Frequently Asked Questions
Here you'll find answers to the most often asked questions. If your question isn't addressed on this page, please email william@robedo.com.
Where are more videos and information on the Morph robot?
We are busy developing a production version of Morph. There are also detailed patent filings in progress. Once these things progress forward, new video will show Morph's numerous refinements. We are also anxious to show a sampling of Morph's skills.
What can portable computer based robots do?
Well, what do you want your robot to do? Many robot skills can be developed using a basic robot configuration. Other skills require hardware enhancements. Integration of the whole can create a robot that is broad in skill and downright amazing.
Think of it this way: Once you have a robot that can assist with 30 daily tasks, annually that same robot delivers over 10,000 bits of help!
Here's a short list of cool & useful robot skills:
* Be a flexible alarm with different schedules for early days & weekends
* Start the coffee maker earlier than the alarm & then deliver coffee
* Fetch food, drinks, items from fridge/freezer/shelves & transport 'em around the house
Why portable computers?
Let yourself get used to having easy machine access during configuration, training and enhancements, and fixing problems from one room away can be seen for what it is: awkward. Compared, even voice commands are clumsy.
Advantages of using portable computers on mobile robots:
* Computing power, memory and disk storage
* Full keyboard, screen & touchpad interfaces
* Lightweight
* Minimal cabling
* Sound output
* USB interfacing
* Wireless networking (for remote control, connecting to Twitter, Facebook, etc)
* Optimized battery life
* Configurable power operations
Why does the robot plug into the wall and unplug itself?
It's about costs and runtime. Using a low cost UPS plus low power consumption portable computer, robot runtime can be 6 hours or more. Add an external computer battery plus implement effective power management and robot runtime can be extended significantly. More information coming soon.
What's with the Uninterruptible Power Supply?
* It provides both battery and charger
* It makes your machine AC ready for powering add-on devices
* Provides reliable power to both robot and computer
* Regulated power enables consistent robot motion, device reliability
* Easy to upgrade
What are the components on the Morph prototype?
What software is supported?
Our robot controllers and sensors are supported using fantastic (and free) software drivers for Mac, Linux and Windows. Download information is available here.
Our machines can be controlled using RoboRealm software. See below for a summary of RoboRealm's great features.
You may also choose from the wide range of free, open source robotics software packages available over the 'net. Here are some of the most popular:
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio
Player/Stage
ROS
Urbi
Use RoboRealm software to control and enhance our robots.
RoboRealm is an affordable application for use in computer vision, image analysis, and robotic vision systems. Using a point and click interface, RoboRealm simplifies vision programming. With a USB webcam and PC, you can quickly add machine vision to your robot!
Use RoboRealm to track colored objects, navigate with obstacle avoidance, identify fiducials that lets your robot know where it is, and much more!
* Runs on Windows computers
* Inexpensive Vision Application
* Links Vision to Motion
* Interactive GUI Interface
* Socket based Server API
* Multiple Interfaces (Disk, Web, FTP, Email, etc)
* Plug-in Framework for Custom Modules
* Active Online Community
Get started using RoboRealm with a free 30-day trial.
