The Robo Maid

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by maxlobovsky

Well at least a robot that doesn't think with a computer.

Come now, let's not be overly critical. Technically, it does have a computer (at least a tiny one). I mean, it even has a digital clock and two buttons!

However, the movie was amazingly convicing for this sort of thing, and if I saw it in a store and not online, I might buy one (it's only $10...), just to see how it does...

[Max Lobovsky]

Yeah, at first, I wrote my post to say it had no intelligence and wasn't a robot. Then I thought for a second and realized that sure it is, it doesn't have to have any conservative computational device to make decisions. It's decision making is built into the structure of the robot itself. This is an interesting concept (reminds me of that book Wolfram published a few years ago with all the hype) The real problem is how they are deceiving it. Putting something on a TV screen automatically adds a lot more credibility than it should for most people.

[Adam Y.]

Believe it or not the concept itself is quite simple. There is a robot book out there that has plans on how to build a robo ball. Also I seriously doubt that this robot is nothing more than a motor and fancy mechanics. A cool example of BEAM robotics.

that is exactly what i thought when i saw this thing a few weeks ago....i would love to take one of each apart and see the difference

A weasel ball has a pager motor with a offset weight on it.

http://downloads.solarbotics.com/PDF/kit6.pdf

It's decision making is built into the structure of the robot itself. This is an interesting concept (reminds me of that book Wolfram published a few years ago with all the hype) The real problem is how they are deceiving it. Putting something on a TV screen automatically adds a lot more credibility than it should for most people.

In all honesty it's design does fall into a realm of robotics called BEAM robotics. It's an interesting concept that believes in minimal use of technology to acheive desired results. Some of the simplest BEAM bots are nothing more than whats in that robots.

[Ashley Weed]

Ehh, I don't know how much I would believe it. Gregory recently got me an equivalent of a Roomba - but it only does hardwood floors. I'm excited to take it with me back to my apartment, and I will try to remember to post about it if it is a success or not. I have heard the only problems with these and the roomba is if it is going from different levels, i.e. carpet to tile, and it gets hung up. But this just looks a little to 'cheap'.