History note, the robotics industry for home robos

Yes Ray funny you should ask that.

The control boards for the modified version of the Sony-like robot, would be placed in the skull of the bot.

If you take a ruler and measure off four and one half inches, by five and a quarter, you will get the rough dimensions of how the drop push next gages, for the control boards would go in.

The depth of this nest gage, is about six inches for a really comprehensive robot, however only three and a half inches, for a moderately developed walking bot.

When the bot has trouble it either walks to the P.C. station or in emergencies, can be carried on a dolly.

You can hook up your bots functions barring complete internal battery failure of this bot, to your home UPS with a battery, for those who do not know what a UPS is?

There is a small coin open hatch, that when expose show a series of five internally held card, which are complex mini-bot controlling boards, of which each feed into a central movement function interrogator and balancer synthesizer.

There are two of these synthesizers, in-case of one failing.

Sp when you open this hatch, you are looking at seven dedicated mini-boards.

In function size, determination each of these boards are a little like, both the Basic Stamp controller and the Tern Dedicated series of flash board controllers, which tend to be mini in size.

So you have your bot seated within a chair by your home P.C. and you have the company on the I.P. line and this is all you need to troubleshoot function, say if its either a routine maintenance, or something goes wrong.

Each board is caged so that a downward pressure relaces it from its seating and the bad or damaged board can be lifted out.

The bot sits there, till a new board can be sent and replaced by the owner, or the one who provides maintenance.

There is also a magnetic plug-in which when hooked upped, provides a read-out so that the company sees, the bots status, as well as you having the same report.

All parts of this bot, are easily detachable, with a series of pin and snap-open lock rings, which allow for damaged parts, for these parts to be rapidly replaced..

There is both an automatic recharge shoe and a self evening interface with the house P.C. so that instructions and self maintenance checks can be performed every day.

There is a safety feature, which send out a call for help, or "Oh I am hurt lost and or in need of help, by Mr. Johnson" for example, which would protect every bot, say in the event that it would self wander away from its home, or be stolen, or in some accident, that the owner would not know of.

The question of allowing the form of walking robot to become completely submersible, looms, as there is the eventuality of falling into either standing water, or a swimming pool, which might be a threat to this stile of bot's safety?
 
Basic stamp, is a small controlling engine, that reduily fits into small places, used in robotics, where larger components, would have become a problem.

Company address: http://www.audiomulch.com/midipic/

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TERN COMPANY CONTROLLER BASED ON A 16/32-bit x86 processor from Intel Inc, AMD as well as others:

aengin12.gif


Get to market FAST with ready-to-go hardware!
If you need to get to market quickly, a Tern single board computer could be the answer. All your hardware design done for you, using either a 40MHz AMX Am188ES, 16MHz NEC V25 or 33MHz i386EX processor. Tern offer a vast range of memory/peripheral options too: EPROM, EEPROM, battery backed SRAM, interrupts, PWD, timers, UARTs, ADC/DACs, LCD interface and more are available on different board configurations.

The following boards are available:

186 Based Boards
A-Core86â„¢ Very small 186 board with RAM and Flash.
FlashCore-Bâ„¢ Small 188 board with CompactFlash interface.
R-Engineâ„¢ Up to 80MHz 186 board plus lots of I/O
DEâ„¢ Dual Ethernet fast 186 board with CompactFlash interface
FlashCore-Nâ„¢ 186 board with CompactFlash and multiple serial I/O
R-Engine-Aâ„¢ 186 for data acquisition and mas-data storage with CompactFlash interface
A-Engine86â„¢ 186 board plus lots of I/O
A-Engine86-Pâ„¢ As above plus extra RS232 and power regulator
A-Engine86-Dâ„¢ 186 board plus 8 High Speed DACs
R-Driveâ„¢ 186 board with Ethernet and CompactFlash interface
RMâ„¢ 186 board with Ethernet, Modem and CompactFlash interface
RLâ„¢ 186 board with 100Base-T Ethernet, CompactFlash interface, optos and high voltage drivers
A-Coreâ„¢ Low cost 188 board with I/O
MiniDrive88â„¢ As A-Core plus 35 solenoid drivers
A-Engineâ„¢ 188 board plus lots of I/O
A-Engine-Pâ„¢ As A-Engine plus power regulator and extra RS-232
TD40â„¢ 188 board with 35 solenoid drivers
TD86â„¢ 186 board with 16 opto-couplers and 14 solenoid drivers
A104Sâ„¢ 40MHz 188 board with 70 I/Os and 7 UARTS
A104â„¢ 40MHz 188 board with 50 I/Os and 3 UARTS
SmartLCDâ„¢ 40MHz 188 board with mono 1/4VGA touch screen and PCMCIA Flash support
SmartLCD-Colorâ„¢ 40MHz 188 controller board plus 80 I/O and CompactFlash for a colour touchscreen display
BirdBox-Aâ„¢ 188 based User interface controller

i386EX Based Boards
i386-Driveâ„¢ Intel i386EX, I/O and quadrature decoders
i386-Engineâ„¢ Intel 386EX, I/O and power-down feature
i386-Engine-Pâ„¢ As above plus more I/O and memory
i386-Engine-Mâ„¢ As above with additional analog channels
i386-Engine-L Intel 386EX board
SerialDriveâ„¢ Intel 386EX with 11 RS232/485 ports

586 Based Boards
586-Engineâ„¢ SC520 with FPU and I/O
586-Engine-Pâ„¢ SC520 with FPU and I/O and CompactFlash interface

Expansion Boards
MotionCâ„¢
MotionC-Sâ„¢
MotionC-Pâ„¢
P50 For use with i386-Engine or 586-Engine. Adds I/O, Ethernet, A/D, D/A etc.

Development Software
EV-P Tern edition of Paradigm C/C++ plus choice of one Tern controller.
DV-P Tern edition of Paradigm C/C++ plus choice of one Tern controller and software to generate ROMable application files.

Customisation Services
Custom Design
 
Creedo,

Here some news that may be of interest to you and your robos.

Braintech

Press Release Source: Braintech, Inc.


More Orders For Braintech Vision Guided Robotics Software Through ABB Alliance
Tuesday March 1, 8:02 am ET
Strategic Alliance Continues to Leverage Proven Product Performance and Industry Acceptance


VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2005--Braintech, Inc. (OTCBB: BRHI - News), a leading provider of vision guided robotic software announced today that it has received a purchase order from its strategic alliance partner ABB for 5 "eVF" built solutions. eVisionFactory (eVF) is the ingredient software platform of ABB's TrueView Vision Guided Robotics System.
The order from ABB is for five (5) TrueView Vision Guided Robotics Systems ordered by a Major North American Automaker, their first utilization of this technology for operations such as material handling, and engine head decking. The order reflects the industry's increasing utilization of these system types by Braintech and underscores the value of its relationship with ABB.

ABB, Inc. of Auburn Hills and Braintech operate together under a strategic alliance whereby ABB exclusively uses Braintech vision guidance technology inside of its TrueView Vision Guided Robotics system.

Commenting, Braintech CEO Owen Jones said, "Our Single Camera ("SC3D") software is proven and use continues to expand throughout the automotive OEM and Tier markets. We expect significant growth from this system as we continue to work closely with ABB to grow their TrueView brand." Mr. Jones added that, "end-users will be pleased that these material handling systems are proven to be exceptionally reliable and cost effective."

Regarding the financial value of the order, Mr. Jones mentioned that Braintech will be differentiating between announcing orders and the installation of systems. This is a new system for press releases designed to announce orders from customers that are material to Braintech with subsequent installation releases to provide more financial detail and, when possible, end-user names and business locations.

About Braintech (OTCBB: BRHI - News) - For more information, visit www.braintech.com.

Statements in this document that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and reflect the current views of management with respect to future events and are subject certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as technical difficulties in developing the products; competition from other suppliers of similar products; pricing that may not be acceptable to potential markets; and many other known and unknown factors. Readers should also refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's 10-KSB and 10-QSB Forms filed from time to time with the SEC.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Baldacci Communications, LLC
Laura Van Eperen, 703-556-4200
Cellular: 240-994-7541
[email protected]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Braintech, Inc.
 
SGI Japan Ltd. and Flower Robotics Inc. demonstrate their jointly developed mannequin robot 'Palette' in Tokyo, February 28, 2005. The mannequin robot, equipped with a sensor detecting human movement, can memorise and replay dozens of motion-captured movements and poses of fashion models as well as model clothes. The robot, targeted at the fashion and service industries, will go on sale this year, a company official said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Source: Reuters

Creedo,

This mannequin-bot models clothes and poses just like a fashion model would.
Figure it could come in useful when your shopping for the latest Spring fashions in women's dresses for yourself. /ttiforum/images/graemlins/kiss.gif


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143309.jpg
 
Robos for the children in family units:

link: http://www.physorg.com/news3443.html

PaPeRorobots.jpg


With backing from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization ("NEDO"), NEC has been engaged in the development of a childcare robot as one application of its partner-type robot. It has thus developed "Childcare Robot PaPeRo" that boasts enhanced security features and functions enabling it to play with and watch over children. The Childcare Robot was developed by using one part of the technological functions of PaPeRo 2005 and in particular by focusing on interaction between the robot and children.

As a project commissioned by NEDO, NEC will begin use trials of its Childcare Robot, consisting of the robot interacting with children aged between 3 and 12 and technology demonstrations for the general public. These trials will take place at the Robot Fureai Room in the Robot Station area of EXPO 2005 AICHI, which is being held from March 25 to September 25 in Aichi, Japan.

Main features of the enhanced, high-performance PaPeRo, PaPeRo 2005, which incorporates NEC's own technologies, include the following:

1. Enhanced communication capabilities through improvements in various cognitive abilities
· Equipped with eight microphones, the speech signal processing and recognition technology enable the robot to precisely locate the speech source, and also to recognize and understand commands in a noisy home environment or even while the robot itself is talking.
· Handwritten-character recognition technology allows the robot to read handwritten characters, remember names, and calculate mathematical formulae.
· Video recognition technology enables a variety of interactions such as recognition of waving hands and objects such as a moving pendulum.
2. Enhanced entertainment skills
· Natural and enjoyable interaction between human beings and the robot were enabled by developing entertainment skills in collaboration with the Japanese comedian and entertainer, Zenjiro.
3. Enhanced links among robots and with other remote terminals via a network
· Development of networking capabilities for improved connectivity among multiple robots, and between a robot and remote terminals such as a PC.
4. Performance improvement with new hardware
· New hardware that boosts processing capability and scalability was developed to enable high-speed execution of various new technologies.

Features of NEC's Childcare PaPeRo are as follows:

1. Enhanced communication capability targeted at children
· Speech recognition enabled in noisy environments such as nursery schools, kindergartens, and exhibition halls.
· Simultaneous speech recognition for multiple utterances with wireless microphones. The robot can recognize what is said by who out of simultaneous multiple utterances with the help of a special jacket worn by the child, which is equipped with a wireless microphone and an ultrasound transmitter.
· Nine touch sensors are mounted on the head and the body of the robot to achieve various interaction with children from a wide range of ages, including infants.
2. Enhanced cognitive abilities for recognizing active children
· Enhanced recognition of children's faces enabling precise identification of face direction and an enhanced database of children's faces. Precise face-direction identification is effective for locating children who can't keep still in front of a camera.
· An ultrasonic child locator that realizes location of a child with only an error of a few centimeters within the range of 5 meters by reception of the ultrasounds radiated from the special jacket worn by the child.
3. Enhancement of play functions that children never tire of
· These extended functions include singing along with the robot, chatting with the robot, face registration/recognition, robot quizzes, making greetings, connection with mobile phones, robot dances, and roll calls. Children can simply enjoy these functions, or use them to learn and experience various things.
4. Sufficiently safe to interact with children
· Reduced motor power, no-finger-catching design, proximity sensors, and bumper switches immediately stop the robot upon detection of contact, realizing safe interaction even with a three-year-old child.
· Enables remote child monitoring and conversation through the robot hardware such as its eyes, mouth and ears with the help of a mobile phone network.

There is great expectation surrounding the development of partner-type robots, which will be able to live with us and assist us in our daily lives. Although a variety of robots have been developed in response to such expectations, they still possess insufficient performance in terms of speech and image recognition, in addition to their interaction being monotonous and boring. Therefore, development of a robot, which enables natural and enjoyable communication, as well as a wider variety of interactions, has been highly sought after and desired.

With its enhanced functions, PaPeRo 2005 has overcome the performance obstacles that the conventional PaPeRo possessed, and provides new experiences through various human-robot interactions that are filled with fun and humor.

In addition, Childcare PaPeRo, which will be presented at the EXPO 2005 AICHI, has been developed to specialize in interactions with children who have strong needs for robots. NEC will continue to improve the robot's interaction capabilities with children throughout the period of the EXPO.

NEC believes that the development of PaPeRo2005 and Childcare PaPeRo, as well as the demonstration and verification of their technology at EXPO 2005 AICHI, will lead to a wider range of robot capabilities, higher performance, and development of new applications. NEC will continue its research and development of intelligent robot technologies as well as their applications to achieve commercial viability. In response to customers' demands to make better products, these new technologies are planned to be incorporated into the robot software platform, RoboStudio, which is currently marketed by NEC System Technologies.
 
I have tried to find it, the part where it says because people are so enthralled within their PC systems, that they forget about housework and therefore live in messy houses, but Im couldn't.

The era that people are in, in the 205's, is an era that is deserving of personal robots, that would act as attaché assistants, so helping to clean up the ever increasing mess, which is beginning to grow around the feet of the average high-tech gadgetry person.

There are some startling social changes that are starting to occur.

The disposable boyfriend, girlfriend.A less luster set of emotions, as everything in the techno social issues, is so ultra fast?

Somewhere in there, well' there is still; human kindness, somehow and in this search text question, the quest should be, where will the robots come into our homes, in order to clean up our messes?

These are the only two headings that I could find under messy humans and their techno-world being infested by the in-house non-cleaning dump factor.

I like the idea of a personal walking robot, with the ability to not only keep you company, but to clean up your mess as well, being in the household.

The problem now, is that Japanese walking robots, do not speak English.

What language they queue on, is homeland Japanese.

Wasedda University is coming to the rescue, so that messy Americans, can have little walking bots, flitting about the house under lease agreements, that will dust, take out the garbage and tidy up the preverbal computer station, which in my case somehow, seems to collect more than its share of dust? Creedo__________

karcher.jpg



Articles>>the modern workplace. Computer technology was supposed to replace ... The dismay people feel at the sight of a messy desk—or ... so common in the Victorian era. What Dewey proposed ...article goes>>


THE SOCIAL LIFE OF PAPER
by MALCOLM GLADWELL
Looking for method in the mess.
Issue of 2002-03-25
Posted 2002-03-18
On a busy day, a typical air-traffic controller might be in charge of as many as twenty-five airplanes at a time—some ascending, some descending, each at a different altitude and travelling at a different speed. He peers at a large, monochromatic radar console, tracking the movement of tiny tagged blips moving slowly across the screen. He talks to the sector where a plane >>skip in article contined here>

This is one of the great puzzles of the modern workplace. Computer technology was supposed to replace paper. But that hasn't happened. Every country in the Western world uses more paper today, on a per-capita basis, than it did ten years ago. The consumption of uncoated free-sheet paper, for instance—the most common kind of office paper—rose almost fifteen per cent in the United States between 1995 and 2000. This is generally taken as evidence of how hard it is to eradicate old, wasteful habits and of how stubbornly resistant we are to the efficiencies offered by computerization. A number of cognitive psychologists and ergonomics experts, however, don't agree. Paper has persisted, they argue, for very good reasons: when it comes to performing certain kinds of cognitive tasks, paper has many advantages over computers. The dismay people feel at the sight of a messy desk—or the spectacle of air-traffic controllers tracking flights through notes scribbled on paper strips—arises from a fundamental confusion about the role that paper plays in our lives.

Remarks by Bill Gates
CHI 2001 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Seattle, Wash., April 2, 2001

MR. GATES: Well, good morning, and welcome to Seattle. It was here in Seattle, about 30 years ago, that I first had a chance to use a computer. It was a teletype connected up to a GE timesharing system, and I can say that the user interface wasn't very good: very limited bandwidth, upper case only, but I did like the paper tape capabilities.

http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2001/04-02chi.asp

also Samsung floor cleaning robo http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-11-26-5

edit, extra links>More Japan robo links

http://www.tokyodv.com/news/Robodex2003Montage.html

http://www.quicktopic.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TokyoDV.com%2Fnews%2FRobodex2003SDR-4XII.html&x=222302910.2

http://www.quicktopic.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TokyoDV.com%2Fnews%2FRobodex2003Asimo.html&x=222302910.2

http://www.quicktopic.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TokyoDV.com%2Fnews%2FEpsonMiniRobots.html&x=222302910.2

http://www.quicktopic.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TokyoDV.com%2Fnews%2F&x=222302910.2
 
Roomba Saturday Night Learning

Creedo,

You'll be happy to know that my self-intelligent RoombaVac is settling in quite well with the unique tempo of my household. During the workweek Roomba keeps a low profile, and doesn't even require feeding or care. He stays out of the way of the Chili Dawg, and only flits about the floor when I am away at work. By the time I get home each day Roomba is tucked away on its recharger.

But Saturday night is time for us all to cut loose. Roomba starts out on a long, roaming mission to clean the floors around the entire house thoroughly. This little guy has already learned that we do the big chores on the weekend, and so it has adjusted its vacu-schedule on its own.

But the best part of Saturday night madness is the way that RoombaVac and Chili Dawg romp and play together. The best way to describe how they play with each other would be....uhhhh, "cat and mouse". Except they are really "dog and bot". I think Chili considers RoombaVac a fun playpal, but I don't think that RoombaVac has quite figured out what Chili is about.

I'm thinking of taking both RoombaVac and Chili out to the shooting range next week, and teaching them how to fire my 357 Magnum. That way they can both defend themselves when I am not at home, should the need present itself.

RooMbaTime?
 
Re: Roomba Saturday Night Learning

Rainman' here is a link on a really loaded to the gills floor roving bot, however they do not have this bot fully ergonomically engineered as of yet.http://www.robotics.com/robots.html

This model is not table level capable, yet and this is a shame.

So I have not imported the photo to this board, as this bot, may be under the process of re-design?

The salesman wrote me and ask me what I thought.

I guess he was expecting me to be dumb, however I put on my designer's thinking cap.I gave him a full play-by-play return of where it was good and where it shortfalled.

Great'.. loaded with everything, but not mission fetch capable and not armored, so that a glass of soda will not take it out.

They wanted $1.900.oo for it.

I said with the lack of ergonomic design considerations, maybe $700.oo for what the parts and some capability was worth?

On these sorts of projects you need a mission goal.

And this according to French and Swenson's last drafting design and graphics (ergonics) book, is an overall approach, to what needs to be done.*Note ergonomics is now a law?

Examples are;..Get my pills, medications from the center of the living room table please?

Can you see,, show me who's at the door, while I'm in the tub?

What is the dog doing and can you make sure his food bowl is full of food?\\

These are the commands that you should be able to give a good floor robo?

I think design goals set by commitiit are the best, as projected utilized function, always gets a proper peer review in the process.

I'm thinking $2.000.oo TO $1.900.oo a roving robot that is properly designed, with an acceptable array of function.

But as they're making and selling them now, no, it's not even close to being in the picture.

I wrote this guy a technical review, on the company bot and sent it back to him.

Like the Japanese lady said, when instructing a western on how to use chop-sticks, very kindly but with steel determination in her eyes, "Please try"?!
 
Re: Roomba Saturday Night Learning

Hey Creedo,
On these sorts of projects you need a mission goal.
Yes indeed. All complex systems engineering projects must begin with this. But that is not all. Once the mission requirements are defined, that is when operational analysis is performed. The output of this phase are the time-based operational sequences that compose the operational design. In the software world they are called "use cases".

After this comes functional design, which is focused on the verbs (functions). The system designer takes the operational design and performs functional analysis to define the verb-based functions and, more importantly, how one measures performance of said functions. The functional architecture, fully populated with performance requirements, is what comprises the functional design.

The last phase of design is physical design, which is focused on the nouns (systems, elements, components, piece-parts, and their physical environment they operate within). The physical designer takes the functional architecture and defines physical elements that meet those functional requirements.

This is the system engineering design triangle...the same one I teach in my ARO 201 Fundamentals of Systems Engineering class. Anyone who embarks on a complex system design project without following these basic precepts (which are very Qabalistic, if you look at them) is doomed to inherit unknown risks, probably not meet their projected schedule, and certainly will spend more money developing the system than they first project... that is if they ever bring it to market.

Poor systems engineering have resulted in the premature cancellation of many programs in aerospace and other high tech engineering. It is why systems engineering is so heavily stressed in today's engineering curriculum.

RMT
 
Re: Roomba Saturday Night Learning

Two notes, have you been to http://www.robotics.com/robots.html and have seen this prototype?

Allot of good stuff in there, but no over-all ergonomic working design??

Two, what do you think is going to happen, when the Longhorn o.s. comes online and your have to interface your homebot, to the factory for maintenance pm and the o.s. might possibly contaminate the bot's thinking, if the bot uses a windows based system?

I am intrested in this potential, as there is no other way to get your bot, to keep tabs with the factory.
 
Re: Roomba Saturday Night Learning

A sanitized letter, sent to whoever on a upcomeing confrence in Papan

Sent to [email protected]

As per CMU's front page, on current conferences:

Copy begins>I am a computer technician in the western United States, who is both intrested in Papan grade of walking robots and outeliing walking house bots, to the general public, soon.

.The problems I have found, are the price projected for in-home robotics usage.
The only way most Americans can even come near this availability of large in-home walking robots, is via a lease, as the cost to purchase would be so high?

.The second problem that I see in Papan grade of walking robots, is their internal mental capacities.
I am thinking five to six area function internal head-held dedicated specialized function electronics boards.

Not one, or two boards, as would be projected.

*These five to six internally held boards, would specialize in the areas of walking and joints to appendages functions, balance, mission goals, perception, communications and task goals orientations.

These set functions would be a great improvement over what current Papan grades of walking robots can now achieve.

*A two board specialized synthesizer series of boards, would synchronize all of these other specialized boards, so that if one synchronizer should fail, the second synchronizer will have taken its place.

*A series of legal liability filters, where the users are both educated and must sign off the liability with an insurance clause, to any potential damage, that an in-house robot might through no fault of its own, may accidentally cause?

*Other problems as these Japan grades of walking robots man end up in virtually every home in the world, is that each walking robot, must be able to return to the home personal computer, in order to talk to its company electronics information and malignance bank.

There will also be a house rechargeable battery recharge cleat, for this robo in order to be able to recharge its internal batteries.

The internal processing abilities of this bot, should border near the most efficient house grade of computer sold today.

The house-bot has to be able to talk to the operating system based on most Windows compliable computers, in order to talk and discuss matters, with its home factory.

I am based in Bashwasngton State.

I may not be able to attend your conference, due to a very bad cold.

Most sincerely yours, Alaxander Guckamiikia
 
Re: Roomba Saturday Night Learning

As said in physics org, on how getting robots to people would be done:

Some information was sent to an America auto leasing company based in Texas, to their chief CEO, asking, how would one lease a modern Japan grade walking robot?

The company had contacted me back and they had said that they would look the idea over.

The last steps in getting walking robots into every home, are the following:

One an educational consumer class, so that both the robots function and shortfalls, can be understood, without either the company being sued, or the consumer displeased.*Note damage and liability insurance, also coupled with the leased use of these bots??

Two, the user must understand that these units have to have boundaries set, so that they are not either overused, or wrongly utilized?
These robots must be applied properly to the task asked and one should not go past this line of logic.

On leasing, which is how these bots will probably be let to the public, one must figure their general monthly overall cost?

This must be done so as the factories can make a profit off of producing these bots to manifesting and two so that the company does not take a loss, as nobody can afford these types of bots.

Four, a specialized area in the home, that the bot can call its own and report to at every end of the day.

This reporting is for hookup maintenance with the company via i.p. line and or a recharge cleat, so that batteries in the bot can be recharges, every day.

Five the last problem would be fluency of letting the bot leave and come back into the home, as projected maintenance problems, may require that a part be taken off the bot and or the entire bot be replaced, for one two weeks, with a factory loaner.

These are big steps, however if one wants a Japan grade robot for their homes, then they must observe some of these guidelines, as far as keeping a loaner bot in the home.

*Leasing is the only probable option, as these bots on the average, would be fifty thousand dollar units.
 
Next Functionalities from Roomba... Please!

As you know, Creeds, Saturday is clean floor day at the Hudson household. So while Roombavac does his thing, I thought it pertinent to share these engineering notes on what I think are the most prudent product improvements and extensions that the IROBOT corporation can, and may, pursue for their next-gen Roomba product lines:

Upgrade Capability for Roomba 2.0
As wonderful as the Roomba Discovery SE series robot is, there are still some upgrades that could be implemented that will further enhance the product's value. The greatest enhancement would be to enable the little bot that sucks dirt to be able to clean itself and dump its contents in the household trash on its own. The current Roomba has a nice collection chamber for dirt that is easily detached, and the Hepa pre-filter slips out easily for cleaning and emptying. But the two brush cylinders that must also be periodically cleaned are a bit of a hassle to take out, and especially difficult to get long, golden retriever dog hair out of! The manufacturer documentation says they recommend you clean these brushes every 3rd or 4th vaccuuming. Ha! I guess they have never had hardwood floors with a big dog who sheds a lot of hair before. I have to clean those brushes every Saturday after Roomba has completed its floor chores.

Product Line Extension - Mopba
Being liberated from ever having to vaccuum floors the old fashioned way, I am now looking for the same solution to free me from the drudgery of having to mop/wax my hardwood floors every other month. I am still a slave to my floors in this regard. But certainly I would think that the genius of the MIT-educated IROBOT team is already working on this companion product. I know that I will be one of the first to buy their Mopba robot when it hits the market (I hear it should be available for the coming Xmas gift-giving season?)

I'd be interested in your technical saids on these functional advancements.

RMT
 
Re: Next Functionalities from Roomba... Please!

These things you've got to know.

The Japanese manufacture technical items, with extreme precision, quality and care.

Their products turn out nice, as compared to how Americans put them together, which is not good.

you see this in the MIT walking robot as compared to the Japanese ewaling models.

The problem is, they don't want to let go of the ball.

Its been about five years since the very first walking robos have come online, but they wont release these to us yet.

Hitachi is going to release a top half anthromorphic like man robo, however the bottom half looks like vacuum cleaner wheels.

They apparently think we are either inept, or dumb?
 
Re: Next Functionalities from Roomba... Please!

I guess you have a fetish for the walking robot, eh Creeds? /ttiforum/images/graemlins/smile.gif But a bipedal, walking robot is simply a specific physical design instantiation that does not imply any particular functional requirement for such locomotive capability. The only reason people go ga-ga over it is because such a robot obviously mimics the human bipedal design. Big deal (is what I say).

As a complex system designer, I always start with Operational needs (time & phase space definitions), and then move to Functional design (motion, speed, and momentum specification), and these will then give way to an appropriate Physical design that meets the Operational and Functional needs. This is what I am talking about with the extensions and improvements for the Roomba series of products.

The Japanese manufacture technical items, with extreme precision, quality and care.
As the proud owner of a new 2005 Toyota Tacoma V-6 PreRunner, I would be the first to admit that the Japanese have developed an amazing culture of quality in both design and production. I think this is even self-evident by the fact that Lexus and Acura have pretty much usurped (or are completing the usurpation of) the power of Mercedes and BMW as the premiere luxury cars. There is no doubt in my mind that I would choose a Lexus or Acura over most Mercedes and BMW models in production today.

Having said that... it is my belief that, while the Japanese have risen to the top of the heap for physical design and production in this way, their skills in performing (and even understanding) the necessity of the Operational and Functional system design analysis and definition phases are not on par with American systems engineering skill.

A competent systems engineer would not simply rush into a goal of "hey, let's build a robot that can autonomously walk like a human being" without first analyzing and understanding the Operational and Functional implications of such a Physical design.

I'm contemplating a book on such topics that can be used as a textbook for undergraduate systems engineering courses.

RMTimer
 
Re: Next Functionalities from Roomba... Please!

I could handle what they have now, from either Sony or Honda, but with a few modifications.
 
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