Speecys SPC-101 First Hand - more updates to follow

[cdraptor]

Well I have received the SPC-101C after a some fun with FedEx on getting this in from Japan. Following are some unboxing shot - how much of this will remain the same when it is released in the US is still subject to change. The manuals are in Japanese but I have been able to work through getting the SPC-101C online and run the demonstration MIRAI-VCE application. It comes loaded with a bunch of the poses including the crazy hysterical laughing fit.

I am going to be working with Speecys to get things translated to English and they are looking for feedback from me - so I may be slapping down some polls on the forums to get some additional feedback.

Some very nice points I would like to put down now is that the package comes with a stand for the Speecys, he's designed to sit on the stand (picture of this to come soon) - which is really nice for the boot up of the Robot, when he's ready he will then stand up.

He comes with a Futaba battery (the same that is in the Futaba RBT-1) which fits into the foot - the other foot has a metal weight to maintain consistent weighting of the feet. You actually can run him without the battery in using the AC Power Adapter - this is a great feature compared to when I am working on the Futaba RBT-1 with motion editor, you get done (or can't finish motions) you need to recharge the battery. The SPC-101C you can plug him in and not worry about running out of power. Since the SPC-101C comes with camera, stereo speakers and is WiFi enabled you could setup him when your not playing with him, to do e-mail or RSS feed alerts - he can be on your desk hanging out - haven't tested to see how long he can maintain without servos getting too hot.

Anyway let's drop down some pics and explain what you get







What you see in the above picture is the SPC-101C sitting on his stand, in the back of him is a USB plug which you connect the USB WiFi adapter, which fits nicely together with him. The Futaba battery, AC Power Adapter, Serial Cable and Video Receiver for wireless video transmission from the SPC-101C.

I don't have a video capture card or device (going to get one tonight) but I did plug the video into my big screen TV - the camera quality is actually quite nice, It was much clearer and very little interference unlike the mini Swann camera I have. The camera is on as soon as he power on.

His OS is NetBSD so he takes a bit of time to boot up and connect to the wireless network. Once he is on you can connect to him from the motion editor, the MIRAI-VCE software (which is really demo software) or your very own apps (which will be something I'll be working on soon)

Anyway that's enough for now, busy week or I would have more time to play, but I will be posting youtube vids and other information over the next week or so.

[limor]

Congratulations!
how did you manage to get the robot ?

[cdraptor]

I am working with Speecys on getting the Robot here in the US. I'm working on developing some applications and assisting with translation. I was able tonight to setup a C# application running on Vista which controls the SPC-101C via WiFi - I will soon have a R/C type solution where you can have a joystick connected to your PC and send command via WiFi to the SPC-101C.

Even with the manual being in Japanese they did a great job with diagrams and such. I've been able to get him working, running through the demo motions and I've started working with the motion editor - which is going to need a good bit of tweaking for english version.

[1UpCheatachu]

That's very cool! So that's why he has large feet.

Please keep us updated.

[cdraptor]

The big feet help him walk on my carpet. With the battery in one foot and a metal weight in the other to keep the feet even weight, he maintains his balance pretty well.

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[tempusmaster]

The big feet help him walk on my carpet. With the battery in one foot and a metal weight in the other to keep the feet even weight, he maintains his balance pretty well.

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The big feet may look a litte odd, but they do make him amazingly stable. All the video I took at Speecys was done with the robot plugged in and no battery installed. Any other robot would have had severe balance problems with one foot empty and the counterweight in the other. But the SPC-101C was so stable that you could hardly tell the battery wasn't there.

[sthmck]

I will soon have a R/C type solution where you can have a joystick connected to your PC and send command via WiFi to the SPC-101C.

it would be really cool if you could control it with a wii mote.

[Droid Works]

That is one awesome bot. I may have to come down and visit before September...lol

[Humanoido]

Does the software work similar to Robonova-1?

humanoido