Home Robot Should Cost $ 2999

Why am I saying that? Because I'm on the way to create such a robot. Because all the robots that are now are either toys, or scientific developments outside the walls of universities, or military developments, or the fruits of startups. Or vacuum cleaners.
There are several robots that may well qualify for the role of a home robot. For example, PR2 from Willow Garage. Here it is:



Do you know how much it costs?

$ 400,000

And you know what he can do with it? Very little ...

And this is the main reason that still does not allow each of us to have a personal robot at home, but to confine ourselves to a vacuum cleaner ... More precisely, reasons 2:
1. Buy a robot expensive
2. A robot can do little for that kind of money.
It turns out a vicious circle - in order to write software for the robot, you need to purchase very expensive hardware. And to buy iron that does not know how is expensive. I will break this circle. Loud statement? Perhaps.
Here are the basic prerequisites that allow me to think that in the next couple of years, anyone can build or buy a robot that can do something really useful for $ 2999:

• The appearance of Microsoft Kinect worth $ 200 and the SDK to it (seriously, without it I would not even start)
• The appearance of a large number of developments in the field of applications for robots, pattern recognition, navigation, etc. For example, ROS, OpenCV, etc.
• The appearance of microcontrollers and sensors for them with a low threshold for entry into development and programming (Arduino)
• The presence of a large number of standardized elements, such as servos, gear motors, stepper motors, camcorders, batteries and chargers for them, etc.
• The increasing spread of 3D printers
• The advent of cheap and fairly powerful laptops in the niche up to $ 500
• Wonderful open-source development inMoov, which allows you to create a mechanical arm in almost everything similar to the human (this is the second thing that was not worth starting without) - video below
• Speech Recognition and Synthesis Services and APIs
• The cost of all this economy fits into $ 3000!

And here I want to make a small remark. I am ready to create an open robot platform for $ 2999. But you need to understand that I can’t write all the software for it. The goal of the project is to enable the creation of a unified cheap open robot in order to develop software for everyone . And there at least sell it, at least give it away for free.
The basic principles underlying the creation of the robot platform:

• All parts of the robot are unified and cheap. They are massively and in circulation issued and sold in stores.
• All plastic parts can be printed on a 3D printer, which does not exclude their production by other methods. I am ready to establish their industrial production subject to a sufficient number of pre-orders or upon receipt of initial investments.
• Building a robot and downloading software should not be more difficult than assembling any IKey cabinet
• The robot has dimensions comparable to the size of a person and hands like human
• At a basic level, you must comply with the laws of robotics and try to protect yourself from malicious programming of robots (nevertheless mass + hands can be a serious weapon or weapon)
• The robot is controlled by voice, as well as feedback. In addition, the robot can display information on a laptop display.
• Robot programming = robot control. Those. programming is carried out by issuing voice commands. Each command at a low level is implemented in the form of program code.
• Also, training the robot can be done with the help of “gloves” - putting on such gloves, a person can perform movements that will be converted into a robot program. Gloves, however, will have to be bought separately - about $ 500 per pair. (Yes, they are much cheaper than the proposed solutions and remove information from the whole arm starting from the shoulder + fingers)

Nevertheless, I perfectly understand some doubtfulness of the acquisition of such iron. Nevertheless, the money is big - 3-4 salaries for most compatriots. Therefore, the first thing I propose to do is a robot farm .
A farm is a room - one or more, in which several robots are located. In addition, typical objects can be in the room - tables, chairs, dishes, etc. Ideally, some typical “as in an apartment” environment should be created. You can connect to the robot via the Internet and upload the program to it. Then execute it. Feedback will be provided by video broadcast from the robot and from the webcam. It will also be possible to communicate with the robot in voice, for example, via Skype.

Creating a farm will allow thousands of developers to create and debug real-world robot software. I would like it to be open. Then anyone can assemble their robot and fill it with software. And then it will be possible to talk about small-scale production. Then it will already be possible to make the App Store for robots ...
In general, quite a lot of useful functionality can be written with only Kinect connected to the computer.

What does the robot consist of:

• Microsoft kinect
• A laptop
• Chassis with 2 drive wheels and one swivel. 2 gear motors for wheels
• Plastic case, which provides for the installation of specialized extensions in separate compartments
• Battery + Charger
• 2 hands InMoov (plastic, wires, servos, arduino)
• "Nervous system" based on Arduino, Motor shield and a set of sensors

However, why am I contacting you and asking for help? What do i already have? I tell and show:

• A prototype robot without hands. The nervous system allows him not to run into obstacles and navigate in space. The software is still under development, and in this I hope for your help. Now in the development of "recognition" of faces, gesture recognition, voice control.
• An agreement was reached on the production of arduino boards.
• An agreement was reached on the production of plastic parts for the manufacture of robot hands. Now, with single runs, the production of plastic for one hand will cost about 50,000 rubles. To reduce the cost of production it is necessary to increase mass.
• Here is a render of the future robot (yes, it is slightly different from the prototype in the video):

So, how can you help,% usernamre%?



And also, if you are a robot engineer, programmer, designer, 3d-modeler, PR specialist, journalist, philanthropist, investor, manufacturer, and many others.

If you send your old laptop or a dusty Kinect in the corner, the arduino set you played with and tired of if there are servos or gear motors, some unnecessary sensors, wheels from lawn mowers, unnecessary children's electric cars or housings from household appliances - you really help a lot. And we will not forget you.

What will it be for you?

• Priority access to the robotic farm
• Placing your logo on the robot
• Mentioning you as a donor + link to your site
• Thank you so much
• There will be something to tell grandchildren

A little bit about yourself. My name is Alexander. I am 34 years old, I am a little idealist, but to a much greater extent pragmatic and boring. I have quite a wealth of experience in the field of IT. I was a programmer, tester, team leader, project manager. Now I am an entrepreneur, but I also work in the field of information technology.

I came close to the implementation of the most expensive parts of the project. I want to appreciate the relevance, clarity of the idea at this level. And yes, I want your help, money and PR. Because this way the project will develop many times faster.

Summary:The main thing in the robot is not hardware, but software. In terms of technology, all the necessary milestones have already been achieved. Creating a relatively inexpensive robot is easy. The main difficulty is attracting programmers to write programs to control the behavior of such a robot. And for this there is a solution - to create together an open platform for the robot, on the basis of which everyone can write software for it. I suggest you take part in creating such a platform and create a robot farm. Every robot programmer can use robots on the farm.

There is a Google group https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/home-robot
I don’t give the rest of the contacts, as this is not welcomed like ...

UPD Thanks to everyone who responded and agreed to help with word and deed. I can now be somewhat sketchy in correspondence, since I have a lot of communications, but I remember all of you and will answer all in more detail. Now I am engaged in the creation of working groups in various areas. With the advent of the site, all information will be available on it and you can choose the direction of development to your liking. By Monday, I will give everyone answers to letters, if I have not done so already.

If you want to prepare with t.z. programming and you are interested in the interaction of the machine with a person and the world around me, I propose to borrow from friends or purchase Kinect and connect it to a PC, this will help you in the future.