A team of students at Columbia University, led by Jason Ravel, has taken inspiration from a number of sources, including the Turtlebot by Willow Garage, Boxie the Robot from MIT, and Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, to design a human-sized general purpose robot called Talos. Built for just US$800, this low cost robot has arms, a face, and can answer voice commands.
At the base of the Talos robot is an iRobot Create,which provides locomotion and an ability to sense walls and stairs. Above that is a standard laptop, while the body of the robot is a cardboard tube with a box on top that forms the robot’s head and face. Connected to its tubular body are two mechanical arms with hands from OWI Robots for picking up objects and shaking hands, while its face features lights in the eyes that change color in response to various commands. Sitting atop its head is a Microsoft Kinect 3D sensor for detecting 3D objects, walls, and doors.
This first version of Talos was designed to carry out several simple functions. The original concept was to use the robot for telepresence operations, like guarding the lab at night. The robot can retrieve an object and bring it to a person; it can respond to several simple voice commands, like “follow me” or “shake hands”; it can be controlled by a remote application on a tablet computer; and it can dance, as an entertainment function.
"The price of robot motors needs to come down," says Jayson Ravel.His team see Talos as a model for a lower-cost humanoid robot that can function in a home or office environment.
At the base of the Talos robot is an iRobot Create,which provides locomotion and an ability to sense walls and stairs. Above that is a standard laptop, while the body of the robot is a cardboard tube with a box on top that forms the robot’s head and face. Connected to its tubular body are two mechanical arms with hands from OWI Robots for picking up objects and shaking hands, while its face features lights in the eyes that change color in response to various commands. Sitting atop its head is a Microsoft Kinect 3D sensor for detecting 3D objects, walls, and doors.
This first version of Talos was designed to carry out several simple functions. The original concept was to use the robot for telepresence operations, like guarding the lab at night. The robot can retrieve an object and bring it to a person; it can respond to several simple voice commands, like “follow me” or “shake hands”; it can be controlled by a remote application on a tablet computer; and it can dance, as an entertainment function.
"The price of robot motors needs to come down," says Jayson Ravel.His team see Talos as a model for a lower-cost humanoid robot that can function in a home or office environment.
Next steps in the project will be improving the object recognition and retrieval capability. The team will also be working on new navigation functions that use landmarks and can make maps as the robot roams around.
Sources: Columbia University Robotics Group,Jason Ravel.
Gizmag
