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Learning Simple Robot Programming With a 'Non-Threatening' Robot Ball (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the rolling-on-down-the-line dept.

Gobot, it says here, "is a framework for robotics, physical computing, and the Internet of Things, written in the Go programming language." And in today's video, interviewee Adrian Zankich (AKA "Serious Programming Guy at The Hybrid Group") says that an unadorned robot ball -- in this case the Sphero -- is about the least threatening robot you can possibly use to teach entry-level robot programming. Start with Go language? Cylon.js? Use whichever you prefer, Adrian says. Mix and match. It's all fun, and they're both great ways to get into programming for robotics and Internet of Things applications. Open source? You bet. Here's the Hybrid Group's gobot GitHub repository for your perusing pleasure. This (and more) is all in the video, which Tim Lord shot at the recent Solid Conference, where there was a rather high background noise level (but thankfully not high enough to make Adrian hard to understand). And besides the video, there's even more material in the transcript.

29 comments

  1. Somebody never saw Phantasm by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

    http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr...

    If they think robot balls are non threatening.

    1. Re:Somebody never saw Phantasm by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

      Tea bagged by a toaster. Oh, the inhumanity.

    2. Re:Somebody never saw Phantasm by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

      That's damn funny

    3. Re:Somebody never saw Phantasm by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

      Oh hell yes. There's another movie in the works BTW, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt36...

  2. I love Sphero! by pushing-robot · · Score: 1

    It's happy! It's fun!

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re: I love Sphero! by aquabat · · Score: 1

      Just don't taunt it.

      --
      A republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
    2. Re: I love Sphero! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can taunt it, but you have to be careful about when you do it.

      If the ball is exclusively blue (sad), or purple (afraid), or green (disgusted), you can taunt it with impunity. If the ball is yellow or a mixture of yellow and blue (joy), then it is a happy fun ball and taunting is not advised.

      If the ball is red (anger), then you should only taunt it if you are wearing a flame-proof suit that can counter a burst of fire intense enough to melt glass.

  3. Threatening who? by cosm · · Score: 1

    What the fuck are people afraid of? Robot cooties?

    --
    'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
  4. The last time a robot ball threatened me..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .... I took its batteries out.

  5. Pussified by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

    I mourn for the days of old, when you loaded your untested code onto a live turret to figure out if it worked. Kids these days, what with their coddling and non-threatening spheres.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    1. Re:Pussified by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      I had a Big Trak when I was kid too. My first introduction to programming.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Trak

  6. Time Lord? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read the name as Time, not Tim. I'm blaming all the robots, cylon and non-threatening lead up,

  7. Happy Fun Ball by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't always play with robots, but when I do, I prefer them to be threatening. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
    1. Re:Happy Fun Ball by show+me+altoids · · Score: 1

      Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball. Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at. Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete. Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs: itching vertigo dizziness tingling in extremities loss of balance or coordination slurred speech temporary blindness profuse sweating or heart palpitations. If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head. Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin. When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability. Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space. Happy Fun Ball has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

      --
      I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
  8. “Least threatening” by arielCo · · Score: 1

    an unadorned robot ball [...] is about the least threatening robot

    Ahem...

    --
    This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
  9. Damn country is going to waste by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What? You can take a robot's balls and it'll be non-threatening?

    This is just another sign of this once-great country going to Hell in a handbasket.. We celebrate candy-ass pansy robots that let people take their balls away.

  10. They solved this problem over 4 decades ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    For some reason, I can only post Anonymous Coward...
     
    anyway http://cyberneticzoo.com/cyberneticanimals/1969-the-logo-turtle-seymour-papert-marvin-minsky-et-al-american/

  11. The sphero site is fact free by Required+Snark · · Score: 4, Informative
    This seemed amusing, so I thought I would go over and check out the hardware and see what it could do. I wondered if it had any sensors.

    Turns out that any technical information is completely buried. They have a whole bunch of cool pix, and lots of stuff they want to sell you, but if you want to find out what it can do then they are silent.

    This leads me to the conclusion that it is more likely then not hype and marketing. Anyone who is proud of what they build will make it easy to get the specs and API info. They must figure that they can move a lot of merchandize because ROBOTS!!!

    1 Sell it to the parents.

    2 Let it sit on the shelf.

    3 Profit!

    Don't waste you time of this.

    --
    Why is Snark Required?
    1. Re:The sphero site is fact free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair the hybrid group doesn't make sphero. They just use it as a platform for golang robotics.

    2. Re:The sphero site is fact free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All SDK and API info can be found here: http://sdk.sphero.com/

  12. "non-threatening" by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    Well, that's no fun. What possible use would I have for a non-threatening robot?

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  13. BUT I AM SCARED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope it is really non-threatening because these robot thingies really like scare me!

    I like saw a threatening robot ball once and I ran and ran away.

    1. Re:BUT I AM SCARED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope it is really non-threatening because these robot thingies really like scare me!

      I like saw a threatening robot ball once and I ran and ran away.

      OMG! Like, me too! I thought i was the only one like scared of threatening robot balls. I am like sooooooo glad this one is not threatening!

      How does it go? Like "Yeaahh for our robot ball overlords!" or whatever.

    2. Re:BUT I AM SCARED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope it is really non-threatening because these robot thingies really like scare me!

      I like saw a threatening robot ball once and I ran and ran away.

      OMG! Like, me too! I thought i was the only one like scared of threatening robot balls. I am like sooooooo glad this one is not threatening!

      How does it go? Like "Yeaahh for our robot ball overlords!" or whatever.

      In Soviet Russia, you are non-threatening to the robot ball.

  14. Questions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are online software updates provided?

    Will future versions be backward compatible?

    Is an SDK provided for the Amiga?

    Is an SDK provided for TempleOS?

  15. Re:Somebody never saw Phantasm or The Prisoner by hughbar · · Score: 1

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... for older folks like me. These were big balls though, fnnarr fnnarr [for those in the UK that know Viz: http://viz.co.uk/

    --
    On y va, qui mal y pense!
  16. Re:Somebody never saw Phantasm or The Prisoner by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

    I am the new number 635988 you are number 579555

    And yes Patrick McGoohan was brilliant in that. Don't think we will see it's like again, (The remake was trash)

  17. Gobot? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

    I preferred the Transformers.