Robot Menu
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| The ER1 Robot From Evolution Robotics |
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It could be that your fantasies of owning a real personal droid could be about to become a reality. There's a robot on the market which is called the ER1 Robot. Now, it has to be stressed that this is not a toy (well, not one for kids anyway!) but robotics fans are going to lap this one up. Well, LAPTOP this one up.
That's because the ER1 robot uses your laptop computer as it's brain. You combine your notebook with the physical motor parts and you've got a powerful personal bot. More on what it does in a moment. Let me just say that this process doesn't mean you'll have to hack the guts out of your computer. Fear not; the laptop just sits on the robot.
The ER1 Robot looks interesting, but it's not going to win any awards for most exciting-looking robotics creation of the year.
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That's because this is a real, functional robot which was designed to have many practical uses. And, as we've touched on in other articles, most robotics that have real-world important uses just aren't that pretty. But what this thing does is stunning.
Atop of it's long neck sits a powerful eye - a video camera. This is the ER1 robot's sight. With this it can take security video - literally patrolling your property. Or it can take detailed photos of it's environment and email them to you. Or it can actually read books out to you. There are some powerful uses for this kind of robotics for the elderly and the blind.
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Robotics fans and students are going to love the graphical interface which is used to program and interact with your ER1 robot. There's drop down menus and enough depth and functionality to be able to use this robotics system to do just about anything. Or when you've finished work, you can just let him play you your favourite tracks - it even learns the kinds of music you like.
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