Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sony sees a robot family in every home

Jan Paschal

Sunday, September 9, 2001 at 20:00 JST

NEW YORK — Instead of a chicken in every pot, Japan’s electronics giant Sony Corp. sees a robot family in every household.

[…]

Now Sony is revving up to sell two new AIBO playmates — ivory-coloured Latte and charcoal-coloured Macaron — for $850 each. The robots look like roly-poly puppies and, like all AIBOs, are equipped with digital cameras. They cost a little more than half the $1,500 price of second-generation AIBO, launched late last year.

[…]

||| AIBO Homepage |||

AIBO “ERS-311 / ERS-312”

Latte & Macaron



-Mode indicator

-Horn light

-Head

-Stereo microphone

-Distance sensor

-Color camera

-Speaker

-Paw switches

-Back light

-Pause button

-Tail switch

Mass Approx. 1.5 kg (3 lb 3 oz) (including the battery pack and the “Memory Stick”)

Dimensions Approx. 177 ‘ 280 ‘ 240 mm ( 6 ‘ 11 1 / 8 ‘ 9 7 / 8 inches) (w/h/d)

CPU 64bitRISC processor
Main Memory 32MB SDRAM
Supplied application media “Memory Stick” for AIBO
Movable PartsHead 3 degrees of freedom(PAN x 1 TILT x 2)
Leg degrees of freedom x 4

15 degrees of freedom in total

Inputs : Charging terminal

Input Switches : VOLUME switch

Visual Input : 100,000 pixel CMOS image sensor

Audio Input : Stereo microphone

Audio Output : Speaker

Internal sensors : Infrared distance sensor

Acceleration sensor

Switches in the head, on the tail(ibi-axis analog), and on the paws( x 4)

Inclination sensor

Vibration sensor

Power consumption : Approx. 5W

Operable duration : Approx. 2.5 hours

Dimensions : Approx. 177 x 280 x 240mm

Mass : Approx. 1.5kg (incl.battery pack and “memory stick”)

Operating temperature : 5C to 35C

Operating humidity : 10% to 80%

Storage temperature : -20C to 60C

Storage humidity : 10% to 90%

||| AIBO Homepage |||

Say hello to the new AIBO LM series! LATTE & MACARON are the latest AIBO Entertainment Robots. They are your new robot companions with the ability to communicate with their four senses touch, sight, hearing and balance. For AIBO, it’s main unit is just body without heart. In that case, AIBO will repeat simple basic movement.(*)

AIBO needs “heart” which is Memory Stick’s AIBO-ware for deciding it’s function and characteristics. There are 2 types of AIBO-ware which are “AIBO Pal” and “AIBO Life”.

[…]

CNET.com – News – Investor – News – Story

Sony unveils new robo-pups to play with AIBO

9/4/01 9:00 PM

Source: Reuters

By Jan Paschal

[…]

In Japan, where Sony Corp. plans a similar “birth announcement” for ivory-colored Latte and charcoal gray-colored Macaron, there will be a marketing twist.

[…]

[same article as below]

Next-generation Lego robots

Updated Invention System makes programming easier

By Brian Bergstein

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LEGO II

[…]

So the chance to make my own robot at home with the new version 2.0 of the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System sounded awfully appealing.

Mindstorms, recommended for ages 12 and up, uses the familiar Lego interlocking plastic blocks that have entertained generations of children (and budding architects).

[…]

Boston Globe Online / Business / Robots to wear

By Scott Kisner, 8/27/2001

`We put people in robots.”

That isn’t the official slogan of Yobotics, a South Boston company spun off from one of MIT’s best-known robotics labs, but it might as well be. It’s a phrase that captures the most promising new direction in robotics. Forget about C-3PO and Rosie the Robot Maid. Some of your best friends will be part-robot, surviving thanks to devices like the Abiomed artificial heart – essentially an implantable robotic pump – or wearing robotic braces like those being developed by Yobotics to assist them in walking and climbing stairs.

[…]