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THE NEW ANKI VECTOR ROBOT IS SMART ENOUGH TO JUST HANG OUT — Parallax Forums

THE NEW ANKI VECTOR ROBOT IS SMART ENOUGH TO JUST HANG OUT

Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
edited 2018-08-08 14:19 in Robotics
https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/8/17661902/anki-vector-home-robot-voice-assistant-ai

It can detect your face, answer questions, and play games, too
If you’re familiar with the Anki Cozmo robot, you already have a sense of what Vector looks like. Standing around three inches high, it’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. It has little treads for motoring around a small space, but you’ll probably want to make that space a table or desk instead of your floor so you don’t step on it. It has a little lift arm that’s only able to pick up a tiny plastic cube.

Vector’s main activity is tootling around on a table and investigating its surroundings. Using a combination of sensors, it builds a little map of its surroundings. If it detects a new object, it’ll go check it out and see if it can be pushed around. It pays attention to sound and is able to recognize faces. It’s more self-sufficient than the Cozmo robot; it’s able to find its charger on its own.

Anki has essentially put the guts of a midrange smartphone inside Anki, allowing it to work without tethering to your phone. It has a camera and uses machine learning to recognize people (and, eventually, objects). It can hear what direction sound is coming from, thanks to beamforming microphones. It has cliff sensors on all four corners to keep it from driving off the table.

vector.gif
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800 x 450 - 1M

Comments

  • Roy ElthamRoy Eltham Posts: 3,000
    I have their race car stuff and a Cozmo, very good quality stuff. I backed this also, looks neat, and will have an SDK (which I get early access to according the the kickstarter).
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    WANT! Thanks for the heads up, I must start clearing a space on my shelf!
  • AwesomeCronkAwesomeCronk Posts: 1,055
    AWESOME!
    I wonder if it could remember where it's charger is if I put the charger on a desk, then lead a ramp(Matchbox style) down to the floor to provide access to the rest of the house.
  • AwesomeCronkAwesomeCronk Posts: 1,055
    edited 2018-08-15 19:21
    erco wrote: »
    WANT! Thanks for the heads up, I must start clearing a space on my shelf!

    Just clear room near an outlet, only needs about the space taken up by a mid-size ketchup bottle laying on it's side.
  • Keith YoungKeith Young Posts: 569
    Main thing to me is the SDK :)

    We've got a popular article on Anki Cozmo Vs Vector please let me know if you see anything missing.

    Don't let this make you forget how awesome the ActivityBot 360 is! Maybe I should do a comparison on those?

    If we had an easy way to program the ActivityBot in Python we'd be in heaven.
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