Robots and Physical Computing

For a few weeks I have had this kit - Smartibot - waiting to play with - finally got around to it. A cardboard-based, app-controlled, AI-enabled robot kit - now that is too tempting! The kit comes with the parts for one of three models,  including a unicorn robot. A battery pack (takes 4xAA batteries not included), two motors, a bunch of nuts and bolts, 2 screwdrivers, 3 plastic balls, 2 wheel hubs, bunch of elastic bands and a very cute control board. The rest is cardboard including the wheels. The control board seems under-utilised for this task, even on a quick scan; on their kickstarter site , they show it controlling 4 DC motors and 10 servos.  I was initially concerned it wouldn't have the rigidity needed; it does (even after being accidentally dropped down a flight of stairs)  The app is free to download for both Apple (see below) and Android. The AI bit initially (certainly on IoS) comes from a cool routine that uses a phone's camera to mov...

With the sad news that Anki is shutting down ( https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29/18522966/anki-robot-cozmo-staff-layoffs-robotics-toys-boris-sofman ) I thought it was time I start playing with the SDK for the Vector robot. In this short post, I providing a quick overview of getting going with this with a simple program based on the tutorials Anki provide. Installation I am using a Mac (more details are available here  https://developer.anki.com/vector/docs/install-macos.html ) but there are instructions for Windows and Linux. - You need the Vector to have been set-up previous on a tablet, and an account set-up on the Anki Cloud. - Install Homebrew - available here  https://brew.sh/ - Using Homebrew to install Python3  brew install python3 -Now install the SDK  python3 - m pip install -- user anki_vector - Lst but not least configure the set-up  python3 - m anki_vector . configure - that is it. The configuration tool tells you where the serial...

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