"The Nutcracker" Performed by Robots

[Mr MOE]

This link was forwarded to me by a MOE parent, who has a relative working at Kiva Systems.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdmtya8emMw

[Elgin Clock]

wooo!!! They say 237 on the sides! lol
Ok.. well.. the ones I saw around the 52 second mark in the video had 2377 & 2378 on the sides, but that's close enough.

Anyways, to give some folks some background on these robots and how they are related to FIRST is a cool story.

In Boston this past year, the MC was introduced by being brought out on top of one of these in a closed cardboard box, which he then went to open & jump out at the crowd!!

It was awesome to see up close. I'll see if I can get my video posted somewhere that I can link to. (It's already on my Facebook page for those who can see that currently)

These robots are compltely autonomous, and they use little bar code "stickers" on the floor to navigate with. They are spaced out and the robot uses that as a path.
I'm by no means an expert in these robots, but seeing them up close is a cool thing, and gives you a lot of info just seeing them.

The reason they were in Boston for this special treat for the regional this past year, is that Benge (former Segway engineer & FIRST Head referee), who is just a cool guy to work with as well, worked for Kiva and brought them along for the demo/MC intro.

They are very cool robots, and used in warehouse applications. The shelves you see them go underneath at the end of the video is related to one of their main purposes, as they would go under those, and can actually lift the shelves and move them around a warehouse.
Cool applications for moving inventory, or delivering products across long distances autonomously.

This video is just a cool demo of their capabilities.

Awesome job Kiva!

[Nevets Amstier]

Thats really friggin' cool
I dont know if it tops this though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZzLAsHiGHU