AI in the News 19/9/2006

WowWee “ Creation of Breakthrough Consumer Robotic and Electronic Products”

BEAM Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics and Mechanics The essential principles of BEAM involve using simple electronics to create mechanical creatures. BEAM relies on the concept of “nervous networks”. Robots rely on simple sensors like touch, light and heat detectors which feed into circuits that have configurable responses. –Unlike traditional robotics where huge amounts of time and energy go into programming complex artificial intelligence,

Robosapien V2 “Biomech tech had an original goal of providing reliable, inexpensive cradles for the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) experiments scientists have been dreaming about since Turing. Took a while but we succeeded in that with the RS2 -- a self-stable, 2 foot tall, hackable multi-motor humanoid with a mostly empty head. Someone either better give it smarts or let it run for office. What my research found still intrigues though, the fact that the brains can be minimal if the body is competent.” - Mark Tilden, creator of Robosapien

From Entertainment to Work “We concentrate on entertainment robots so we could get a handle on reliable techniques before we put them to work. Still, we're approaching territory now that's never been covered. Robots need a strong sense of self, some fundamentals of courtesy, autonomy, self-preservation, and competence before we can trust them to do serious stuff. Each robot we market is an experiment in refining our machines and our customers.” Mark Tilden

Robosapien V2 Robosapien V2 is a highly evolved robotic fusion of technology and personality, combining fluid biomechanical motion with a multi-sensory, interactive humanoid personality. This 24” tall, second generation Robosapien is capable of autonomous “free roam” behavior, and includes the following features:

Robosapien V2 - Multiple levels of environmental interaction, with humans and objects - Sight, sound and touch senses - Humanoid body movements, including bending, sitting and standing, lying down and getting up, dancing, waving, martial arts … - Speech: Responds verbally to environmental stimuli and to controller commands - Color Vision System: Recognizes colors and skin tones - Stereo Sound Detection System: “Hears” and reacts to sounds - IR Vision: Detects and avoids obstacles; tracks moving objects - True bi-pedal walking with multiple gaits

Robosapien V2 - Precision gripping, articulated fingers - Realistic 2-axis turning head with animated LED eyes pre-programmed functions - 2 demonstration modes - 6 programming modes - Remote control, autonomous “free roam” and guard modes - Sleep and auto-shut off function - Age Grading: 8+

RS Media Robot Completely user reconfigurable at several levels and emminently hackable. The RS2 (Robosapien V2) core –keeps the robot from being forced to do itself damage –contains a list of “bodycon” actions for default operations like walking, reaching, dancing, etc., though you can send individual action commands. You can edit the system, the program flow, or add your own apps to the kernel via PC running provided software. So, RS Media is a walking, talking, reconfigurable MP3 player running a Linux kernel.

Hear Mark Tilden Speak Here is your chance to hear Mark Tilden present a 65 minute lecture titled: –“The Relevance of Living Features in Commercial Products” An excellent opportunity to get some real insight into the robots in entertainment business from one of the most successful players in the business.