Automaton

iRobot announced two new products today, adding to their already pioneering line of home robots.

First up is the Looj, a gutter-cleaning bot. It's remote-controlled; that is, a user puts it up in a gutter, steps down the ladder, and from there directs its movement along a gutter, moving both forward and backward. From the website:

iRobot Looj uses a powerful 3-stage auger, spinning at 500 RPM, to break up sludge and clogs, lift out debris and brush your gutters clean. The hard plastic disruptors break apart clogs, while natural rubber ejectors lift and throw the debris from your gutters, finally, sturdy polypropylene bristles brush your gutters clean.

Gutter cleaners are all well and good, but I am REALLY excited about this next one: ConnectR, the Virtual Visiting robot. Thus spake iRobot:

ConnectR enables real-time virtual visits over the Internet. Equipped with high-quality audio and a video camera, the robot is located on-site in the home of the “host” party. Using a computer keyboard, mouse or joystick, the remote (“visiting”) party can drive the robot around and interact with those on-site, virtually participating in activities at home or wherever the device is located (for example, in the home of your grandchildren). The on-site host party can also direct the robot’s movements with a remote control.

The Looj is available now, but ConnectR isn't out yet -- and robot aficionados have the opportunity to be part of a pilot program this year. They'll choose pilot users from a pool of applicants here -- sign up!

Looj currently sells from $99 to $169, depending on the accessories. ConnectR will be $200 for those involved with the pilot program, and "just under $500" once it's on the market.

Images from irobot.com

iRobot wasn't the only company to introduce new products at Digital Life yesterday in New York City. Spykee, designed by a French company and marketed in the US by Erector (of Erector set fame) may compete with the iRobot ConnectR as an Internet-controlled telepresence robot. Spykee, which will cost $299 when it's released in November, is available in one of three configurations -- which you build yourself. Once built, Spykee can be used as a digital music player, VOIP phone (over Skype), do audio and video, and be controlled remotely as "video surveillance". It also appears to auto-dock for recharging whenever it needs to.

Though this only really appeals to budding mechanical engineers, Spykee might appeal to the young'uns as a robot kit as well as a toy.

A few months ago, I moved to an apartment with a backyard, and I was excited about barbecuing. But one thing stood between me and my kebabs: an unruly thicket of grass all over the yard.

I had never mowed a lawn, and I must say I wasn't thrilled about pushing a machine with rapidly spinning blades under a scalding sun. Then I found something that would do it for me.

No, it's not a goat—it's Robomow.

Last year for Christmas I got my parents an iRobot Scooba and Roomba kit, which they have insisted to me is possibly the best thing I have ever gotten them. In particular, they're crazy about their Scooba. I'd seen them use it once or twice, and I thought it was cool, but never ended up with one of my own. After a Black Friday Woot refurb deal for $99, though... well, I couldn't pass that up.

And so, my friends, let me tell you about why my Scooba is my new best friend. Review is after the jump.

Thanks to The Sharper Image, holiday shoppers can now find all their robots conveniently assembled on four pages (technically, lightsabers and scooters are not robots, but the majority of the products listed certainly are). A big "Shop for Bots" banner on the home page leads you there. This is an interesting indication of how popular robots are becoming for the average consumer -- of all the products they sell, the robots get to share the front page with highly popular GPS units and audio gadgets.

It's also interesting that they're only selling "finished products" like Wowwee's toys and the Pleo rather than DIY kits like Mindstorms or Vex. These robots are going to reach a very different audience.

This is my first time at CES, and all I can say is, wow. This is the most overwhelming event I've ever been to. It's like being at Disney World but with more booth babes than princesses. Gadgets are everywhere, the audio systems' bass demonstrations are headache-inducing, and anything that could possibly move is doing so in booths, in the aisles, and sometimes even illicitly overhead.

Robotics Trends organized most of the attending robotics companies into one "Tech Zone" at the Venetian Sands expo hall. This area is right next to the Sandbox zone, an area full of companies that develop high-tech toys, and there's actually a lot of overlap. In addition to this area a handful of automation systems are sprinkled throughout the rest of the show and Bumblebee made an appearance at the Dolby booth in the Convention Center.

I've been spending a lot of time with the robotics companies and there is some seriously exciting stuff here. Stay tuned!

I've long been a little skeptical of Wowwee, makers of the Robosapien. Their black and white toys seemed rather basic and the little dog I have didn't appear to be much advanced beyond the walking and mooing cow I had when I was a toddler (my first robot. It annoyed my parents so much they removed the batteries and told me it died. I've never gotten over it). Frankly, they just seemed boring.

I am very pleased to report that I have been proven wrong. Wowwee's next generation of robot toys on display here at CES are, in a word, awesome.

My favorite is Robosapien's newly developed girlfriend, the Femisapien.

Toys and vacuums are old news; the big new robots this year seem to be telepresence robots. iRobot, Wowwee, and Spykee all brought their new internet-controlled devices to demo video, audio, VoIP, Bluetooth, media players, and other capabilities.

Spykee was introduced at Digital Life last fall and it's already got a group of siblings. Designed by Meccano, the same company that produces the Erector set, all the Spykee versions come as a kit that has to be assembled. The original can be internet controlled from anywhere in the world and can be used for making and receiving Skype VoIP calls as well as playing digital media. Spykee Cell, a smaller version, uses Bluetooth to communicate with your cell phone and can control your iPod Nano or iPod Touch. Since it uses the Bluetooth connection with your cell phone, you can basically use it as a Bluetooth "headset" -- leave your phone on the desk and talk directly to your robot instead.

Wowwee's Rovio looks like a black UFO on Wowwee's popular new omni wheels. Controlled over the Internet, It has the standard camera, two-way speaker and microphone, and video link. What I think is most interesting about Rovio is that it uses Evolution Robotics's NorthStar navigation system to find its way around its environment to return to its docking station whenever it needs recharging. That's a really good partnership between those two companies.

iRobot had its ConnectR telepresence robot on display, though it wasn't being demoed. They are still in the process of identifying beta users for its pilot program that will help them determine what ConnectR will be used for and what features should be developed before the final release. Right now they think the major users will be the "sandwich generation" (middle-aged people taking care of both kids and elderly parents) who want to be able to check up on family members when they can't be physically present, and parents on business travel who want to call home in a more interactive manner.

Is telepresence really the next big thing? Wowwee and Spykee are pitching these robots as toys that kids will want to guard their rooms, play music, and spy on siblings; iRobot 's ConnectR is being pitched to a much older audience but is still waiting for a pilot program to tell them how this technology will really be used. Are these companies guessing right?

Korean company Grandport is showing off their really neat Skyschool i-robo robot course kits. There are Beginner, Junior, Senior, and Expert courses, with a few levels within each. Each level has twelve weeks' worth of 90 minute exercises using the kit of parts and a textbook. The courses start with basic mechanism assembly and circuit board use and a proprietary GUI-based programming, and later incorporate Microsoft Robotics Studio integration, sensors, and navigation. The kits can include ultrasonic or IR sensors, Bluetooth modules, and several different types of motors.

Here's a picture of one of the models they had on display. Most of the kits are good for 10-11 different types of models.

PLEN is "the world's first desktop-sized humanoid robot", according to its creators at Systec Akazawa in Japan. PLEN comes in a kit full of parts to assemble your own little humanoid, including accessories like rollerskate feet, and with software that allows you to develop, save, and upload your own unique motions. You then control PLEN through Bluetooth-enabled devices like cell phones or PDAs. Below, PLEN demonstrates his skating prowess. (Here's another video of him, kicking a ball)

Photo: AudioCubes.com

I have many friends who have cats, and sometimes I feel left out of all that feline talk. Bad allergies prevent me from procuring a real cat, but maybe now there's a way I can join the cat-loving bunch.

Today's Times has a story on the AC Gears store that just opened in New York City (the store is the first bricks-and-mortar location of the famed online gadget shop AudioCubes.com), and one of the featured products is the Segatoys Dream Cat Smile Robot.

This Japanese robotic cat, powered by three C batteries, has five touch sensors and it can blink, move its mouth and neck, rear up, and lie down. It also purrs and meows, and if you squeeze the tail it will growl.

If you want one, you can visit AC Gears at 69 East 8th Street in New York, or go to their website: http://www.audiocubes.com/

Thanks, Nancy!

Photo: Ugobe

Spectrum senior editor Tekla S. Perry and her kids—ages 9, 12, and 16—adopted a ­dinosaur for two weeks. We're talking about Pleo, the AI-powered toy dino. The kids, who quickly decided that Pleo was a girl, liked its realistic movements and sounds. But Perry thinks the robot needs better batteries—and a behavior software update. The Perry family is keeping the cats.

The brainchild of Ugobe, a robotics ­company in Emeryville, Calif., Pleo looks and acts the way you’d expect a baby Camarasaurus to, thanks to ­sophisticated ­robotics. She has two 32-bit and four 8‑bit ­microprocessors, ­fourteen motors, a ­camera, two ­microphones, eight ­sensors under her ­rubberized skin, a tilt ­sensor, an infrared mouth sensor, fourteen force-­feedback sensors, and four switches in her feet.

First, the good: the ­movement and sounds are indeed amazing. My ­daughter handed Pleo to a friend to cuddle, and Pleo nestled in and wrapped her tail securely around the friend’s arm, completely freaking her out. Our cats considered Pleo real and scary—they ran for cover whenever we tried to get them to meet her.

[...]

When I first saw Pleo two years ago, at a conference for emerging technologies, I was impressed by Ugobe’s claim that the dinosaur would develop a personality based on how it was treated. But now the company says it will provide most of that malleability only later, via free software updates.

Read the entire review, and for a look under the skin of Pleo, here's a video showing how its sensors work.

I recently had a chance to play with the LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit. I mentioned the Mindstorms in a previous post about robot kits, but this is the first time I've had free reign with one -- and the first time I've used one of the NXTs. Keep reading for the review.

Spectrum associate editor Josh Romero on his favorite robots from the Faire:

If there's one thing you can count on at Maker Faire, it's the presence of robots. They're everywhere in all shapes and sizes. Sure, it was impossible to miss the giant electric giraffe, but size isn't everything.

Take Herbie the Mousebot (a robot kit from Solarbotics) - if you judged just by the number of delighted smiles and giggles coming from children's faces, this had to be the winner. The little robot has a light sensor that it uses to follow around a beam of light from a flashlight. It also has whisker and tail sensors that make it turn around when it hits your foot or starts to go under the couch. Brilliant! It's smart, cute, and simple. Made solely of discrete components, it looked fun both to build and to play with:

This month's Full Spectrum video segment focuses on robot kits -- as seen recently at CES and Maker Faire -- and highlights my embarrassing prom date past. Check it out here.