Intel researcher succeeded in "smartphone robotization" for $ 50

Not all robots are expensive.In fact, according to Intel researcher Matthias Muller and VLADLEN KOLTUN, if you have a smartphone, you can build a bot with wheels for about $ 50.In a co -authored "OpenBot: Turning Smartphones to Robots", they propose that they use a smartphone to equip a robot to provide access to sensors, calculations, communication, and open software anero systems.

Using a commercially available smartphone as a robot brain has many benefits other than cost reduction.Because the upgrade cycle is short, used smartphones can be easily used - -Global smartphone ownership rate is estimated to be 40 % of the total population-- In addition, the quality of the smartphone camera and the speed of the processor are the speeds.It is always improving.In addition, even the commodity models are equipped with a special tip for inertial measurement units, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular modem, AI inference, and some are better than desktop PC processors.。

The "OpenBot" designed by Muller and Koltun connects a smartphone to the robot itself to detect, data fusion, and calculate.The robot chassis is designed to be made with a 3D print, and has up to four motors, controller, microcontroller, LED, smartphone mount, and USB cable terminals.The battery pack is connected to the dedicated terminal and supplies power to the motor as needed.The Arduino Nano board is supplied with serial communication links and electricity from smartphones via USB.The two front wheels are equipped with a sensor that sends the odometri signal, and the speed and direction can be adjusted in real time by the pin connected to the motor controller.

OpenBot's software stack is simple and consists only of two components that communicate through serial links.Operators can collect datasets as interfaces with Android apps.This app also provides advanced recognition and workload control.On the other hand, the Arduino side controls low -level operation, and measures oddmetlies and battery levels.

With this Android app, the controller button can be assigned to data collection and switching between route search models, and OpenBot can be controlled by ready -made Bluetooth compatible PS4, Xbox, and Switch game controllers.The route search model also includes an autonomous navigation model that detects and tracks people in the view of the robot.

Muller and Koltun conducted a test to compare robots performance using various models of various models.The lowest performance was the cheapest low -end model (nokia 2).2), but it was still possible to detect and track people in about 30 minutes.All recently tested midrange phones (Xiaomi Note 8, Huawei P30 Lite, Xiaomi Poco F1, etc.) contributed to the focused AI accelerators and tracked people at a speed of more than 10 frames per second.

Muller and Koltun stated:

This research aims to work on two important issues in robot engineering, accessibility and scalability.Smartphones are ubiquitous and are becoming more powerful year by year.We combine hardware and software to turn smartphones into robots.As a result, we were able to develop cheap but competent robots.

Experiments have revealed that smartphone -driven $ 50 robots can track human tracking and real -time autonomous navigation.We hope that this study will provide new opportunities for education and large -scale learning through thousands of low -cost robots deployed around the world.

[Via VentureBeat] @venturebeat

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