’ve found the problem,” the Boss says.
“Really – what did they think it was?” the PFY says innocently.
“A... loose wire,” the Boss says, looking at a delivery sheet. “Yes, a loose wire in the... GPS circuit...”
“...caused it to grow an arm and a saw?!” the PFY says incredulously.
“Apparently so,” the Boss shrugs. “I think they said it was a... ‘Known bug’.”
“Really?” I say, faking nonchalance.
. . .
“A KNOWN BUG?” the PFY says, as the crate is delivered to Mission Control moments later.
“Yeah, they must really want payment and a happy demonstration site!” I say, levering open the crate.
“A pity really” the PFY says, firing up his program editor and reaching for the box of antipersonnel equipment. ... Two days later...
“Another known bug they’ve ironed out,” the Boss says, wheeling another crate out of the lift. “Happens when the thing has a low battery - it can start firing ball bearings at high speed from ankle height. They even said it started doing it when it got to their office, shot out their front window and their photocopier. Surprising really, because you said you were going to charge it before you shipped it back?”
“Yes, it is surprising,” the PFY pinocchios.
“Still, they think they’ve nailed it this time...” ... Ten minutes later...
“Security screws,” the PFY says, examining the panels on the robot. “I think they might be on to us.”
“Yes, because when the thing came out of the crate at them with a saw in its hands they probably just thought it was caused by a power surge,” I say sarcastically.
“What – you’re thinking we should just admit defeat?” the PFY asks.
“Well, I’m not sure about the wisdom of annoying people who probably consider ‘Robot Wars’ to be inspirational media...”
“Puh-leeeeze,” the PFY says, taping an array of stun guns to the side of the Bot.
. . . The next day...
“Well, they say they’ve definitely sorted out all the problems this time!” the Boss chirps happily, “even though the place is apparently down to a skeleton staff – what with it being flu season! This was just another loose wire.”
“Another loose wire” the PFY says. “Right, we’ll be unpacking it shortly, so hopefully nothing’s shaken loose in the delivery...” ... moments later...
“They must be running out of robots by now,” I say as I pry away at the packing crate with the crowbar.
“You’re telling me!” the PFY nods. “At this rate they... What’s that noise? Isn’t it...”
“...the starting of a small two stroke engine!!” I say, spinning the crate around to face the doorway, just as the Boss enters to see how things are going – and as a chainsaw wielding bot exits the crate.
. . .
“So that’s how they want to play it...” the PFY says moments later as we survey the upended robot at the bottom of the stairwell.
“Uhuh,” I respond. “And they still haven’t nailed that staircase thing – though perhaps we should keep that to ourselves for now...”
“So what, fuel it up, reprogram it and send it back to them?” the PFY asks.
“Sure, but I’d wait till the chainsaw ran out of gas before going to get it.”
“Why – you think they’d program it to play dead?”
“It’s what I’d do... Though you realise th
and added a 5v servo with cam for the trigger. The servo twitchiness is a little nerve wracking, but it seems oddly appropriate. Remote controlled firearms are the future, plus they've been fully vetted and sanctioned by the U.S. government.
Reminds me of the robot from the movie Loverboy. That robot had a motion detector and I thought the audio was hilarious.
"Papa papa! Intruder! Baaaad Boy! Papa!" or "Papa, Violator!! Baaaad Dudes"
With the right audio this could be the robot v2.0
Rovio COULD be a great security device if the firmware!!! could be updated to do some basics like motion detection email/ftp on triggering, including Sound Events/recording etc.. It has all the hardware needed, but WowWee doesn't seem to be interested in the possible security applications. Oh another thing it needs (in case anyone is listening) is an option to have it 'not seek the charging station' when it's running out of power and has not left the station. So that if the house loses power, and after the rovio battery gets low, it won't hop off the charger to 'go find it' and endup dead in the middle of the room when the power returns. I myself had a burglary with the Rovio on, but it wasn't of any use. Thankfully other security measures worked and police were able to catch 2 out of 3 of them with my rovio in their trunk! Watching court proceedings currently, so far they have spent 3-6 days behind bars... Facing life in prison for being armed (thankfully I wasn't there).
It won't stop them being defeated by a the burglar wearing a hoodie.
Did anyone else think of that old 80's movie with Patrick Dempsy in it, "Loverboy" when they saw this title? One of the wives that he was taking care of had a husband who was into home security. and his security device was a toy robot that shouted, "Intruder....very bad boy....INTRUDER!" in an obnoxious chinese sounding voice. Hillarious.
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto!
How ya like dat?
Heh, one of my favorite scenes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqNac7Fz1Uc
was "Kentucky Fried Movie"...