Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
DIY Telepresence By Teleoperated Robot
Programmer Ivan Bowman telecommutes to work by running his robotic alter-ego IvanAnwhere around the office. This is a catch-up story for me; I'd seen this idea about a quarter-century ago in a Niven and Pournelle novel.
(Ivan Bowman and telerobot IvanAnywhere)
IvanAnywhere is a teleoperated robot that sits in the office at iAnywhere Solutions in Waterloo. Bowman sits in his home 1,350 kilometers away. Bowman had tried using the usual microphone on the table method, but hated it.
"The most irritating thing was the microphone I had," he says."I could hear people in the kitchen talking about something, and occasionally I would have something I wanted to add to that, and not being there in person, I couldn't do anything. I had to wait for them to come over to the desk."
Programmer Ian McHardy, who plays with RC vehicles as a hobby, mounted a webcam, screen and speakers on a radio-controlled truck. This was the first IvanAnywhere prototype.
McHardy found a mobile base with wheels and 24-volt motors sold by SuperDroid Robots Inc.On top, he placed a cardboard box containing enough batteries to power the robot for the workday and the wires and gadgetry needed to convert digital instructions to analog controls.
Infrared proximity sensors are meant to prevent the machine from hitting the walls, although he still crashes into a door frame now and then. A simple aluminum bar almost two metres high sticks up from the base, with the webcam, screen and speakers wrapped on below.
McHardy's only concession to esthetics is a grey foam ball stuck on the robot's top. The charitable way to describe IvanAnywhere is to say he is far more impressive technically than visually. With his exposed wires, masking tape and plastic ties, IvanAnywhere makes the robot from Lost in Space look like Optimus Prime.
This is a good example of what Niven and Pournelle were talking about in their 1981 novel Oath of Fealty. A chief engineer uses robot probes to be several places at once in a huge arcology.
at led to his development of robot probes; small devices with cameras and sound equipment which could move freely through Todos Santos under Rand's direct control. If he sent out two or three of the small tele-operated devices (he called them Arr-twos after the small droid in Star Wars), Rand could effectively be in several places at once...
(Read more about robot probes)
If you want to buy a robot like this one (that's a little bit more professional-looking), get yourself a HeadThere Giraffe Telepresence Robot. Kids will enjoy the PEBBLES Robot, specifically designed for young students unable to attend classes. The ROKVISS Telepresence Robot brings this idea to space, where it's long overdue.
Via The Record.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/6/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...' - Philip K. Dick, 1955.
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.' - AG Stangland, 1929.
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...' - AE van Vogt, 1944.
Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.' - William Morrison, 1941.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'
Solar-Powered Space Trains On The Moon
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These
There are alternative names that are probably in the public domain by now.
How Old Are Tesla Designs?
You be the judge.
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'
Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'
Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Please, no stingers.
