From Topo in the 1980s to, more recently, Pepper, Jibo, and Kuri, personal home robots have struggled to strike a balance between cuteness, usefulness, and cost. Of course, the idea of a personal robot is something companies have long been trying to bring to market, but success has proved elusive. The company is apparently targeting a group of tech-minded grown-ups who have always dreamed of having R2-D2 in their living rooms ( ahem, we know some of them). Two years ago, the company unveiled Cozmo, which became a best-selling toy on Amazon. First came the robotic racing cars Drive and Overdrive. And while its speech capabilities rely on the cloud, other functions, like detecting if there are people nearby, use a convolutional neural network running on its onboard processor. ![]() Vector is powered by a 1.2-GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon and has a wide-angle HD camera, a single-point laser for mapping and navigation, a four-mic array, and capacitive touch sensors. ![]() Kickstarter backers will also get early access to the software development kit (SDK), which will be available to all users only later this year. Vector is available starting today on Kickstarter at a discounted price of US $200 (it will hit stores on 12 October with a $250 price tag). At one point during my interview with Anki’s chief strategy officer, Patrick De Neale, Vector interrupted us to demand a fist bump. De Neale promptly complied. The robot can certainly get your attention. What Vector is good at, Anki says, is engaging with people. Its little arms can lift only a special plastic block. But don’t expect much: The robot has a tiny voice and can barely push a coffee mug around. Vector resembles Anki’s previous robot, Cozmo, but is packed with more technology-and character.Īnki says Vector is designed as a robot companion and helper for people at home. San Francisco-based robotics company Anki is launching a new robot called Vector today. It drives on little tank treads, has an expressive LCD face, and is constantly moving around, making beeps and bloops.
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