It's a good demonstration that the balancing complexity of the Anybot is really unnecessary in a domestic kind of situation with a flat floor. I expect telerobots to become quite commonplace, and as this video shows quite well building one is only a weekend project now, whereas in the past it would have been more complicated and expensive.
Low-cost video chat robot
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Re: Low-cost video chat robot
#22We have an anybot, and it's worth it for the levity it brings the office. You should also follow our robot on twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/raelbot
Do you think this $500 DIY bot would give a similar level of levity compared to the $15000 Anybot?
If the floor is flat then yes, probably. The main advantage of the balancing mechanism is in moving over bumps. The Anybot is so expensive because it's a first generation kind of device manufactured in low volumes, and probably uses high end cameras or PLCs. $500 is a more reasonable cost, and I expect that if a large company mass produced them then the manufacturing cost would be much lower (similar to Kinect Vs other laser/TOF sensors).
Re: Low-cost video chat robot
#23It always amazed me that Avaya, Cisco and other Telepresence companies have not built one of these.
Yes. All of the technology hurdles had been overcome five years ago, and I've been ranting about the imminent arrival of practical consumer telerobots for quite some time. Today the technology is a no-brainer, as this video shows. There are also completely untapped telerobot business models which are just waiting for the hardware.
Re: Low-cost video chat robot
#24Stop using the term "killer." Please. I see that this is ztan's second submission, so it seems in appropriate to blame him, but for the good of the community I refuse to upvote sensationalist linkbait titles. The article had a title, it was "Low-cost video chat robot," and that is appropriately descriptive.
I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But do you not think forcefully changing the entire title without any warning and removing my editing privilege is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive? You could have simply asked me to edit it, and I would have changed the title in a fashion that did not use the word "killer" and still reflected the relevant Anybot connection. Currently if you do a s…
... do you not think [it] ... is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive?
No, I don't. The value of Hacker News is in the self-moderation that we all make to keep the signal high and the noise low. But, you've jumped the shark in this case because I am not an admin and didn't edit your title. So evidently there are at least TWO people who found your title to be in need of rewording.
Anybots isn't going to be killed by a netbook strapped to a Roomba. Trevor et al are doing fundamental engineering for creating large, capable, humanoid robots. The Roomba won't even work on shag carpeting, let alone cary a payload over terrain. The real Anybots killer, as with statistically all startups, is the current lack of demand for humanoid robots. Without a demand for its product, a product company can't last forever.
But I still wouldn't call that an Anybots "killer".
Re: Low-cost video chat robot
#25Stop using the term "killer." Please. I see that this is ztan's second submission, so it seems in appropriate to blame him, but for the good of the community I refuse to upvote sensationalist linkbait titles. The article had a title, it was "Low-cost video chat robot," and that is appropriately descriptive.
Whoa... what's with the title edit? That's a far cry from "[refusing] to upvote". This is borderline admin abuse. People on HN are likely to have heard of the Anybot due to its connection to YC (one of AB's founders being a YC partner). Referencing it in the title is perfectly relevant, since many on HN can relate to the term "Anybot" but few can relate to "video chat robot" (which, incidentally, sounds like some sor…
Whoa... what's with the title edit? That's a far cry from "[refusing] to upvote". This is borderline admin abuse.
Which admin are we abusing? And, why are you accusing me of rewriting an article title when I'm not an admin? More importantly, it is perfectly reasonable for an admin to edit a title to be less sensational.
(Some other stuff)
I specifically said that we shouldn't call anything "* Killer". Not sure what you're going on about.
Re: Low-cost video chat robot
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But do you not think forcefully changing the entire title without any warning and removing my editing privilege is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive? You could have simply asked me to edit it, and I would have changed the title in a fashion that did not use the word "killer" and still reflected the relevant Anybot connection. Currently if you do a s…
... do you not think [it] ... is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive? No, I don't. The value of Hacker News is in the self-moderation that we all make to keep the signal high and the noise low. But, you've jumped the shark in this case because I am not an admin and didn't edit your title. So evidently there are at least TWO people who found your title to be in need of rewording. Anybots…
I think you are missing the point of my question. I do not have a problem with the removal of the word "killer" from the title. It was more or less a tongue in cheek tactic to attract attention. I (and I would think most HN readers) do not actually believe that this DIY bot would "kill" Anybot. The problem I was trying to pointing out is that someone went around the normal democratic system (up/down votes) HN provides to moderate signal to noise. I can understand in extremely offensive cases there would be a need for admin to step beyond the normal democratic system and lock/remove/edit a thread. But do you honestly and without the slightest reservations believe that this is such extreme case? If so what is the problem that you see with my suggested alternative, where I am first asked to edit the title myself before it is forcefully changed without any warning or explanation? Additionally, do you think removing my editing privilege to prevent further changes is really necessary? Finally, what is your opinion on the idea of free speech, where anyone can say anything about anything without the fear of someone coming to forcefully change/censor their words?