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QA from Anybots - the coolest thing you'll see at CES all day.
- markessien 18y agoWhat does it do? It looks to me like a segway with an LCD screen in the middle.
- pg 18y agoIt's for mobile telepresence. E.g. you send this to the factory in China instead of flying there yourself. It has cameras and audio and a fancy laser pointer they built themselves. You drive it via the Internet from an ordinary computer. It's much lighter than a Segway. Only 35 pounds.
- vlad 18y agoA VC could have one in the office to make sure people are working. ;p
- pg 18y agohttp://www.justin.tv/officecam http://www.justin.tv/officecam
- axod 18y agoWho's the lazy one that lounges on the sofa? ;)
- abstractbill 18y agoI've been thinking of swapping the sofa for a hammock actually... ;-)
- pavel_lishin 18y agoWe've all seen Speed! You could just put that on a loop.
- markessien 18y agoThat would be a bit creepy though. Imagine a factory of chinese workers, all sewing and this this silent rolling monster drifts slowly by, and they all stiffen in fear and work extra hard...
- pg 18y agoFrankly the remote guys are probably a lot less frightening than the ones on the spot.
- Ezra 18y agoEspecially after the people next to it figure out that nobody's actually watching the feed. At this point, it's probably trivial to make it go past everybody every few days just to scare people, right? That's the logical result of widespread adoption of this, isn't it? Similar to (most) security CCTV right now. Either that, or elaborate "moon-landing" setups to trick the remote factory (or weapons) inspectors.
- ivankirigin 18y agoiRobot made something similar called the "coworker". It was a spectacular failure. It was shorter and ( i think ) a bit smarter about remote obstacle avoidance. They asked around $5K. They never answered the question: why is this better than a conference call? This is doubly important considering it has no arms. I'm certain there is a market for this or a similar kind of robot. It needs to have compelling remote presence, and it needs to be cheaper than $5K. Adding up motors, computers, cameras, the chassis, plastic modling, etc. can get expensive fast, especially if you haven't ramped up production somewhere fast & cheap like China.
- bprater 18y agoWhy better than a conference call? It has to be it's mobility. (Although, didn't they mention it needed to be tethered? It has to be because it lacks batteries.) I think that in situations where data needs to be sucked up in a mobile way but not in a way that the environment needs to be manipulated (no arms), it'll work. Well, when it gets batteries, it would.
- mileszs 18y agoYou're thinking of the old model, Monty: "Unlike monty, QA is 100% battery powered, and gets 4-6 hours of runtime on every charge. Monty's pneumatics required it to be tethered at all times. Also, its much lighter at around 35lbs. Monty is too heavy to pick up."
- ivankirigin 18y agoIt doesn't have arms to open doors and probably can't go up stairs. Quadriplegic mobility isn't that enticing.
- ericb 18y agoIf it had arms, I could hire a housekeeper from anywhere in the world to sign in and tidy up my place.
- pg 18y agoThat is Trevor's long-term plan, actually. Instead of exporting goods, countries will export labor.
- uuilly 18y agoSeems like those little observer robots on the Death Star: http://www.hoylen.com/photos/2002-10-12-starwars/sw047.jpg http://www.hoylen.com/photos/2002-10-12-starwars/sw047.jpg No bad spin intended. As far as use goes, that's what it reminds me of.
- andrewf 18y agoBut does the display at the other end live up to the Yes Men's Management Leisure Suit? (nsfw) http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=yK9Cs_UcTEE http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=yK9Cs_UcTEE
- icey 18y agoSorry for the threadjack, but are there many HN people going to CES? I'm flying up in a few hours, but only going to be there through tomorrow night.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- there 18y agoi think this is cooler http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/01/iosafe_solo_flo.php http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/01/iosafe_solo_flo.php
- abstractbill 18y agoCongrats Trevor and everyone at Anybots - I can't wait to see one of these in person.
- icey 18y agoI just saw it this morning... I have to say, it honestly was one of two things that gave me a "holy shit!" moment at CES. First of all, they were the only exhibit really getting much attention in the Sands; and they were getting a TON of it. Secondly, the description doesn't do it justice. They were doing a demo of it, and there was just something about the way this thing is put together that makes it feel like it came straight out of Star Wars. Huge props to Trevor and crew for making something so cool - I hope you guys found some deals at CES!
- gojomo 18y agoI've found a leaked photo of the next version of QA from Anybots, code-named 'Maria': http://www.jeffbots.com/maria-large.jpg http://www.jeffbots.com/maria-large.jpg (Compare to Anybots QA: http://bluwiki.com/images/thumb/7/7b/Anybots-QA.jpg/250px-Anybots-QA.jpg http://bluwiki.com/images/thumb/7/7b/Anybots-QA.jpg/250px-An... ) Somebody warn the workers!
- biohacker42 18y agoCISCO is working hard on telepresence and no robots are involved. On the plus side, this is mobile, but on the down side, it has the connectivity CISCO is working on as prerequisite. I'm wondering who needs a rolling tv screen? I have no such wonders with the roomba and the its hardwood and linoleum cleaning cousins, those little bots are damn helpful.
- pavel_lishin 18y agoThe rolling TV screen is less important than the rolling camera.
- LogicHoleFlaw 18y agoIs the camera in stereo?
- rjprins 18y agoWhy did they design it to look like some disfigured woman?
- chadgeidel 18y agoYeah, this isn't "uncanny valley" it's just weird. Arms (even if static) would help. If not, don't give it "shoulders."
- dpatru 18y agoSeems ironic that robots in science fiction were envisioned as menial servants able to do physical tasks too hard or unpleasant for humans, whereas this robot, with it's sleek 35lb body and advanced communication ability yet with no arms seems better suited to play the role of master in a world in which many cultures have regarded abstinence from physical work as a mark of superiority (for example, in asian cultures, very long fingernails was a mark of class because they could only be maintained by a person who didn't have to do manual work.)
- mattmaroon 18y agoPlease, for the love of all that is holy, do not give this thing arms. I've looked into Monty's eyes, and I tell you it's evil. Even without arms, you better watch your back around steps with this thing in the house.
- jderick 18y agoI think big dog is still cooler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww Asimo too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaAiujrX_Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaAiujrX_Y
- pg 18y agoImagine something that balanced dynamically like Big Dog, but was a biped like the Asimo, and you'd have: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CQ5AKaEi3U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CQ5AKaEi3U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnTy_smY3sw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnTy_smY3sw
- jderick 18y agoThis robot makes small jerky movements. I think the others are much more natural in appearance. Perhaps it is more of a hardware issue than software, as it does seem to have pretty good balance.
- pg 18y ago"more natural in appearance" Truer than you know. The reason the Asimo's gait looks so smooth is that it's preprogrammed. It doesn't balance dynamically. It looks smooth for the same reason animation does.
- ivankirigin 18y agoThat's not technically true. Asimo has preprogrammed paths, but not motor movements. Even in a semi controlled environment, a preprogrammed biped would fall. The difference is between electric motors and pneumatics: today's pneumatics are just jerkier. And static balancing doesn't mean that it is preprogrammed, just that at any point (unless it is running), all movement could stop and the robot would stay standing. If humans stop moving, we collapse. I guess the best reason to say Asimo is not more natural is that no animal in nature is statically stable. All animals with legs have actuators with the characteristics of pneumatics and springs (in humans, tendons are springs). We can also turn to efficiency. The electric motors on Asimo will _never_ be practical. It takes too much energy for the bot to ever be sold as a product. No animal in nature has a 15 minute battery life :)