

Low-cost video chat robot - ztan
http://hackaday.com/2011/02/09/low-cost-video-chat-robot/

======
noonespecial
I've posted mine before but in stories that didn't get many views. Putting up
a build log has been on my todo list forever...

Mine is based on the Asterisk open source pbx and a Grandstream video phone
for the real-time 2 way video. It is controlled via DTMF and doesn't require a
computer to operate, just a phone. Full telepresence if your phone is a SIP
phone that does video.

Also cost about $500 to build but probably took me much longer as I built my
own drive system and motor controllers.

Here's a video of my homebuilt telepresence bot in action :
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMZkd8YMgzw>

For what its worth, I don't consider hacks like these "Anybots killers", more
like homage to heroes of mine. I'm a big fan of TB and the Anybots team and
can't wait to see what they come up with next.

~~~
ztan
I admit guilty of using the phrase "Anybot killer" in the title as link bait.
I did it to catch attention. I did not mean any disrespect to Trevor or the
Anybot team. As some one who is also interested in robotics, I'm actually a
great big fan as well. I would love to know what their thoughts are of this
and the seemingly emerging trend that it is getting easier and easier to DIY
robots out of commodity components that can almost rival their commercial
counterpart's functionalities at 1/30th the cost.

------
tsmith
This is the same guy that made the awesome wiimote 3d goggles (TED talk here:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.h...](http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.html)
)

EDIT: Added TED talk link.

~~~
cambriar
Johnny Lee has put together and shared some amazing work. I remember really
enjoying his Procrastineering articles.

~~~
tsmith
He was my hero back when I was in grad school.

I could never figure out how he funded his experimentation. I had to beg for
50' ethernet cables (unsuccessfully, I might add). A set of wiimotes would
have been completely out of the question. Maybe they got better stipends at
CMU and he bought his gear on his own dime.

------
ynniv
Stop using the term "killer." Please. I see that this is ztan's second
submission, so it seems in appropriate to blame him, but for the good of the
community I refuse to upvote sensationalist linkbait titles. The article had a
title, it was "Low-cost video chat robot," and that is appropriately
descriptive.

~~~
tsmith
Whoa... what's with the title edit? That's a far cry from "[refusing] to
upvote". This is borderline admin abuse.

</rant>

People on HN are likely to have heard of the Anybot due to its connection to
YC (one of AB's founders being a YC partner). Referencing it in the title is
perfectly relevant, since many on HN can relate to the term "Anybot" but few
can relate to "video chat robot" (which, incidentally, sounds like some sort
of automated chatroulette client).

</reason>

[edit it's -> its]

~~~
ynniv
_Whoa... what's with the title edit? That's a far cry from "[refusing] to
upvote". This is borderline admin abuse._

Which admin are we abusing? And, why are you accusing me of rewriting an
article title when I'm not an admin? More importantly, it is perfectly
reasonable for an admin to edit a title to be less sensational.

 _(Some <reasonable> other stuff)_

I specifically said that we shouldn't call anything "* Killer". Not sure what
you're going on about.

------
ztan
For some reason my link bait-ish "Introducing Johnny Chung Lee's $500 Anybot
killer" title was changed (censored?) to the current one and I can no longer
edit it.

------
ztan
For those who don't know, Anybot is YC founder Trevor Blackwell's other (main)
company. They are currently shipping a telepresence bot for $15000. (And my
understanding is that the bot does not currently support two way video?)

Also, Yuri Milner used the Anybot for the Startup Fund announcement to all the
founders in the YC office.

<http://anybots.posterous.com/>

------
motters
It's a good demonstration that the balancing complexity of the Anybot is
really unnecessary in a domestic kind of situation with a flat floor. I expect
telerobots to become quite commonplace, and as this video shows quite well
building one is only a weekend project now, whereas in the past it would have
been more complicated and expensive.

------
zhyder
This is much better than the $15k Anybot. I can't figure why they put such a
tiny screen on the Anybot. The face on the screen needs to be visible from a
distance after all. Ideally the screen should be big enough to fit a face at
1:1 scale. Or was the design goal "one-way" telepresence?

~~~
RobotGrrl
QB is a telepresence robot, the goal is to transport your presence to
somewhere else. The best way to do this is by creating an "avatar", which is a
symbol for someone being remotely present. When you get closer to it, you can
see exactly who is being represented by this avatar. If you think of it from
the social robotics and symbolic interactionism (sociology) point of view, it
is one of the most beautiful TPR solutions out there to date. Hope that helps
illuminate your question! :)

------
martinshen
It always amazed me that Avaya, Cisco and other Telepresence companies have
not built one of these.

~~~
motters
Yes. All of the technology hurdles had been overcome five years ago, and I've
been ranting about the imminent arrival of practical consumer telerobots for
quite some time. Today the technology is a no-brainer, as this video shows.
There are also completely untapped telerobot business models which are just
waiting for the hardware.

------
fizx
We have an anybot, and it's worth it for the levity it brings the office. You
should also follow our robot on twitter.

<http://twitter.com/#!/raelbot>

~~~
ztan
Do you think this $500 DIY bot would give a similar level of levity compared
to the $15000 Anybot?

~~~
motters
If the floor is flat then yes, probably. The main advantage of the balancing
mechanism is in moving over bumps. The Anybot is so expensive because it's a
first generation kind of device manufactured in low volumes, and probably uses
high end cameras or PLCs. $500 is a more reasonable cost, and I expect that if
a large company mass produced them then the manufacturing cost would be much
lower (similar to Kinect Vs other laser/TOF sensors).

------
radley
this was posted before, but didn't get much attention:

Robot Orders a Scone in Mountain View, Ca.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz4FshiMu3U>

(yes, anybots...)

------
gojomo
Soon after an iPad2 with camera arrives, I'd expect similar units to be
available as an iOS-dock accessory.

------
mkramlich
Somebody call Anybots. There's a new resume for them to review.

