Reconfigurable Modular Robotics Kit based on AX-12

[siempre.aprendiendo]

An interesting project that I have found searching "info" about robotics:


Open Source Reconfigurable Modular Robotics Kit , the paper

The web:
"This website will provide you with all necessary design files and instructions on building and using a low cost, open source, ruggedized and expandable modular robotic system. With this Wiki, we would like to invite all interested enthusiasts, researchers, and hobbyists to build a set of robotic modules and create new applications for this modular reconfigurable system."

Our hero disguised:

[ndesmond]

See http://www.selfreconfigurable.com for more information on this type of concept.

[siempre.aprendiendo]

Thank you very much, ndesmond.

That web is very interesting!

[limor]

Very cool!
Maybe Robotis can invest in this trendy development.

[ndesmond]

How does one go about persuading them or any other robot manufacturing company to invest in or produce this kind of technology? It doesn't make any difference to me how this is accomplished, but I'd like to see them for sale on the store shelves for anyone to have and use.

[limor]

How does one go about persuading them or any other robot manufacturing company to invest in or produce this kind of technology? It doesn't make any difference to me how this is accomplished, but I'd like to see them for sale on the store shelves for anyone to have and use.

It is quite a difficult cycle to get from design to shelf in hobby robotics.
It is almost impossible to get investor money for such a project because there is no way to persuade anyone of a solid return on investment based on historical success stories.
You can see my regular rants about this on the News forum threads.
In Korea there are non-recourse government funds that allow these things to happen.

[ndesmond]

Well, in a way I think I understand why this is the situation. I realize robots can be fun, interesting, and even amazing in anthropomorphic form, whether as a character in a cartoon or movie, or from the challenge of programming them to accomplish something. It can even be of cultural significance in some places, such as Japan. For the past century, Hollywood seems to have created the futile impression that the future consists of metal servants and flying cars. The only thing, though, that has made it into the home so far is the Roomba; it is a "metal" servant, but it doesn't look like people; in a way it resembles a car, but it doesn't fly (or, ahem, "fly"</cheesy_attempt_at_humor>). The point is that perhaps the difficulty in finding investing resources is an adverse effect from this situation. I don't think that the impedance due to the expense to customers (especially under our current financial circumstances), and the need for them to have some programming skills contributes to being very helpful at all, either.

Would it maybe-perhaps-possibly somehow make any kind of difference if instead of being for hobby and amusement-leaning purposes, it was for practical utility purposes of potentially tremendous benefit to business & industry, as well as the home?

[limor]

Would it maybe-perhaps-possibly somehow make any kind of difference if instead of being for hobby and amusement-leaning purposes, it was for practical utility purposes of potentially tremendous benefit to business & industry, as well as the home?

Oh. now you hit another sore spot. In order to make it into an autonomous utilitarian device, it must not be able to harm the environment or make mistakes or else law suite. the end. In industrial environments it is possible to proliferate with robots because the supplier and the factory can impose a very controlled working environment for the device.

[ndesmond]

What's the difference from the existing trend in technology, mistakes, and lawsuits? We have autonomous passenger aircraft. We wreak havoc on the environment by paving roads all over the place, and they're just for road vehicles. These machines wouldn't need paved roads to be able to get around, in fact they could go places that no man or vehicle can get to. They could also conceivably do far more to clean up the environment than any other existing form of technology in general. They also don't have to be autonomous at any degree to be very useful, either. All that would be needed is to make them so they're automated (using automation and system management algorithms), which would help minimize or eliminate the need for micromanagement of the system by human operators. At least in the long run, by being able to simplify many things it could probably also reduce the frequency and impact of mistakes.

I guess the only thing that seems to be left is to wonder whether or not it would still be robotics if it's not autonomous or anthropomorphic. You (society) decide - whatever makes people happy. With whatever amount of autonomy we have in our present day world, whether it's aircraft that hold the lives of its passengers in its "hands" or in our computers and Internet, they sure do seem to be getting by fairly well.