TheCorpora
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Qbo goes legit, now up for pre-order on maker's site
Graduation day is always tough on parents. So, you'll have to forgive the growing pains experienced by TheCorpora, whose six years in development labor of cybernetic love, Qbo, is now ready for mass consumption. To make this ever-evolving, endearing bot on wheels easily accessible, the team's divvied up its commercial wares into two distinct offerings: Basic and Complete. For the soldering prone among you, that former kit comes with a chassis, plastic coverings and an array of the cutesy android's mechanic guts, all at your disposal for assembly. Devs less interested in getting their hands dirty and more concerned with coding can opt-in for the fuller set in either Pro or Lite versions, replete with a fully constructed unit and differing only in the variety of motherboard and CPU configuration used. The outfit's accepting pre-orders on its site now, with the base model running about 500 Euros (about $656) and the higher end packages emptying wallets at 1,700 Euros (about $2,230) and 2,300 Euros (about $3,017) apiece. Those are certainly hefty investments for the at-home hobbyist, but can you really put a price on synthetic love? We didn't think so.
See a Qbo robot built from scratch in a minute-and-a-half (time-lapse video)
Ever wondered just how fast a Qbo robot can be built from scratch? Perhaps not, but TheCorpora is happy to show you anyway. The answer is just under three hours (by a skilled engineer, of course), but the company has managed to whittle that down to a minute-and-a-half thanks to the magic of time-lapse video. Head on past the break to see it for yourself -- and, if you haven't already, catch up with some of the tricks the bot is able to do once it's fully assembled.
How I Met Your Robot Mother: a Qbo 'First' (video)
Is consciousness programmable? Do robots feel? Would Kubrick have approved of Spielberg's handling of AI? While you wrap your mind around those conundrums, set aside a bit of free grey matter to soak in another Qbo milestone. When last we left the little bot, it was just coming to terms with its place in the grand scheme of things and recognizing its reflection. Since, robotic hangers-on and the geeks that love'em have been pelting The Corpora (the brains behind the operation) with questions pertaining to the self-awareness of this artificially intelligent machine. The outfit's reply? A Qbo meet-cute with a "female" member of the automated species that highlights the droid's understanding of individuality. It's a far cry from a Lady and the Tramp-style nose nuzzle, but these bots don't have to touch -- a random series of nasal flashes serve to indicate their distinctiveness and, once that's done, polite flirtation ensues. Don't believe us? You can see the sparks of android love for yourself in the video after the break.
Qbo, the open-source robot, interacts with people, makes adorable mistakes (video)
A while back we got a detailed look at the innards of Qbo, TheCorpora's open-source robot. But we haven't gotten to see the little guy in action -- until now. His handlers recently let him loose to run autonomously, guided by a pair of webcam eyes and voice recognition courtesy of Willow Garage's ROS software. The team soon noticed some unexpected behavior, though. Despite being programmed to follow humans at a specific distance, Qbo trailed uncomfortably near with taller people -- probably the first example of a robotic "close walker." Poring over the log files revealed why: proximity was calculated based on faces. The faces of taller people were farther away from the ground-hugging robot, which adjusted accordingly. Roll your way down the page to see more of our cute mechanized friend, and over to the source link for more musings on programming him.
Qbo, the open source robot, gets detailed, looks cute
It's the future and we're still waiting for our personal jetpacks, but it looks like robot helpers in every home are closer than ever, with thecorpra's Qbo getting us ever closer. Okay, so without arms he's unlikely to be much of a help around the house, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't make a useful addition to your abode. He's peppered with sensors of various types, has stereo high-def webcam eyes, microphone ears, and even an LED mouth. Inside his belly rests a Mini-ITX motherboard festooned with WiFi, Bluetooth, an Intel Atom processor and NVIDIA Ion graphics, all running some flavor of Linux. Yes, that means he could stream YouTube videos in HD... if only he had the appropriate outputs. There's no mention of price or availability at this point but something tells us he won't be free as in beer. Full picture with specs after the break.
