Feb. 16, 2015 | Kira
Who didn’t dream of having a robot maid, just like Rosie from The Jetsons? You’d never have to do the dishes, fold clothes or take out the trash ever again—and she did it all without a complaint. The ORIGIBOT, a soon-to-be-launched fully robotic platform that can perform everyday tasks such as watering plants or filling and delivering a glass of water, is bringing us one step closer to that reality.
The ORIGIBOT is a sleek and minimalist robot with a stable base attached to motorized wheels, an arm extension, a smartphone or tablet holder, and an articulated gripper. It features include two-way audio and video, as well as full control of the robotic platform, arm, and gripper. The minimalist body is made mostly of sleek aluminum and stainless steel extrusions for functionality and strength, as well as ABS plastic parts that were carefully designed for 3D printing, easy updates and modifications. In fact, all .stl design files will be made available for download at no extra charge, so that you can modify and print replacements at home.
In terms of software, the ORIGIBOT was designed with the Arduino platform and pairs with your Android tablet or phone. By running the free app, you can connect remotely to the secure cloud service from almost any device (Android, iOS, Windows or Mac) running either Firefox or Chrome, and since it uses WebRTC technology, no additional firewall settings, plugins or java applets are required.
The robot is controlled by an intuitive joystick, much like an arcade game. By manipulating the joystick, you can move the base forward, backward, turn left, right or stop. Sliders control the neck, arm, wrist and gripper giving you full control of each element. The gripper opens to 7.8 cm with a recess to accommodate cans, bottles and cups.
So what can the ORIGIBOT do? The video below shows the helpful bot doing everything from watering plants, getting water from the fridge, filling your pets bowl, locking/unlocking deadbolts and opening door handles, retrieving the elusive TV remote, and even bringing ‘Grandma’ her meds. In short, just about any daily, mundane task that you usually dread doing can be left to the helpful and efficient ORIGIBOT.
In addition to the 3D .stl files being available online, the Arduino sketch will also be ‘fully hackable’, meaning it is open to you can add custom commands and tweak parameters yourself to truly make the ORIGIBOT work for your unique needs. The open-source Android platform also opens the door to unlimited applications and future enhancements from users. “The ORIGIBOT forum will become a community where fellow enthusiasts can share and collaborate on ideas and enhancements,” said the creators.
The ORIGIBOT appears to be an intuitive and well-designed Telepresence system that leverages existing devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to create a practical and affordable machine that can be fine-tuned and customized to accommodate your daily needs. All that’s missing to complete the Jetsons’ fantasy is a frilly French Maid apron and eyelashes--if that's your style.
ORIGIBOT will be launching an Indiegogo campaign on February 17th. The Basic package will retail for $499, including access to the .stl files, Arduino sketch and Android app, however the Indiegogo early bird price is set at $329. For the ORIGIBOT Plus, which comes with the arm extrusion and gripper, you can snatch the early bird price of $599, or wait for the retail version to come out at $899.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Finally I see telepresence robot with useful gripper
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