SMARTPHONE-BASED ROBOTS: THE NEW ROBOT BRAINS
Almost every robot these days need a combination of sensors, CPU, display, and network connectivity. Smartphones and tablets offer a combination of sensors, CPU, display, and network connectivity. Do you see where this is going? At one end of the spectrum, iRobot has demonstrated a remote presence prototype robot called Ava, which uses a tablet to control its mobile base. At the other end of the spectrum, two Seattle engineers quickly raised over US $100,000 on fundraising website Kickstarter with the promise of developing a cute little smartphone-powered robotcalled Romo (pictured below). These are just two examples of a trend that we believe has earth-shattering potential for robotics. Mobile devices—based on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android—are riding an extraordinary, unprecedented wave of innovation. We think (we hope) that robotics can take advantage of this same wave. The result would be many more robots moving out of the lab into the marketplace. “More and more smarts in cellphones, like [Apple’s voice assistant] Siri, will impact robot toys and research this year,” one of our panel members told us. Indeed, thanks to smartphones, robots will only get smarter.
Romotive, a Seattle start-up, created a tracked mobile robot powered by a smartphone. Photo: Romotive
No comments:
Post a Comment