The Giraffe Video Conferencing Robot March 08, 2007
Roy and Dan Sandberg have seen the future - and the future is remote controlled video conferencing robots. Their company HeadThere is developing the Giraffe, a 1GHz Mini-ITX powered human height robot with a click-to-move interface.
The impact resistant base contains 5in wheels and dual drive motors capable of powering the Giraffe along at a brisk 2 metres per second. Collision sensors prevent you from more than lightly tapping anything. The remotely tiltable head unit has a 14in LCD panel and 2MP video camera with a 120 degree field of view. Two way audio comes courtesy of a built in speaker and microphones. The head unit is height adjustable between standing and sitting height.
HeadThere are hoping the Giraffe will find many uses for people wanting to work or manage remotely, for factory tours, daycare monitoring, in hospitals and even remote shopping.
Robotics hobbyists are invited to develop their own applications when the source code is released.
Here at Mini-ITX we're big robot fans. Aspirational companies like HeadThere make Karel Capek's 90 year old vision seem attainable, one step at a time.
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