Next Big Trend: Robots That Follow You Around
Next Big Trend: Robots That Follow You Around
BY TIM MOYNIHAN
10.13.14 | 6:30 AM
Dozens of robots will descend upon the Back Bay for the
RoboBusiness conference in Boston this week. A few of them may even try
following you home.
Within the world of robots and drones, there is a growing
trend toward tailing you—with your permission in this case. It’s great for
recreational use, where unmanned aerial vehicles, equipped with GoPro cameras,
create mesmerizing video selfies for far less than the cost of renting a
helicopter and hiring a film crew.
3D Robotics’ Iris+ drone and its DroidPlanner 2.0
software have a “Follow Me” mode for just these kinds of shots, as do models
from Hexo+ and AirDog. And this being the mobile era, the Iris+ and Hexo+ work
their magic by connecting to your smartphone and using its GPS data as a flight
plan. The AirDog system requires wearing or carrying a little wireless module
called an AirLeash.
Such tech makes sense in a drone, but more and more
terrestrial machines are adopting “follow the leader” functions. For example,
the CaddyTrek schleps your clubs around the golf course by tracking a
belt-mounted module that doubles as a remote control. Yes, it’s been out for a
few years, but a new wave of loyal ‘bots that shadow you is right around the
corner.
The use cases extend beyond entertainment. Five Elements
Robotics’ Budgee, a “friendly robot assistant” designed for the elderly and
handicapped, is a lightweight pack mule with a top speed of 2.4 mph. If you’re
walking too fast for it to keep up, it’ll say so, with an app that lets you
tailor the message. You can also program the color of its eyes, which have
different sizes “inspired by my daughter’s sock puppets,” says Five Elements
CEO Wendy Roberts.
Budgee is easily folded and weighs just 20 pounds, yet it
lugs up to 50 pounds of stuff. The robot runs up to 10 hours on a charge, and
although it’s rain-resistant, don’t take it swimming. Not that it would follow
you into the pool anyway. Sensors help keep it from falling down stairs,
running into obstacles or going off a cliff.
The follow function works through sonar sensors embedded
in Budgee’s “ears.” To make it work, owners clip a small module onto the back
of his their belt and use the app to set the distance at which their little
friend follows. Roberts says the company is working on a joystick interface
that will make the robot more easily controlled for those who use wheelchairs.
The robotic assistant should be available in January of
next year for $1,400.
There’s a more complex tracking system within Harvest
Automation’s industrial robots, which are designed for agricultural and
manufacturing environments. The plant-shuttling HV-100, nicknamed Harvey, is
already in use. Harvest Automation co-founder and COO Charles Grinnell says
there are 100 zipping around in plant nurseries nationwide. LED sensors housed
in orange cases allow it to follow patterns taped out on the floor; a LIDAR
(Light Detection and Ranging) sensor allows it to detect obstacles to avoid and
humans to follow.
LIDAR is what makes these robots very precise and—at
$30,000 apiece—much more expensive.
“We use a LIDAR for Follow Me, [because] we already have
it onboard for more complex object detection tasks the robot must perform,” says
Grinnell. “Our robot needs to very accurately position plants in the fields at
our customers, and that requires very accurate and long-distance sensing.
LIDARs that meet our requirements—accuracy, all weather, full sun—are $2,000 to
$3,000 at this point.”
The sensor technology uses sweeping lasers to sense and
calculate 3-D objects in front of it, and it is incredibly hard to shake once
it’s following you. Despite being 20 inches tall, it’d be a nightmare playing
hoops against the HV-100. It sticks to your every move like gum on hair. If you
get freaked out or, more appropriately, there’s an emergency, there’s a big
orange pull-stop on top. Yank it and the robot shuts down immediately.
According to Grinnell, the HV-100’s follow mode has a
very practical use-case behind it. Plant nurseries use it to lead their teams
of plant bots on and off the work area; it’s much easier to have a group of
them follow a person rather than having to remote-control the robots
individually. The LIDAR technology is also essential for the robots to detect
the plants in front of them.
The company’s new robot, currently a prototype, is
designed for warehouses and manufacturing plants. It’s expected to be cheaper:
Harvest Automation has ditched the line-following LED sensors in favor of LIDAR
alone. Grinnell says factory-friendly bots don’t need the same taped-off guide
lines.
Budgee and Harvey will be on display alongside robots and
related tech from 80 other companies at the 10th annual RoboBusiness 2014
conference. As robotic development has evolved and become more affordable, that
show has grown quickly. According to Rich Erb, general manager of
show-organizer Robotics Trends Media Group, attendance has grown more than
threefold in the past three years. In 2011, there were 300 attendees of the
show. This year, more than 1,000 people from 22 countries are registered.
The conference takes place in Boston’s Hynes Convention
Center from Wednesday, October 15 through Friday, October 17. It’s not open to the
public, but if you hang around outside the convention center, you may be able
to catch one of the robots following someone out.
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