Catadioptric omnidirectional vision is a really cool technique. I've always wondered why it isn't seen in the wild more often. I first saw this technique being used in Robocup Midsize League [1]. There's lots of good papers on doing localization and object detection with a distributed system of robots with omnidirectional cameras from that league.
Dyson 360 Eye
91–100 of 170 posts
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#92"17,000 rpm with digital pulse technology" ... I guess that means a PWM DC motor controller?
Correction, it's a 73,000 rpm motor!
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#93Lots of negativity in the comments. A couple questions: 1. For the robotics people, is the "360° eye" camera an innovation, or is this already a standard component of robotic vision? 2. What's the next step for robotics in the house after vacuums?
Any task that humans really hate to do, but like or need to have done. In one giant category: cleaning. That includes dusting, cleaning walls and ceilings, cleaning showers and tubs and toilets, cleaning windows. Cooking food. Starting initially from simple things, evolving to more elaborate combinations. Chef3000 can now cook over 500 things! Self-cleaning! Mowing the grass. Some companies are already deep into tryi…
Cleaning bathrooms is horrible. I don't know why we haven't built bathrooms that can be sealed, towels/art put in a cupboard, and then a button pushed to pressure spray the interior and blow dry it. Waterproofed components, lighting and cabinetry wouldn't be impossible.
We pay a cleaner mostly because the bathroom is little joy to clean.
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#94It looks tall . So tall that it might not fit under my couch or under the first-level of some tables. Anyone know the dimensions of this?
Haven't got a ruler to hand but it's about 4-5 inches. It's not very wide compared to others, hence why it looks tall.
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#95What is a "digital motor"?
Dyson make a number of dubious claims.
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/13087/what-is...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reluctance_motor
The UK regulator of advertising lists a few upheld complaints, and some informally resolved complaints against Dyson.
http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications.aspx?SearchTerms...
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#96Others have commented similarly, but I just have to say that we've tried various Dysons over the years, and they always start off brilliantly. E.g., we vacuumed a nominally clean bedroom with a new Dyson upright and it was like steam-cleaning, or better, since it was dry--we pulled out a whole container's worth of dirt. But then after 6 mo to a year, they start to fall apart, with (their many internal) joints not sea…
I've got a ten year old Dyson Animal. I've had some parts break, the hinge on the bottom of the canister, a hub cap, and most annoyingly, the handle. I've epoxyed the heck out of the handle a couple times, so it's ugly but still functional. And it hasn't failed to suck up a mind-boggling amount of dirt each time we vacuum.
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#97I worked on this product back in 2002-2005. I developed the initial wheel system for this and early prototypes of their digital (switched reluctance) motor once we realised we'd need a very high power density compressor motor. Sadly the battery technology has taken a long time to get to the point where it can now give a useable run time, even when the vacuum only consumes 100W (typical cabled vacuums use 1.7-2kw). Also the prices of other components, high power embedded CPUs, cameras and sensors have reduced dramatically since then. It uses an intelligent algorithm to maximise the potential of the runtime, meaning that it tries to elminiate running over the same patch of floor more than once. This is what it uses the 360 camera for and SLAM image processing and maths that I still don't fully understand :) The chap with grey hair switching it off at the end of the teaser video[1] is the brains behind all the navigation and image processing software, Mike Aldred, very clever guy.
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#98> Available for free on IOS and Android platforms, the Dyson Link app allows you to control and schedule how and when your Dyson 360 Eye™ robot vacuum cleans. It enables you to view maps of cleaning progress, even when you're not at home. It activates your 2 year guarantee, automatically downloads software updates and, should you ever need them, provides access to troubleshooting guides.
So… A device that’s remotely controllable (and updateable) from Dyson’s central server. With a built-in 360° camera.
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#99So, the HN comments are pretty much negative. People seem to be overlooking the most important thing. A hugely successful product in this category will be the spark that launches the home robotics revolution. More players, more money invested, etc. I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now.
I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now. Eh, they are? It's not like this is the first of its kind. As far as I can see its claim to fame is a more powerful suction device, the other features already exist in other products.
No, they're not. Smartphones existed before the iPhone. And cars existed before Henry Ford too. There's the first to market companies then there's the company that creates the product that pushes it into the mainstream.
Re: Dyson 360 Eye
#100Fantastically annoying page design. Scrolling takes many seconds to just show the next page, with no indication that anything is happening. Just blank blackness. Then each page requires you to hunt and click little circles with pluses in them, just to show a paragraph or two of copy. Would it have killed them to just present all the text at once? Perhaps use tabs or some other "normal" solution to the problem of want…
Clearly it was designed and tested in IE as that is the only browser that it actually works in. It almost kills Firefox for me.
Works perfectly in Chrome for me. I did not experience anything of what the OP stated.