Intel Will Launch An Open-Source Consumer Robot That's Like 'A Smartphone With Legs'
Screenshot
Intel will have a open-source robot available for consumers by the end of the year, the company announced today during Re/Code's tech conference.
It'll be capable of a variety of things on its own. Intel futurist Brian David Johnson demoed his robot (named Jimmy), where it walked, talked, danced, and tweeted.
The robot is an open-source design, which means the plans will be freely available for people to build their own at home. (You'll want a 3-D printer for this). You'll be able to modify it as you see fit. The non-3D-printable parts - motors, processors, and the like - will be available for purchase as a kit from 21stCenturyRobot.com.
There will eventually be an app marketplace, something akin to Apple's App Store, but for robots. "It's like a smartphone with legs," said Johnson. "Your robot will be completely different from mine; you customize it and program the artificial intelligence, not by having a PhD in robotics, but by downloading apps."
Jimmy can't do much right now aside from the previously mentioned walking and dancing, but the important takeaway here is that this robot will represent a drastically reduced barrier for those wanting to enter robotics. The open source nature of the bot means people will continue to develop for it well after its release, and those developments can continue to be tweaked and modified by a community of hobbyists. Intel may very well be introducing the first humanoid robot you actually see in people's homes.
Below is a quick video introduction to Jimmy, and below that is a presentation from 2013 (it starts around the seven minute mark) that shows Johnson speaking at length about robots in general and Jimmy in particular.
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- Election Commission issues notification for sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls
- 6 Coffee recipes you should try this summer
- "To sit and talk in the box...!" Kohli's message to critics as RCB wrecks GT in IPL Match 45
- 7 Nutritious and flavourful tiffin ideas to pack for school
- India's e-commerce market set to skyrocket as the country's digital economy surges to USD 1 Trillion by 2030