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Cool Personal Robots
300e24 writes "I have always wanted a robot around the house, not the useless but fun Sony Aibo, but something which can actually do things for me. I always thought it was a pipe dream, until I found this review of a very interesting (and surprisingly cheap) robot. " The software unfortunately looks to be windows based, but its interesting: it maps out its space, and can automatically dock/recharge itself.
In Mondo Tronics' Robot Store catalog 17, page 12 is the cye robot for $695. Although not he same thing as posted, it does pretty much the same thing. The Map-N-Zap software is a pure graphics interface (which they say is a feature), and its shown on Windows 95. As a note, it says you can get an .ocx and program it in visual basic. The model shown in the picture at the website has the wagon attachment on it which can carry up to 9 pounds / 4 kg. There is also an attachment for a vacuum The specs (from the add): 40 x 28 x 13 cm / 16 x 11 x 5 in, weighs 4 kg / 9 pounds High-impact ABS plastic shell, rugged molded wheels Sealed 12 volt, 2.9 amp-hour rechargeable battery FCC approved 900 MHz controller in drive-up recharging station Low center of mass & 3.5 kg / 8 pounds pulling force Central mount for hardware add-ons and RJ-45 port with +12V, +5V, ground & serial lines for add-ons & your own devices. System requirements: Pentium 90 MHz (or better), Windows 95 or Windows 98, CD-ROM drive, Serial port
Well, it is cool but for 1000 bucks I'd want more than that. Using your PC for processing power is a great idea though, this can help keep costs down for future robots, as well as the interface it provides.
We're still quite a ways off from a decent robot for home use. To be more than a novel conversation piece it needs to do a lot of things that depend on AI that just haven't been devolped yet (or at least at an affordable cost). High resolution sensors and powerful servos are just too expensive for the consumer marketplace. It would be really helpful for it to be bipedal as well. I've seen a few bipedal bots developed by scientists but it hasn't got very far beyond the research stage.
Just had a thought. (uh oh :-)
You could use one of these robots (or a wheelchair-size version) to map out the un/accessibility of a building...
--The more you know, the less you know.
The most popular design uses X-Acto type blades spring-loaded around the edge of a spinning disk. Cuts grass but spring back against the disk if it hits something more substantial...like shoe leather. Some designs try to detect the edge of uncut grass while others just bop around randomly.
From their FAQ about linux support:
Linux Linux Linux.. Need I say more? Open up
your libraries to the Linux community and you
will find your product improving daily at no cost
to you from the efforts of the Linux development community.
I couldn't agree more. Our libraries are open any time. We have yet to refuse anyone who wanted a copy of our source code. Please, take the bull by the horns and start writing the Linux rev for us. We are swamped with new features and bug fixes just sticking with one operating system (let alone 2, 3, or 4 (Linux,Mac, Unix)).
I know what I want for Christmas, or my birthday next month =)
C'mon! *Every* one wants a giant battle robot of their very own.
Just up scale one of those babys about 50 or 60 times, and stick on some laser cannon...
Although, when I start thinking about it, mapping out a whole city for it might take a while... and don't even *think* about trying to take over the world.
Hmm. I'd probably be better of welding an M16 to the back of an AIBO.
Shawn Poulsen (Fruan)
"On Slashdot, many obvious things are insightful." - Annonymous Coward, 2000/7/9
FAQ: http://www.personalrobots.com/technicaldirt/faq/fa q.cgi?FAQ Linux ?: http://www.personalrobots.com/technicaldirt/faq/fa q.cgi?SHOW_ANSWER=01-general.txt+24 "Linux Linux Linux.. Need I say more? Open up your libraries to the Linux community and you will find your product improving daily at no cost to you fromthe efforts of the Linux development community. I couldn't agree more. Our libraries are open any time. We have yet to refuse anyone who wanted a copy of our source code. Please, take the bull by the horns and start writing the Linux rev for us. We are swamped with new features and bug fixes just sticking with one operating system (let alone 2, 3, or 4 (Linux, Mac, Unix))." ---- cool
Jazilla.org - the Java Mozilla
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
...Cye is selling in great numbers, so it must be effective.
I realize that the robot-buying public may be a wee bit savvier than the general buying public, but isn't the above sentiment hopelessly naive? Does anyone believe that everything that sells in great numbers "must be effective"? Ever heard of Windows?
I understand that Cye's navigation probably is remarkably effective, but offering big sales as evidence is poor logic.