Eye Personal Robot

From Probotics, Inc. comes a new smart and affordable personal robot. Called Cye, the compact personal robot can do a wide variety of tasks such as carry dishes, deliver mail, lead guests to a conference room and vacuum the carpet. Using wireless communications technology, Cye is controlled by Map-N-Zap, a highly intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) loaded on any PC with a 133 MHz Chip or higher.

"Cye is a practical and inexpensive robot that's easy and fun to work with," said Henry Thorne, CEO of Probotics and robot guru. "Anyone who enjoys remote control devices will be thrilled with Cye's unbelievably nimble and intelligent navigation. PC lovers will find Cye an incredibly exciting peripheral that they can operate using basic point-and-click skills."

He added, "The Cye personal robot is ideal for robot hobbyists, who will think up all kinds of uses for Cye and exploit its design that allows them to easily add hardware and create new features of their own. Because of Cye's open software architecture, developers and programmers will be able to write their own cyeware."

With its PC based interface, users can Drag-N-Drive Cye on the screen and map out its environment. Cye can easily move around a home or office and learn how to navigate a new room in minutes. At a speed of three feet per second, Cye quickly moves around any room, pulling the optional wagon or vacuum attachment. Unlike other robots, Cye can follow scheduling instructions. By point-and-clicking on menu options written in plain English, users can schedule when and where they'd like Cye to go, and then Cye will automatically move there. For example, users can schedule Cye to go to the dining room at 7:00 p.m. and carry the dishes to the kitchen; vacuum the office at 10:35 a.m.; and distribute mail at 11:00 a.m.

Affordably priced at $695, Probotics is today shipping Cye in limited quantities. Cye accessories include: a wagon attachment ($89) and a vacuum attachment ($89) that allows users to attach any upright vacuum cleaner onto Cye. Cye is available in yellow, orange and black by visiting theProbotics web site.

Cye can be set up and working in just 15 minutes. To get started, users just plug the home base in, drop the robot on it, plug the radio pod in, connect it to their PC, and load the Map-N-Zap software from the CD. Cye can then be driven around by dragging its icon on the PC monitor. A compact personal robot, it measures 16" x 10" x 5" and weighs nine pounds. Cye communicates to and from the PC 10 times per second via a FCC approved 900 MHz radio link. The Cye Robot Package includes a fully assembled and tested Cye robot, base station, cables, AC adapter, Map-N-Zap software, operations manual, email tech support and one year manufacturer's warranty.

Cye comes with several tutorials including:

Also available is a sound-responsive Cye model, the Cye-sr. Cye-sr is programmed to respond to claps. After one clap, Cye-sr beeps to let you know you've got its attention. To send Cye-sr to a destination, clap to indicate where you'd like it to go. For example, use two claps to send it to the kitchen, three claps to send it to the den and one clap to come back to its home base (charger). Cye-sr can also be navigated using the mouse on the PC, which is linked to the robot via wireless communications.

The Probotics Website http://www.personalrobots.

iRobot-LE

From iRobot Corporation comes the first multi-purpose domestic robot that can be controlled through a web browser from anywhere in the world. This revolutionary product, called the iRobot-LE, gives its owners on-demand remote eyes and ears into their homes. With this roving telepresence capability, owners can drive around their home making sure it is secure, say goodnight to kids when away on business, check up on pets, and visit with elderly or house-bound relatives and friends.

"The iRobot-LE lets busy professionals be in two places at the same time," says Helen Greiner, President and co-founder of iRobot. "You control your iRobot-LE over the Internet and see video and hear audio from the iRobot-LE on your computer. You can wander your home in Boston while sitting behind your laptop in San Francisco. You can visit your kids and check up on their nanny - seeing what's going on in your house in realtime provides peace of mind."

The iRobot-LE goes anywhere a person can comfortably walk. Using Surefoot Stair climbing Technology, the iRobot-LE can go up and down stairs unassisted. The robot avoids objects using advanced sensor and signal processing technology - if you tell it to run into a wall, it's smart enough not to. As the iRobot-LE explores its home, its sophisticated artificial intelligence allows it to learn the layout and build a floor plan that it uses to navigate. A person controlling the iRobot-LE through a web browser can participate in conversations over the Internet. The robot's camera can be turned to address people and to look at people as they talk. If there's something more interesting happening in another direction, the iRobot-LE can be instructed to drive over there.

The iRobot-LE is powered by iRobot Aware Robot Control Software running on a Pentium II class processor with an Apache-SSL web server and Linux Operating System. Priced about the same as a high-end notebook computer, the iRobot-LE is a fully functional mobile computer.

"The iRobot-LE takes the Internet beyond the Web to the next level - no longer is the Internet just for the exchange of information. Now it lets you really travel around the world, and drop in on friends, business acquaintances, check in at home, or visit an exotic locale, from any Web browser anywhere in the world," says Prof. Rodney Brooks, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT, Chairman, and co-founder of iRobot. "This remote presence technology goes beyond chat rooms, e-mail, and way beyond teleconferencing to bring people together. iRobot technology will change the way we perceive time and distance making the world a truly global village."

iRobot website http://www.irobot.com

Robomow RL500

Think about it: The average British gardener spends sixty hours per year cutting the grass. Operating a petrol-powered lawnmower for one hour creates the same amount of smog forming emissions as 40 new cars running for the same period of time!

Now, from Friendly Robotics comes the solution; the Robomow RL500.

Robomow RL500 is a fully automatic robotic lawnmower. It is powered by rechargeable batteries, it is quiet, there are no smelly fumes and it will cut an area the size of a tennis court - approximately 250 square meters - before it needs a recharge.

Place Robomow RL500 anywhere on the lawn and press the GO button. It can work out for itself where it is and it will quietly get on with the job of cutting the entire lawn without any further assistance from its owner. Robomow RL500 will operate for about two hours on one charge, leaving a perfectly mown lawn with no clippings to dispose of. Robomow RL500 is a mulching mower. It cuts the grass into tiny pieces and drives them back into the lawn where natural chemical breakdown will recycle the nutrients and moisture in the grass and actually feed the lawn. RobomowRL500 will turn itself off when it finishes work, and can be driven back to its shed for recharging, using a special integral manual controller. This easy-to-use controller allows you to mow manually where preferred. Robomow RL500 takes 24 hours to recharge, so it can be used every day if necessary. Due to its unique guidance and perimeter recognition system, RoboScan it can work unattended - even at night if required.

Installation is a simple one-off operation. Robomow RL500 comes in a box with everything you need to self-install, including an explanatory video and an operator's manual. You simply peg a thin wire onto the edge of your lawn and connect it to a small cup sized switch. When turned on the switch sends a small electrical signal around the garden and defines the area within which the Robomow operates.

ROBOMOW RL500 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

The Friendly Robotics Website http://www.friendlyrobotics.com

Dyson DC06

Possibly the most intelligent domestic appliance ever made is now being assembled at the Dyson research and development centre and is on home trial. To date, over 1100 people who are interested in buying DC06 have contacted Dyson. The Dual Cyclone robotic vacuum cleaner same high level of pick-up efficiency demanded of all Dyson Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaners. All you need to do is press 'on', choose a speed, press 'go' and your room will be vacuumed.

DC06 has over 50 sensory devices which constantly feed data into the 'brain' of the machine, the 3 onboard computers. Using this data it makes 16 decisions per second and will constantly adjust to navigate its way around a room.

DC06 does not need to be programmed. It 'thinks' for itself and therefore can clean a room on its own. It's intelligence stops it falling down stairs and will pause the machine if a dog or child gets too close. DC06 can even tell you how it's feeling. Its mood light is blue for happy, green when it is moving around an obstacle and red when it feels in danger.

Dc06 has been developed over the last 2 and a half years to solve the two major problems of automatic vacuum cleaning: how to make a small cleaner pick up dust as well as a big one and how to make a machine intelligent enough to cover a room thoroughly.

Technological advancements such as DC06 could mean that in the future no human has to do their own housework.

A new technology electric motor has been specially designed. It has no carbon brushes, which removes the need for a second filter and should last 4 times as long as a conventional motor.

"An automatic vacuum cleaner must clean as well as the best mains powered vacuum cleaner and with the sort of methodical coverage a human being couldn't possibly achieve." James Dyson.

DC06 comes in silver and yellow, costs around £2,500 and weighs only 9.2 kg. It also comes with an attachable hose for stairs and upholstery which means it is the only vacuum cleaner you will need. Like all Dyson vacuum cleaners DC06 has no bag and therefore no clogging. High performing Dyson Dual Cyclone™ technology also alleviates other problems associated with bags: tearing, bursting and puffing dust.

Dyson website http://www.dyson.com

(source - www.21stcentury.co.uk)