Teach An Old Aibo New Tricks 199
dipfan writes "After expending much energy trying to stop hackers from tinkering with its Aibo robot dog, Sony has finally realised it's not worth the effort and has decided to start giving away a 'non-commercial' developers kit. The kit is called OPEN-R SDK, which allows Aibo be programmed in C++, as part of Sony's efforts to promote its (so-called) OPEN-R architecture for robotic entertainment. Anyway, the really neat thing is that you can reprogram your Aibo to meow."
Yeah but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yeah but... (Score:4, Funny)
- .. can I reprogram it to clean my dorm room?
I think the more likely possibility is geeks programming it to steal bikini tops at the beach.Yup, I think I saw that in a movie once...
Re:Yeah but... (Score:1, Troll)
Exactly what we need... (Score:2)
Re:Exactly what we need... (Score:2)
As soon as people start monkeying around with this thing then everybody will have to have one. Once the tucows sony web site is up then we'll all spend our time downloading the latest program that will make our little dog look like its urinating all over the house.
Its about freaking time... (Score:1)
Re:Its about freaking time... (Score:1, Redundant)
Cant say I blame them.
Re:Its about freaking time... (Score:2, Insightful)
Is it possible that
I am admittedly geeky, that's why I hang out here; but it seemed pretty obvious to me from the beginning that alienating an entire consumer sub-culture would be bad for business. Especially when members of that sub-culture are more likely to be able to afford a pricy toy like Aibo.
All in all, I'm glad they've opened it up some. Now, if I can just convince my wife to let me buy an expensive toy dog...
What I want to see... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What I want to see... (Score:1)
It seems we share the same dream.
Re:What I want to see... (Score:1)
I think the comedic value of a robot dog taking a piss on a tree (or perhaps a disliked neighbors porch) would be worth the time invested! But then again, maybe that's just me...
Re:What I want to see... (Score:1)
I wonder... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I wonder... (Score:1)
On a more serious note, I see that all the cool add-ons and stuff seem to require Windows of some flavor... anyone know if this C++ stuff is going to work from Linux and/or Mac OS X? Lego Mindstorm seems to have the same Windows-only problem (although I hear there's some Linux solutions out there for Lego, it can't possibly match the Lego-provided in-box software).
Now maybe if Apple had a robotoy division...
Re:I wonder... (Score:1)
Yeah, but... (Score:1)
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Score:2, Funny)
Reposting an Ac who got modded down.
Moderators: If you don't get the reference, it doesn't mean it's off topic.
Who's next? (Score:1)
More from Sony? (Score:1)
Is the only difference that they know people will pay for the PS2/linux kit, but think aibo hackers won't pony up?
Oh, well, at least now my "dog" can compete in robot soccer and I won't get in trouble.
Re:More from Sony? (Score:2)
I think the differnce is that the PS2 linux kit includes a bunch of hardware (HD, keyboard, etc). Can't really make it available for download...
Re:More from Sony? (Score:1)
In the near future (Score:3, Funny)
Must be fun to watch them doing tricks..
Re:In the near future (Score:2)
Hippocratic Oath (Score:1)
Removing barrier to sales (Score:4, Informative)
Good.
Unfortunately, I don't have enough free cash to get one of these puppies. :-( However I have at least one coworker who returned his when he found out how limited they were ( and the lack of SDK ) at the time.
I hope this nod to the hackers [ic.ac.uk] out there is seen as a good means to motivate sales, even if only a few avail themselves of the opportunity. Between this and the PS2 Linux kit [slashdot.org], Sony is at least starting to become a more hacker-friendly company.
Hacking hardware == good for sales.
"Harley Davidson" business model. (Score:2, Interesting)
This is similar to how Harley-Davidson [harley-davidson.com] sells motorcycles: they encourage aftermarket hacking, so much so that they provide (overpriced) parts in the accessories catalog [harley-davidson.com]...
This, of course, doesn't count the scores of yuppie [wildboomer.com]/image riders, but even they slap on a bit of aftermarket chrome.
Re:Removing barrier to sales (Score:2)
if you hadn't bothered to make your post, hundreds of smileys could have retained their noses!
Slashdot, slashdot, My smiley has no nose!
How does it smell ?
-1 Offtopic
graspee
Teaching characters new tricks (Score:5, Funny)
I think Sony has a great idea here. Why don't we open the source for Clippy?
Your friend,
Steve
Re:Teaching characters new tricks (Score:3, Interesting)
Too Late!
He's been cloned! [sourceforge.net]
Re:Teaching characters new tricks (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Teaching characters new tricks (Score:1)
What I want to see (Score:1, Redundant)
C++? Nice! (Score:1)
So, maybe I don't need to build my own robot, after all. This one could provide me with all the thrill and technical excitement, without the nuisance of putting together the electronics and the mechanics.
And maybe, by studying this SDK, I can learn how to expand the Aibo, with additional motors, stronger activators, what you have.
It all depends how much freedom does this SDK provide.
Re:C++? Nice! (Score:2)
How long before someone equips an Abio with better feet, armor, camera, and a shotgun, and sells it as an all-terrain bomb-disarming robot?
Reuters News Article (Score:1, Redundant)
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:22 a.m. ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - Who says you can't teach an old robotic dog new tricks? As of next month, Sony Corp will offer free software kits for its plastic pet dog, called AIBO, which will give owners many more training options.
AIBO will even be able to meow rather than bark.
Up to now, most AIBO owners could only play with a pre-trained computerized pet whose behavior was largely defined by Sony's programming, but the new software kit will allow experienced users to teach the dog any amount of new tricks.
The release of the development kit, called OPEN-R SDK, is an about-face for the Japanese audiovisual electronics giant, which had tried to cage in independent developers who were hacking into the AIBO's electronic innards and making what Sony claimed were unauthorized modifications.
``Sony wants to actively promote OPEN-R architecture for entertainment robots by highlighting its ability to modify the robot's functionality,'' it said in a statement, essentially admitting that open development would help widen the appeal of the robot.
Sony says the development kit, which allows AIBO movements to be written in the C++ programming language, is intended for noncommercial use. Sony will also create a Web site where developers can exchange their custom-made AIBO programs.
Finally... (Score:1)
Obviously, the learned from Lego (Score:2, Insightful)
I never really understood what Sony's problem was (Score:1)
I can't ever see myself forking over the dough to buy one of those things, but i'd think that the average Joe would see these "hacks" and think "wow, look at all the cool things an Aibo can do. Sony made a great product"
Hell, at the very least, it's free (and positive) advertising right?
robo-pit bull (Score:1)
Wait a minute... (Score:4, Funny)
*meow* (Score:4, Funny)
thats pretty neat but... (Score:1)
But then again I guess this is a necessary first step. Start small and eventually work your way up in complexity. First do tricks, then do something useful.
Before it goes into widescale use, however, its going to have to: 1) Be cheaper 2) be useful (not just fun), 3) durable . In my opinion anyway
I can just see the headlines... (Score:5, Funny)
Yoshi Yanamura, speaking on conditions of anynomity said "this is the reason we didn't want anyone reprogramming the robots. This was totally expected. Good thing we didn't include the 10 MegaJule laser add-on, then we would really have problems".
Sony Corporation says the best way to protect yourself is to not recharge the robots after you have been attacked.
---
If I only had a brain...
Re:I can just see the headlines... (Score:2)
I can imagine the next Terminator movie being about an AIBO that CAN recharge itself and what happens because of it. Here's a line from the script:
Oh yeah, in this movie AIBOnet produced gigantic two-legged dogs, so the Terminator has a slight resemblance to Scooby Doo.
Re:I can just see the headlines... (Score:1)
Re:I can just see the headlines... (Score:2)
I just have these visions of the robotic dog from every bad cartoon of my childhood with metal shard teeth going after each other.
I'm gonna get me one of these things to enter into battle bots.
expending much energy... (Score:2, Informative)
That text is crying for a link to a news story about their efforts to stop the "hackers."
Here's a good one. [dmoz.org]
Dude! (Score:2)
And, like, what if c-a-t really spelled "dog"? Whoa...
(Bonus points to anyone who gets that obscure Revenge of the Nerds II reference.)
Re:Dude! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Dude! (Score:2)
Programming Aibo - wasn't this already enabled? (Score:5, Interesting)
It was amusing to see some of the new behaviors programmed by students in an effort to make the Aibos play better soccer. While the Aibo plays lousy soccer (due to extremely limited memory and a design focus on "cuteness" instead of efficiency), they are absolutely fun to watch.
Re:Programming Aibo - wasn't this already enabled? (Score:1)
But this is really open and publicity from what most people will get the dogs to do is not good, i mean there are alredy posts suggesting aibo mounting a leg...definately not good as far as Sony are concerned
Aibo hardware limitations (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Rarchitecture? (Score:2, Funny)
$1000 for a dog? (Score:3, Insightful)
Instead, you could go to your local humane society and get a REAL dog for well under $100, and the remaining $900 would be more than enough for at least a couple years' food and vet check-ups. They're more fun, too, and programmable!
Re:$1000 for a dog? (Score:4, Informative)
Well... yes. Perhaps.
Unfortunately, our dog had a neck infection (year and a half ago) and just that alone ended up totallying close to $1000. Adopting a real dog [hsus.org] is usually a very good thing, and even has nice health benefits for the owner [deltasociety.org].
However, it's a true commitment. Unlike they Aibo, you can't just take out the batteries and leave a dog on the shelf. Just consider well [hsus.org] before getting a live animal.
For some, an Aibo would be better. And for some both work. Just watching a dog deal with an RC car can be fun enough. :-)
Re:$1000 for a dog? (Score:2)
Re:$1000 for a dog? (Score:1)
They arn't much brighter than Aibo either. (Some breeds, like newfoundlands, can't even take care of their own children because they sit on them by accident.)
I say, let the dogs be wild, and let the robots be pets.
"And the animals i've trapped have all become my pets"
Aibo in context (Score:5, Interesting)
Facing the Future
Even with its battery removed, an Aibo robot got the full attention of Koda the wolf and Simon the Maltese during a studio shoot. Koda, a trained captive-born wolf, had worked with Simon but not with the robot. At first he moved away from the motionless Aibo, says photographer Robert Clark. Then, curious, he sniffed it and chewed off a plastic ear. Doug Seus, Koda's owner and trainer, says that while dogs can easily form new relationships after they are about six months old, wolves are genetically programmed not to accept strangers. "It's a built-in survival technique to limit the size of the pack." Confronted with the unknown, wolves are either extremely timid or extremely aggressive, he says. "They may look like a big dog, but they are psychologically different."
What about Simon? (Score:1)
Re:What about Simon? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What about Simon? (Score:1)
Interesting... Thanks!
Re:Aibo in context (Score:1)
Meow? That's nothing! (Score:1)
How about fitting an aibo with claws and have it scratch the furniture?
Ozzy-bot (Score:1)
Who says.. (Score:2, Funny)
It was interesting to hear some of the comments about the Aibo from ppl close to Sony at last years GDCE. Masaya Matsuura mentioned that some of the people around the design department got extremely upset with some of the things that the Aibo was made to do.
"In Matsuura's office they had an Aibo for the employees to care for and play with. The Aibo is attracted to the color pink--he has a pink ball that he will walk up to and kick or butt with his head. To test the programming of Aibo, one of Matsuura's programmers tied a pink ball to a wire, attached to Aibo, dangling in front of his face. Of course, Aibo kept on walking forward, never stopping. A female employee was upset at this "torturing" of Aibo and sent a memo to Matsuura, causing an investigation as to why the robot dog was tortured and if others were upset by this."
What about other languages? (Score:5, Funny)
VisualBasic: Look how easy, I just drag the 'Bone' object over the 'Mouth' Object! Unfortunately, with the run-time, I can't fit any other code in there.
C#: It will go get the paper, but only if you first verify the subscription status.
Perl: Look, I can make it jump, bark, and fetch with this one line:
Re:What about other languages? (Score:4, Funny)
Lisp - Dog can't do much, but is great at running around in circles chasing its tail.
COBOL - Dog will only fetch business-related newspapers. Preferably issues from 1978.
Re:What about other languages? (Score:2)
C: the dog runs around incredibly fast but falls over a lot and crashes (into things)
Fortran77: your dog knows pi to 5 million places but can't interface with windows.
graspee
Re:What about other languages? (Score:2)
1) That the RAD IDE of Visual Basic allows an almost CAD-like programming experience. (There are completely visual programming languages, but they are experimental and non-mainstream).
2) That C# is only for writing subsciption-based software. While this may be the sorry-ass future of commercial programming, most c# programming right now has nothing to do with subscription at all.
graspee
Sorry for any offense caused
Satire (Score:2)
A 'salient point' about VB is the ads and promotional material that describe how easy it is to create an application using drag and drop. A 'salient point' about C# is that it only compiles to
A one liner joke should not be criticised for not covering the whole issue.
Abio neat... but ... (Score:2)
the Abio is neat, but it needs more processing power... but at it's price tag it is too expensive to gut like a cybie.
SDK requires Windows... (Score:1)
Look at the SDK download files list:
(OPEN-R SDK tools and documents)
OPEN_R_SDK-1.1.3-r1.tar.gz OPEN-R SDK
OPEN_R_SDK-sample-1.1.3-r1.tar.gz Sample programs
OPEN_R_SDK-doc-1.1.3-r1.tar.gz Documents
upgrade-OPEN_R-1.1.3-r1.tar.gz FlashUpdater for ERS-210
(Binaries for cross development tools for Windows 2000/XP)
GNU Tools can be downloaded from this WEB site, but they are not
included in the OPEN-R SDK.
cygwin-packages-1.3.6-bin.exe Cygwin binaries
mipsel-devtools-3.0.4-bin.tar.gz MIPS cross-development tools for Cygwin
(Source files for cross development tools)
cygwin-packages-1.3.6-src.tar.gz Cygwin source files
gcc-3.0.4.tar.gz gcc source files
binutils-2.11.2.tar.gz binutils source files
newlib-1.9.0.tar.gz newlib source files
(Other Tools)
build-devtools-3.0.4.sh Shell script for building cross
development tools
Looks real Linux/Gnu-ish to me.
Re:SDK requires Windows... (Score:1)
Now the real question, is this their internal SDK or have they ported something for us?
BTW, the cygwin stuff provides connectivity between gcc and the Windows API.
Open != Sony (Score:5, Interesting)
It is good to see (Score:1)
Can we send them offworld ... (Score:1)
If they come back, Decker can hunt them down. We haven't programmed them with empathy. That's the difference, you see.
Nice... (Score:2)
aibo distro (Score:2)
So, how long till we see a walking web server AIBO (Score:1)
So how long before... (Score:1)
If I had $1500 I'd buy one. Damn tech market economy...
tag, plz (Score:2)
Uh.. (Score:2, Insightful)
14. Send and get data using Wireless LAN (TCP/IP)
Am I the only one who noticed this? I wonder how long it'll take for some ambitious hacker to make a portable webserver, a firewall that barks, or in a more malicious context, an adorable little password cracker that does tricks for the sysadmin while it's downloading sensitive data?
Imagine a BeoWulf cluster of these (Score:4, Funny)
Look its running Linux. Its running. ha ha
*expects to be modded down to -5 troll*
Killer Aibo (Score:1)
Maybe then Sony will have incentive to have the Robotic Laws put into all the Aibots.
They're (slowly) learning... (Score:2)
Step 1: Make cool hardware
Step 2: Open up the architecture and some/all software
Step 3: PROFIT.
It worked for Apple in 1979... we're slowly coming full circle.
I have a Sony DVD changer at home. The unit looks nice and all, but the software absolutely SUCKS MONKEY NUTS. The UI is slower than molasses, it took me two days to enter all my titles, and it sometimes forgets them or just gets confused about which disc is where. Most of the buttons on the remote don't work as expected - it's a mess. I will never buy another piece of home AV equipment from them again. That changer was an utter piece of shit, and it was entirely due to bad software. What could they possibly have to lose by opening the firmware?
Except for video games, it seems that Japan Inc. simply doesn't get it (or doesn't care) when it comes to software. Keep making the great hardware, but let the folks who know best hack on the software.
I want to hack Teddy (Score:2)
If you can't beat 'em (Score:1)
forget aibo... (Score:2, Funny)
Who'd buy a dog that they couldn't train??? (Score:2)
Meow (Score:3, Funny)
Hmm (Score:1)
Some Interesting Links (Score:2, Interesting)
My Take:
This site is great. I think this is exactly what we need. The only thing that really got removed per the story referenced below is "virgin" copies of Aibo-Life, because everything you could possibly want, and more, is available, including "RCodePlus", which appears to be a utility for writing and transferring RCode ("Plus" some aibohack.com [aibohack.com] extensions) to your Aibo.
Summary:
http://www.aibohack.com [aibohack.com] had much of its content removed because it built on Sony's AiboWare, but added new features.
Among its programs:
AiboScope: Wirelessly transmits images from robot's camera to a computer
Disco Aibo: Execute a programmable dance when Aibo hears a certain song.
Brainbo: Uses voice-recognition. When Aibo hears a phrase, Aibo selects an appropriate response and "says" it.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000086726nov01
http://www.latimes.com/search/lat_all.jsp?Query=A
My Take:
While it would probably be trivial to overcome Sony's copy-protection algorithms, it's not worth the bother. $35 for a PMS (Programmable Memory Stick) is money well spent, and if all the code consists of is bootstrapping into the WLAN, we'd only need one for each 'bot.
Summary:
Sony makes red/pink memory sticks specifically for the Aibo. They contain copy-protection code that means that you can't copy their programs from one stick to another (unless, of course, the second one already had that program installed).
Source: http://www.aibohack.com/123/format.htm [aibohack.com]
My Take:
Nothing new here.
Summary:
Sony released several pieces of AiboWare that are only available in Japan. Based on what a friend of mine could manage to decode, there's nothing here to pique our interest.
Source: http://www.yk.rim.or.jp/~hkora11/aibo_2nd-g/kAibo
My Take:
Note that the 200Mhz (!) CPU uses the MIPS IV instruction set, for which there are no shortage of compilers. We may be in luck yet! (Of course, we might have to replace the current flash ROM with a custom one to develop that luck, but based on other readings, there seems to be very little code in the flash ROM and a heck of a lot of JPEGs of the development team.) You want to read this page.
Source: http://www.aibohack.com/210/hardware.htm [aibohack.com]
My Take:
An excellent tool, but not very applicable to our particular challenge. Nonetheless, a useful resource of which to be aware.
Summary:
Basically, Brain Surgery allows users to view and edit the data Aibo "feels". What does this mean? You can abuse your Aibo, and fix it yourself--no Sony required.
Source: http://www.aibohack.com/2or3/browser.htm [aibohack.com]
Now, some explanations are in order.
First of all, the Aibo is programmed in something called "R-Code", part of the "Open-R" standard. The odd thing about this is that Open-R gets licensed to other companies for a fee, and the documentation is not available. Not so sure where the "Open" came from. At any rate, R-Code is a poor imitation of assembly language that is interpreted in real time by the Aibo. Only one program, Sony [sony.com]'s Master Studio [aibo.com], is capable of producing R-Code through anything other than editing the R-Code directly.
One of the interesting things about Sony's marketing strategy is that they intended changes you made to the Aibo to be well-nigh permanent. The idea was to get people to send in their Aibos if they didn't take proper care of the little beasties, charge an exorbitant fee for resetting them to the "newborn" state, and send them back. It apparently surprised Sony quite a bit that, when they released Aibo in the U.S., people started clamoring for a tool to allow them to do these resets themselves. It apparently surprised them even more that U.S. consumers wanted a way to bypass the entire, carefully-scripted AiboLife evolution and go straight to an Aibo adult.
In general, U.S. owners wanted to hack their Aibos, Japanese owners wanted to watch their Aibos grow.
On another terribly-interesting note: Brain Surgery allows you to see the internal phonemes for the name you gave your Aibo. This has come in handy at least once when I was trying to determine how I was saying a command incorrectly.
Jouster
Re:Some Interesting Links (Score:2, Informative)
> Site Gutted by Sony based on DMCA
I'm not sure where you found it, but that is significantly out of date.
You will see aibopet.com and aibohack.com are running with lots of new content
Some minor comments:
> AIBO Uses Copy-Protection on its Memory Sticks
> My Take:
> While it would probably be trivial to overcome > Sony's copy-protection algorithms, it's not > > worth the bother. $35 for a PMS (Programmable > Memory Stick) is money well spent...
Actually it is a rather secure copy-protection mechanism.
Back doors that were left open in the first AIBO 210 release have been closed. Copy protection is important to Sony.
You are correct in that most AIBO owners will just buy the memory sticks (since they can afford $1000+ toys)
> Japan-Only AiboWare Releases
> Sony released several pieces of AiboWare that are only available in Japan.
Some of it is junk (IMHO), but some of it is good. Some software teaches your AIBO to play cards. Others are just more active or imaginative personalities.
Since AIBO understands voice commands, the Japanese sticks must be translated to understand English.
> More-or-less Complete 210 Hardware Reference
The problem is not the CPU, but all the custom peripherals.
> First of all, the Aibo is programmed in something called "R-Code", part of the "Open-R" standard.
Actually RCODE is a script-like language that YOU can use to program your AIBO.
Most of Aibo's brain is written in C++.
> Only one program, Sony [sony.com]'s Master Studio [aibo.com], is capable of producing R-Code through anything other than editing the R-Code directly.
Check out AbNet (http://www.dogsbodynet.com/aibnet.html) if interested in writing your own RCODE. There are tools to make RCODE easier to write (and more like C/C++)
Re:moof (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Aibo running linux! (Score:1)
Here goes...
Imagine an AiboWolf pack of these.
Nah. Just doesn't have the same ring to it
Re:This has major implications... (Score:2, Insightful)
You could program (her/it) to do strange and wonderful things...