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Toy Robots Can Guard Your Home

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the outside-is-for-suckers dept.

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."

10 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. More useful... by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:More useful... by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but if you want to mount a machine gun to all your cameras, you'll have to buy multiple guns. With just one robot that patrols, you save a load on weaponry. Oh... who am I kidding. Once you get one robot with weaponry, it just becomes an addiction to buy more.

      --
      God spoke to me.
    2. Re:More useful... by icebike · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why not just mount the whole dam shark on it?

      Much scarier chasing burglers around the house with sharks than lasers.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    3. Re:More useful... by natehoy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Because then you'd be up all night wondering when you're going to hear [Knock! Knock!] "Candygram!" on the bedroom door, knowing it'll be the last thing you ever hear other than your own screaming.

      Land sharks can never be trusted.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    4. Re:More useful... by dave562 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If I had the balls to break into somebody's home, I'd probably just take the robot to spite them.

    5. Re:More useful... by Triv · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "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."

      Why do people always believe that their home is always somehow a target for burglars? You don't have to secure your possessions with cameras and robots and laser tripwires, you just need to make the house across the street look like less of a hassle to get into.

      The easiest way to not get burgled it to make your house look, from the street, to not be worth a burglar's time. The cheapest way to do this is to buy a dog house and put it in your front yard. The second cheapest way to do this is to buy a dog house, put it in your front yard, and put a dog in it.

      Or here's something my Grandfather taught me: leave a different light on in a different room every night. I defy you to find a security system cheaper than the 10 dollars a year the electricity will cost you.

      Moral of the story: you're not that special, and if you get burgled, you spun a d20 and rolled low. There are other things more worthy of being thought about than that.

  2. Re:Say... by burisch_research · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." - Mark Twain

    My money is on the heavily armed and armored killing machines.

    --
    char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
  3. All it can do is watch? by Gulthek · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.

  4. Re:Beowulf by jeffmeden · · Score: 3, Funny

    Considering this is slashdot, I automatically read that as "I'm putting a GNU on mine!" and started wondering where the punchline was...

  5. Nice thing about Rovio... by X86Daddy · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.