A practical robotic application?

Oh, I don't know, maybe someday somebody will invent a robot that
performs repetive mechanical assembly tasks?

JM

Funny, maybe I should have been more specific, mobile autonomous robots.

there are so many things you can make a mobile robot do,
to make it marketable.

Any/every standalone electronic device can be integreted.

that's all I'm going to say :-)  I found someone to mass produce
my robot.

Rich

I think robots for educational usage is practical. Robot is very good
thing for education.
And I think some entertainment robots, such as Sony's,  are also
practical. BTW, there are many robot without real form , like internet
robot, are widely used now.

So many different sectors for robotic applications, but the only one where
some real cash is being made (but not loads) is residential floor
sweeping.  There's a good market segmentation at
http://rossgk.ca/rptsDnld.html   that shows a neat graphic with robotic
markets, and such.  

Interesting that the lawn mower action of a few years ago has petered out
- I assume that the risk of a $500 piece of hardware on your lawn when
nobody is around is the big issue.

I think I agree with others that some sort of capitalization on aging
baby-boomers is a good market opp.  But seniors right now are too
technophobic to entertain anything that hasn't been very carfully
engineered for that space.

George T.

I found the report fairly lacking, actually -- but thanks for the link.
Just one example: They missed the very real market segment currently
developed in Japan (and non-existent in the US) of elder-care/nurse
robotics. These can't be grouped as "personal" robots as that market
suggests smaller, cheaper machines -- these are fairly large and
expensive, and intended to be used in controlled environments of nursing
homes and hospitals. I don't think the report intended these to be in
the institutional category, as they (somehow) define that as slow growth
and small investment. I cannot fathom how a medical/surgical robot needs
only a small investment. Guess this must be the plantar wart remover
robot we've been hearing about.  

The report contains silly typos, like spelling "hobbyist" as "hobbiest."
Hard to take a consulting firm seriously when they don't bother to use a
spell checker. Well, at least the report is free!

-- Gordon

 ...


Think how spell checkers would have saved Americans from spelling
mistakes like "color" instead of "colour".

Spelling mistakes give us an insight into how the brain works and
also allows spelling to evolve, until the thought police invented the
dictionary :-)

--
JC

Typo's are certainly important for world-class consultants though...

For example, if I specialized in, say, typewriters repair, or wordperfect
consulting, (obsolete writer's tools) I'd feel really embarrassed if I
wrote:

"Convenient in-house macro training is available at your site. Casses can
be one-on-one, or a class/seminar setting (fewer than 12 students highly
recommended).  (www.gmccomb.com)

Typo's like that would be pretty silly, and frankly hard to imagine,
especially if I was obsessed with typos elsewhere.

~L~

Ooh, boy, do I feel stupid! (Not!)

So what are some of the differences:

1. An old Web site I seldom even visit myself.
2. I'm a one-man show, not some consulting firm that you'd assume would
have staff for additional proofing.
3. At least I don't spell "typos" as if were a possessive noun.

Look, I wasn't trying to look smart (unlike your smartass reply). I was
merely pointing out I felt the report lacked insight. The misspelling of
hobbyist was an added bonus.

-- Gordon

Hey, Lyle, one question for ya.

I notice both you and "George T" posted from magma.ca, and Ottawa-based
ISP. Both you and George's posting IPs are from Ottawa. The consulting
company "George T" linked to is also based in Ottawa. Any comments on
this coincidence?

Maybe you know this company. If so, tell you what. I'll fix "casses" if
you ask the guys at RossGK to fix "hobbiest." Sound fair?

-- Gordon

Looks like they already did! These guys are fast! Almost as if they read
my post.

So, I'm keeping my word and fixing my typo, too.

Hugs,

-- Gordon

Hmmmmm -- I detect the delightful aroma of astroturf...

--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)

Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html

Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!

I honestly think that two immediate possibilities are:

1. An intelligent platform to carry things for you. There would be two
modes of operation: a) an rf command link mode and b) a "follow-me"
mode. There are some problems that will not be overcome immediately,
like going upstairs, but for the most part, I would love something that
would help carry something for me down the street. So would many of the
many other disabled persons in the world. Just having the robot doing
something as simple as passing the tv remote control over to my wife who
is sitting across the living room from me, a little bit of a hassle as
we are both disabled. Likewise, the robot could carry a beer that your
wife put on it while she's in the kitchen. This could be done
semi-autonomously.

2. An intelligent platform to carry your garbage to the curbside. In our
situation, it would take the garbage can from the backyard, though a
gate, to the curb and then back when emptied. It doesn't seem too hard a
task. While I am sure there would be more to it, it seems like the
scenario I have just described could be done by setting the robot on a
timer to use "line following" to go to the curb and when the weight of
the robot dropped under a certain weight (i.e. it was emptied), it would
"line follow" back to where it came from. Of course, you would have to
have all sorts of sensors, IR, Ping, bumper switches, and cameras even
to do the job right (or maybe overkill the job). It could be a fun
project. I have a special interest in this because of disabilities and
this would definately help.

I think these are two practical ideas for bot that are well within the
current technology capabilities.

I would see machines as compensating for disabilities
rather than doing the work for a disabled person simply
because they are disabled. Sure buy a Roomba, not because
you can't vaccuum, but because you have better things to do.


http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2005/s1347317.htm

If I live long enough to get old I will probably end up
in a wheel chair. I would like a wheel chair that gave
me independence, including the ability to take the rubbish
bin (garbage can) to be emptied, vaccum the floor and
shower myself etc.

How much intelligence a robotic nurse required would vary
with each user.

--
JC

You might want to look up "Global Hawk".

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)