MESSAGE
| DATE | 2014-08-14 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] NYLXS Meeting
|
http://linuxgizmos.com/linux-driven-service-robot-wants-to-deliver-your-towels/
A startup called Savioke has unveiled a Linux- and ROS-based SaviOne
hospitality robot, currently being tested at a California hotel for room
service duty.
Savioke?s ?SaviOne? stands three feet tall, weighs less than 100 pounds,
and can roll along at a typical human walking pace of 4 mph. The
touchscreen-equipped robot lacks arms or legs, but can operate a smart
elevator on its own via a wireless signal.
The so-called ?Botlr? can also carry up to two cubic feet of material,
which is perfect for its job description: delivering towels, phone
chargers, snacks, and other items to hotel guests. The SaviOne has just
started a pilot program under the name ?A.L.O.? with the Aloft Hotel in
Cupertino, Calif., a member of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts family.
*SaviOne, aka A.L.O., aka the Botlr*
(click images to enlarge)
As A.L.O. approaches a room with its order, it phones the guest ? no
doorknocker add-on here ? and its camera detects when the door opens.
The robot then opens the lid to its cargo bin. Onscreen prompts show the
guest how to retrieve the goods and close the lid.
That appears to be about all the tricks the SaviOne has up its sleeve
right now, and no more technical details were forthcoming. However,
Savioke CEO and former Willow Garage CEO Steve Cousins confirmed our
suspicions that the SaviOne has a tuxified soul, as befits a good Botlr.
?SaviOne has a Linux PC inside running ROS,? wrote Cousins in an email
to LinuxGizmos, referring to the widely-used, open source Robot
Operating System he helped invent at Willow
Garage. ?We also use a number of embedded ARM microcontrollers to
control the motors, read sensor data, etc.?
At the Willow Garage incubator, which shut down in February
,
Cousins worked with founder Scott Hassan and others to develop robots
like the PR2. Willow Garage?s most important contribution, however, was
developing and seeding the open source ROS, as well as nurturing a
variety of innovative robotics startups, many of which are building
robots that combine Linux and ROS. Maintenance of the
microcontroller-focused ROS platform has now been take over entirely by
the Open Source Robotics Foundation .
*SaviOne with Savioke CEO Steve Cousins (left) and delivering fresh towels*
(click images to enlarge)
Cousins, a former researcher at IBM and Xerox PARC, helped spin off
Suitable Technologies, now headed up by Hassan, which makes the Beam
telepresence robot. Cousins also helped spin off Unbounded Robotics,
which makes another Linux/ROS bot called the UBR-1
.
According to Cousins, other companies he helped found include
?Industrial Perception (acquired by Google), Redwood Robotics (also
acquired by Google, technically a joint venture more than a spin-off),
Hidof (ROS consulting), and three non-profits (the Open Source Robotics
Foundation, the Open Perception Foundation, and the OpenCV foundation).?
Like the Beam and UBR-1, the SaviOne uses wheels instead of legs, and
unlike the UBR-1, it lacks an arm. An IEEE Spectrum
story speculates that a future SaviTwo bot may sprout one or two
appendages, which would greatly expand its range of activities.
A New York Times story
,
meanwhile, says Cousins is particularly interested in building robots
for the service industry and for people with disabilities. The Times
story added a few more details about the SaviOne. The robot makes
?R2-D2-style? chirps as it moves and is designed to avoid objects and
people in its path, says the Times. Instead of tipping, guests are
allowed to enter a review of the bot?s services on the touchscreen. If
it?s positive, ?the robot will do a small dance before it departs,? says
the story. Assuming the pilot goes well, Starwoods will start expanding
the A.L.O. to its other 100 Aloft hotels, says the Times.
*Further information*
No details were provided on an eventual commercial launch of the
SaviOne. More information may be found at the Savioke website
.
On 08/14/2014 07:56 AM, eminker-at-gmail.com wrote:
> Depends what time I get out of work.
> ------Original Message------
> From: Ruben Safir
> Sender: owner-hangout-at-mrbrklyn.com
> To: Hangout
> ReplyTo: hangout-mrbrklyn. com
> Subject: Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] NYLXS Meeting
> Sent: Aug 14, 2014 00:10
>
> Nobody is coming?
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 05, 2014 at 04:36:22PM -0400, Ruben Safir wrote:
>> "The first step toward getting things done is to get your own house in
>> order. Politicize your local computer groups. Don't flinch from making
>> the political imperatives of protecting the fundamental rights needed
>> for free software's survival a top priority of your user group's
>> mission. If you're not prepared to accept the challenge of protecting
>> the basic freedoms needed to ensure the future of free software,
>> uninhibited by wiretapping and censorship, then you need to step aside.
>> There are plenty of Radio Controlled Model Airplane groups around for
>> you to exercise your interest in technology. Free software is serious
>> business, and we need people committed to the general principles of
>> freedom in the digital age."
>>
>>
>> The next meeting and INSTALLFEST is next
>>
>>
>> August 14th, 2014
>>
>> Thursday at 7:30PM
>>
>> at 1580 East 19th Street Apartment 1-E
>>
>> Brooklyn, US
>>
>>
>> Kings Highway station on the B and Q line.
>>
>>
>> Refreshments will be served.
>>
>> Network available.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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