Another invasion of robotic-Kinect concepts enter the community scene as the recently concluded Consumer Electronic Show 2011 showcased a lot of these promising and interesting experiments. One mechanized construct of note is the iRobot’s AVA App-Ready robot complete with 2 mounted Kinect Depth Cameras. The iRobot AVA is a mobility robot which seeks to expand the concept of having an automated roaming assistant. As seen in this video, the iRobot AVA is at work. Using its 2 Kinect cameras, it is able to avoid obstacles whilst adjusting the mounted iPad on its top to cater to the user’s position. The mounted tablet computer serves as the processing hub of the iRobot and the user’s control panel. The Application that comes with the iRobot gives the users a workable map in which the iRobot AVA knows and stores. Users can then, with a press of a button, instruct the iRobot where to go. This is but one of the many expected functions that the iRobot AVA will do. Another feature we’re looking at is a mobile telepresence module. If the tablet is installed with a call software, let us say Skype, then the user can move around the house while the iRobot AVA follows, and so does the caller. This is interesting indeed as we’re getting closer and closer to having an automated robot assistant, thanks of course to the Kinect and the minds behind innovating programs for it.
For more information about the iRobot AVA, visit the article written by PC Magazine’s Lance Ulanoff.
