Inspired by world-class design and fueled by advanced engineering, the 914 PC-BOT gives enthusiasts, educators and business partners alike the opportunity to create exciting, functional, mobile robots from off-the-shelf computer parts ...
This is the first, patented robot design to employ standard PC parts... It does everything a PC does, houses the same plug-and-play hardware as a PC does, runs the same operating systems that a PC runs – but – it's mobile. In short it’s a PC that has read-to-me, speak-to-me, move-with-me functionality that houses enough horsepower out-of-the-box to access and process the world’s legacy data – and put it in the hands (literally) of a human being. It moves, talks, sees, hears, senses and can physically react and respond to the environment it is placed in.
The PC-BOT can be easily configured to perform a myriad of useful and entertaining functions. All this within a stunning exterior design that has a universal ability to turn cold technology into a friendly, personal experience.
Want to know more?
This visually stunning, award winning robot is designed to fit digital life, bringing data and process to the point of human interaction.
Built out of industry standard PC parts, literally thousands of PC parts are available off the shelf and will plug and play.
The 914 can be purchased in pieces for specific research projects or arriving at your doorstep fully tooled with industry standard operating systems (Windows XP Home, Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista (under testing) and/or Linux).
It is it's own computer – client or server – in fact, it's a full internet enabled computer hub with on-board wireless and telecommunications capability – standard's based, familiar, supportable, maintainable, extendable.
What will it do?
The 914 PC-BOT does everything you would expect a desktop PC to do – plus it moves by remote control or autonomously avoids obtacles, transmits and receives – voice, video, data and text – but additionally the 914 is intended to put scalable data and processing power into a complex mobile robotics digital world that involves human beings.
It is an intelligent machine for teachers, researchers, applications and systems developers trying to do simple or complex things with an element of mobility in mind.
The PC-BOT today is delivered as an industry standard open architecture platform ready for development in any environment once feels comfortable in.
So what will it do again? The simple answer is "just about anything you want it to do", but here's what you can expect your PC-BOT to do right out of the box.
After a fairly simple setup, the 914 PC-BOT is ready to navigate. This can be accomplished manually through the White Box Robotics interface (mouse or keyboard) or by joystick (either attached or wireless). It can also move about autonomously exploring, avoiding obstacles and stairs in the process.
While taking advantage of this mobility, you can also view the world through the eyes (webcam) of your robot. This remote mobile video telepresence capability is accessible through any local or remote PC and can be shared with your friends through your favorite instant messenger.
The next out of box experience comes from the fact that this very attractive robot is also a fully functional PC running Windows or Linux. In addition to sensible productivity applications, it doesn’t take much to turn the 914 into a very cool mobile entertainment platform.
All of this good fun is just the beginning ... the 9-Series PC-BOT is also a novel application development environment for computer science or robotics developers set on developing the next wave of serious applications. There's almost no end to what you can build with a little or a lot of tech savvy. Application development environments allow you to write custom algorithms for a wide range of behaviors, such as speech recognition, navigation, and artifical intelligence. All you need to do, is download and install your favorite applications and link them to the I/O board or Machine Management Module (M3) . We will also be developing on an ongoing basis new Windows Services that can be integrated into the Microsoft Robotics Development Studio (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics for the latest developments on this exciting initiative). We also continue to build on our support for Linux Player Stage and promote the support of additional Robotics applications and development envirionments for the PC-BOT just like the PC industry drives various vertical market applications we want to do the same for mobile PC's – PC-BOTs!
The dream is just beginning ...
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