Pleo: The Robot that Isn't
January 11, 2008
The baby Camarasaurus created by engineers at Ugobe is cute, sensitive, and emotionally responsive. In other words, baby Pleo is not your typical robot.
But its makers didn't want to make Pleo just another robot. In fact, they would prefer that people not think of Pleo as a robot at all, but rather as a baby dinosaur that's life-like if not truly alive.
Although the first Pleo was unveiled in February 2006, the first shipments were just sent starting December 5 to a list of customers and stores that ordered in advance. The first commercial Camarasaurus costs $350, following the trend of new consumer robots that offer sophisticated features at reduced prices, compared to robots from a few years ago.
Upon receiving Pleo, the one-week-old dinosaur must first "hatch" by lifting its tucked head and opening its eyes for the first time. Then, depending on how owners treat their new pet, Pleo will supposedly take on unique behaviors and personality traits due to its artificial intelligence software Life OS.
According to Engadget, however, Pleo's evolution might not be perfected yet. Ugobe revealed that the first version of Life OS isn't set up to evolve as it was supposed to, but a new version of Live OS should improve Pleo's growing up in 2008.
For those who already bought it, Pleo's software can be upgraded through a SD card or USB interface through its open source platform. Owners can individually program Pleo by downloading new behaviors from the company's Web site or even writing their own programs.
Pleo is several steps ahead of many of its robot counterparts in many other ways. In developing Pleo's movements, biologists, animators, and robotics specialists collaborated to mimic the details of the biological and neurological systems of the Camarasaurus (a dinosaur that inhabited North America in the late Jurassic period). Cosmetics and other "trivial" features ruled when designing Pleo, all the way down to its sticky lizard-like skin that gets lovingly worn away with excessive petting.
Ugobe designer Caleb Chung explained that they selected this species of dinosaur because its body shape - its stocky head and large cranium - made it ideal for concealing the sensors and motors needed for life-like animation.
On a typical day, Pleo needs to be woken with a pleasant "Wake up, Pleo," which it "hears" through two microphones. The greeting persuades it to lift its head and stretch its legs. According to Engadget's recent review, Pleo's motors are fairly loud, making it sound like a tiny motorized machine.
Pleo regularly gets hungry, and needs to be fed a plastic leaf (included). It has an infrared mouth sensor to detect objects in its mouth, like the leaf or a finger. It also likes to play, responding to petting its back or stroking its chin with gentle roars, and to touching its feet by reflexively kicking, thanks to its eight touch sensors. When it's really happy, it wags its tail. But don't scream at it, or the baby dinosaur will cower in fear.
It has a camera-based vision system for light detection and navigation, a total of fourteen force-feedback sensors at its joints, and an orientation tilt sensor to balance its body position. It also knows when it's getting close the edge of a table top, and will stop before stepping over. Additionally, Pleo likes other Pleos. It has infrared transmit and receive to communicate with other Pleos.
Although the original Pleo had a beat detection system that allowed it to dance to music, the feature was removed in the current edition. Ugobe may add it on again in the future.
Most importantly, Pleo is different because, rather than being a figure that supports assorted robotics technology, Pleo is a dinosaur that is supported by robotics technology. If you don't appreciate this cutting-edge technology - the sensors, the software, the motors - then you may be seeing Pleo just as Ugobe intended: as a baby Camarasaurus.
Here's a video of Pleo from Ugobe:
Via: Engadget and Pleo-World
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