One of the more interesting companies entering the personal robotics space is White Box Robotics, which is planning to “…create and develop PC-BOTs — plug-and-play robots created almost entirely from off-the-shelf computer parts.”
The Model 914 PC-BOT is their first product, and features a raft of advanced features: speech recognition/synthesis, object recognition and vision-based navigation. The architecture of the robot is based entirely on common PC hardware standards, so it uses PCI slots, standard drive bays, common connectors for CD-ROM drives, etc. It’s a promising idea, and other companies are thinking the same thing: White Box joined forces in May 2005 with Ontario-based Frontline Robotics, a firm which manufactures mobile security robots. Another bonus: Whether intentional or not, model 914 also bears a passing resemblence to the squat, beloved R2 units featured so prominently in the Star Wars films. Check out the White Box website here and founder Tom Burick’s blog here.
Model 914? Doesn’t look like a copying machine to me!
Ah well. Lego has great mechanics and minimal computing. White Box has great computing and minimal mechanics. Using a pc is a great idea as there is lots of programming support and resources. But you either need your own machine shop or an encyclopedic knowledge of parts sources to do anything mechanical. Snapping together Lego parts is fun, but that dinky computer with minimal I/O is frustrating. Can we have a PC based robot with Lego parts? Is there a a universe of parts that can be identified and produced to work on the PC scale? The stuff that is manufactured in this world is amazing. and obscure
Don’t think I would vest the $5K+ I’ve seen them going for just to have a PC on wheels. No moveable arms makes it a..well..PC on wheels. I think with a little development, be best served buying a remote unit that is controlled by a PC. Far more options available today for those that want to develop custom software and hardware.
Hi Eman -
What are some of the better custom hardware/software options you’ve used with a PC? Have you used the Microsoft Robotics Studios software yet?
-Jeff
luks lik a music player cum washing machine