Sanyo Announces "Banryu" Home Security Robot 205
Fooferaw writes "From the Sanyo web site: Sanyo and smaller tmsuk announce the next version of their "Banryu" home robot shaped somewhat like a dragon (it has the shiny curves of an AIBO, IMO). The Banryu can walk 15m/min., hear, sense in the infrared, and apparently "smell" a fire in the home. It even transmit real-time video." Corrected: The title initially said Sharp...I must have Zaurus on the brain.
So... (Score:1)
btw: First post, w00t
Re:So... (Score:3, Funny)
Could it be rigged to cock it leg over the fire???
Re:So... (Score:2)
</i> dammit
kinda like my dog. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:1)
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:1)
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:2)
I wouldn't try to hack this thing and arm him like Robocop, but what the hell, I'd let one roam my house and report on abmnormalities. I'll give $100... or is that 10,000 yen?
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:4, Funny)
Who needs Legos PC cases?
Who needs case mods?
Who needs overclocking with liquid nitrogen?
Who needs a PDA with Linux?
YOU do! Now get out there and get busy! Start by imagining a beowulf cluster of these things and proceed to make them do things unnatural to their original design (i.e. have it go down the street for pizza while you're sitting here reading slashdot) Maybe make it walk your dog for you. Make it talk like Yoda! Endless are the possibilities!
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:5, Funny)
imagining a beowulf cluster of these things
When I read this I just could not help but picture one, "Plugging" its male adapter into the other ones female adapter, doggy style. I wonder if this what they ment by cluster fuck!
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:2)
You forgot to mention that by taking these steps, you will find 3. Profit!!!
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:2, Funny)
...
On second thought, don't. I just got a mental cam image of the dog licking itself.
Re:kinda like my dog. (Score:3, Funny)
Wrong (Score:2)
On the plus, they did increase the speed 5 fold, hopefully they can go for more if they want it to be some true security for the home.
Re:DOUBLE WRONG (Score:2)
Sharp or Sanyo (Score:4, Informative)
Hrm, why does the headline read Sharp but the product is from Sanyo?
Re:Sharp or Sanyo (Score:2, Funny)
Must have "Critic" Reference: (Score:5, Funny)
Criminal claps
*Robocop powers off*
Criminal claps
Robocop: "Please don't do that.."
Robocop (Score:2)
Re:Robocop (Score:2)
Re:Must have "Critic" Reference: (Score:2)
But does it squeal like an outraged pig after falling down the stairs like ED-209? Is it smart enough to crush it's remote after you've armed it? And most importantly, does it run Linux? (After all, if it's another WinCrap partnership you just know it's just going to stare at you with lifeless blue eyes blinking "BSOD" when you need it most!)
Danny Dunn.... (Score:2)
(*bitter sigh*)
Re:Danny Dunn.... (Score:1)
Be sure to check out the movie files there of this toy in action! Think geek should be a reseller.
Easily foiled (Score:2, Funny)
How long before the Japanese Yakuza start selling robotic Steve Irwins [crocodilehunter.com] to disable them?
Deus Aibo (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Deus Aibo (Score:2)
Re:Deus Aibo (Score:2)
KIDS!! (Score:1)
Yeah, not something I am buying....
Not Practical for Security Use? (Score:5, Interesting)
armament (Score:3, Interesting)
On the other hands, real k9s these days can carry body armour, [botachtactical.com] so I guess things might be looking up for organic hounds.
Sleeper (Score:1)
Re:Not Practical for Security Use? (Score:5, Funny)
Robot: "WOOF!"
Thief: "Oh crap! A robot dog!"
*Robot dog slowly lumbers towards intruder, looking more like a drunk and invalid spider with half its legs than a scary intruder deterant*
T: "Oh... is that all you've got... so if I walk over... like... here... I would loose you..."
R: "WOOF!"
T: "I'll just be in the other room if you can be bothered walking through"
R: "Wimper..."
Re:Not Practical for Security Use? (Score:2)
Hmmm not entirely; it would deter AIBOs from breaking and entering.
Best wishes,
Mike.
...but? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:...but? (Score:1)
are you there chester K?
PAK CHOOIE UNF.
Re:...but? (Score:2)
Very effective. (Score:3, Funny)
Please... This has got to be one of the lamest gadgets I've ever heard of. You'll get better performance out of a few well placed web cams, some infrared motion detectors, and a smoke alarm or two. At least then you won't have to worry about the batteries wearing down every other day.
"Burnt smell"... hehe, that sounds real technical. Oh well. It's their money they dumped into R&D. I suppose they'll have to learn for themselves that the consumer market for such a device isn't large enough to sustain production.
Re:Very effective. (Score:2, Funny)
Yes, but what it lacks in actual usefulness it makes up for in being sooo cute!
Re:Very effective. (Score:2)
I'll just settle for my 486/66 and a reed switch to handle break-ins (apartment, one door) and my smoke detector for fires. (To the people who expressed interest in where I live, I converted the 486 to Linux yesterday. You too slow! :^)
Re:Very effective. (Score:2, Interesting)
Hell, this thing can do 1 thing I can't... SMELL.
I was blessed/cursed with a lack of smell. One day a PC started smoking in my room and I had no idea until the smoke alarm went off on the other side of the house (the one on my side was being replaced).
Now if only they could add instrumentation to this thing to smell old-clothes, shoes that walked in dog sh!t, etc I will no longer be handicapped.
Watchout Brinks (Score:5, Funny)
Robo-cup? (Score:1)
Either against the Sony Dogs, or on their own.
Sharp VS Sony.
nice.
Re:Robo-cup? (Score:1)
Sharp VS Sony.
oops. Should be Sanyo VS Sony.
Sharp posted the story.
damn corporate politics are hard to work out!
Smokers (Score:2)
Oh, boy... I hope it's a bit smarter than simply "smelling" something burning (detecting smoke in teh aair).
Re:Smokers (Score:5, Insightful)
-Smoke rises
-The thing is 700mm tall (~28 inches)
-My bed is about the same height or higher
So if I'm in bed (you'd think I would be if I'm having this thing patrol my house, but then again it probably makes a lot of noise) I'll be dead of smoke inhalation before its warnings go off if it didn't detect more than just a high concentration of smoke.
And speaking of its dimensions, did anyone else notice how big this thing is? A meter long, and almost as tall and wide. A lot of people are making fun of the "home security" concept but given a threatening posture, its size, and composition (its a goddamn robot), it may be more effective at scaring off burglars than one might think (though there are definitely some serious questions remaining there). My question is, whats to stop the burglars from stealing this really novel (read: expensive) looking piece of equipment?
Re:Smokers (Score:2)
Re:Smokers (Score:2)
Yeah, like "how does it get through doors?"
Smoke detector (Score:2)
Napalm, son.
Colors (Score:1)
(obvious to anyone who has a normal tyco or similar RC Car)
Finally! (Score:2)
Security? Bah! (Score:1)
I want something with genuine firepower. Not something that attempts to overcome burglars by giving them a case of the giggles.
Re:Security? Bah! (Score:4, Funny)
Burglar breaks window, enters house.
Robot dog (metallic sound): WOOF!
Burglar: Oh, hehe. One of those crappy, yet expensive robot dog toys. Come here, Rex. Tee hee. (Reaches out to grab it)
*BZZZZZT*
*THUD* (sound of lifeless body impacting floor)
Re:Security? Bah! (Score:4, Funny)
Don't worry: this is only the japanese version, designed with their market in mind. Here's a rundown of the rumored features of the American version:
10ft Balrog formfactor
Acetelyne driven in head to give it authentic Balrog look and industry leading Knaw.
Feet include built in retractable heavy duty rollor blades for high speed street use, and lower speed offroad action.
Balrog Bat flight module, for when running is not an option.
16ft sword, splash anodized for effect.
Broadband satalite uplink for sending realtime video as you rape and pillage Florida spammer's estate when not guarding your apartment against terrorists.
Optional grenade launcher, still undergoing ATF testing.
Low rader cross section.
UltraLife Plutonium batteries
Militarized Isreali version comming soon!
Maskirovka
Re:Security? Bah! (Score:2)
I'd expect the commercial release to be a lot more capable.
Ahh yes (Score:5, Funny)
Robber 2: Gawd damn it! It's spotted us.
Robber 1: RUN!
Robber 2: It's still chasing us... Very... Slowly...
Robber 1: stroll?
Re:Ahh yes (Score:4, Funny)
Robbers: Ahhhhhhh!!!!
Hmmm (Score:5, Funny)
The Banryu can walk 15m/min., hear, sense in the infrared, and apparently "smell" a fire in the home.
Sounds impressive, but my 36" Louisville Slugger probably wouldn't mind delivering a few Newton-meters of torque to Banryu's ass.
No home robot until... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No home robot until... (Score:5, Funny)
~Philly
Big sucker (Score:1, Informative)
1000mm? That's over 3 feet long.
Sharp or Sanyo? (Score:1, Redundant)
Sharp Announces "Banryu" Home Security Robot.....
"From the Sanyo web site....."
If it is Sanyo, what's with the Sharp in the title?
HAIL ROBOTS! (Score:4, Funny)
But can I hack it and interface it to my Linux Box (Score:2)
Can I interface it to my Linux box to get real time pics to my websever?
I want Linux compatible consumer electronics. I am sick of building my own!
Sharp or Sanyo? (Score:1)
Argh! Flashbacks... (Score:1)
"Get him my robots"
Help me... must not get bought out by lame-ass company and be folded out of existence...
I don't think I need this. (Score:3, Funny)
A device that will film me smoking after sex and broadcast the image over the internet.
Re:I don't think I need this. (Score:2, Funny)
"Can you shut it down?"
"No problem. My story was just accepted. Within 15 minutes, it'll be Slashdotted."
"Sweet!"
Re:I don't think I need this. (Score:2)
Nah, it will detect the smoke and automatically alert the local fire department. It won't be too fun when the firemen knock down your door and wants an explanation. "Eh... the dog alerted you, not me... sue him, not me..."
Re:I don't think I need this. (Score:4, Funny)
Do NOT have sex with that thing K ?
Linux Freaks.
Hey, (Score:1)
Sorry, couldn't resist it.
Woff (Score:2)
Don't buy from the Sanyo Crawler (Score:2, Funny)
What are they trying to push on us?
burning (Score:2, Funny)
Shouldn't... (Score:2, Informative)
Sanyo is a darned good company, though. They're a huge competitor to Panasonic and if I remember correctly, they were doing better than Panasonic on home appliances in Japan, but just don't have enough name recognition overseas. I got to take a tour of one of their R&D headquarters in Osaka over the summer, and I must say, they've got some really cool stuff in very thin, high resolution displays in the works. Hopefully this new robot will get them some of the name recognition they need outside of Japan.
Why a robot? (Score:2, Interesting)
It is obviously part of the japanese culture to contemplate a robot as an ideal solution for this sort of problems and that serious money is invested in reaching that goal. It's also clear how that is not the case in western cultures, just look at the amount of "Funny" posts on this topic.
Now if I would be contemplating having one I see two big problems right away:
-How is it really going to navigate in the mess I have in my appartment, hell I can't.
-How is it supposed to stop intruders when this robot is the single most expensive thing I have in the house! (I bet is not cheap)
The only explanation I can come up with is that is yet another toy for the japanese high class.
IMHO
geez how incapable (Score:2)
wtf? that's like saying I can't step over gaps of 1 feet.
screw THAT.
as much as this (middle of page) [zzz.com.ru] is unethical, i think it will do better.
and it's SANYO, not SHARP. get it straight, yall.
p.s. the link is april fools joke. don't flame me.
Re:geez how incapable (Score:2)
wtf? that's like saying I can't step over gaps of 1 feet.
Well..this thing hasn't had a million or so years of developnment.
by the looks of that thing (Score:2)
Banryu? (Score:5, Funny)
"I love you, you love me, I'm robot se-cur-i-tee..."
Meaning of name... (Score:2)
Re:Meaning of name... (RTFA) (Score:2)
"The new "Banryu", which means "guard-dragon" in place of "guard-dog",
So there you have it.
Re:Meaning of name... (Score:2)
Mod -1 for lameness!
Re:Meaning of name... (Score:2)
From the article: "The new "Banryu", which means "guard-dragon" in place of "guard-dog", takes on a look of an ancient reptile with a futuristic twist." =)
Dynamic walking, and running (Score:5, Insightful)
The big Honda humanoid robot has it right, but costs too much.
Went to a talk at Stanford today on low-cost stereo vision systems. Those have been around for years, but they're about to get cheap. Unfortunately, the killer apps are security-related, but the robotics community will benefit anyway.
We're getting close to actually being able to do this stuff right, after decades of frustration in the robotics community.
Re:Dynamic walking, and running (Score:2)
The average geek is fortunate if they can manage that speed on foot... Needless to say, it's hardly a crawl...
Re:Dynamic walking, and running (Score:2)
Re:Dynamic walking, and running (Score:2)
RE: Dynamic walking, and running (Score:2)
Ummm, what about PRON? Imagine the lonely guys at home seeing Boobies with both eyes.
They would pay good money for that I'm sure.
Re:Dynamic walking, and running (Score:2, Interesting)
There are no truly dynamic non-planar walkers right now, and just adding sensors doesn't fix the problem; it's still extremely difficult. The nice thing about a quadruped is that the walk doesn't necesarily need to be feedback based (Oscillator designs are nice but they have yet to yield a practical 3d walker). The main problem is still actuator strength (as postulated by the MIT leg lab), not really balance or sensors.
That said, I'm not so impressed by 15m/min. We managed to get Sony Aibos to walk at 13m/min at about one fourth the scale of this thing. Our code is available for people to develop using the OpenR SDK (see https://www.openr.org/page1_2003/), so you could make your own security bot for ~$1500 instead of whatever this thing costs. It doesn't have a nose, but I guess you could always just keep the batteries fresh in your smoke detectors...
Re:Dynamic walking, and running (Score:2)
I stick to working in simulation, but I do have some results in that area. See my papers. [animats.com] I've built wheeled robots, and worked with manipulators, but haven't used a physical legged robot yet. I'm hoping that the "Dr Robot" toy mentioned previously will be worth buying and reprogramming.
There are no truly dynamic non-planar walkers right now, and just adding sensors doesn't fix the problem; it's still extremely difficult.
The Honda walker is truly dynamic; it does get its CG outside its support polygon. Troody, at the MIT Leg Lab, is a non-planar dynamic walker, but may no longer be working. Dynamic walkers are few, but they exist.
The nice thing about a quadruped is that the walk doesn't necessarily need to be feedback based. (Oscillator designs are nice but they have yet to yield a practical 3d walker).
It's got to be feedback based to be any good. An open-loop locomotion system is roughly comparable to wheels.
I agree about oscillator designs. I spent some time playing with Randall Beer's oscillator-based insect simulation. That's cute, but a dead end.
Raibert's stuff, most of the later leg lab stuff, and Jessica Hodgins' animations, are basically state machines keying dumb PD controllers. That approach works for simple situations, but takes way too much manual tuning. If you think about it a bit, PD controllers are equivalent to spring/damper systems. So that approach is equivalent to setting the spring constant, damping constant, and zero point of the actuator to canned values. Different sets of canned values are keyed by the state machine. Seen in that light, those controllers are much simpler.
Real progress will require trajectory control. But that's more than I want to get into right now.
The main problem is still actuator strength (as postulated by the MIT leg lab), not really balance or sensors.
Gil Pratt (is he still at MIT?) was saying that for a while. He's into his "series elastic actuators", screw drives coupled to a stiff spring, which can be made to act like a less-stiff spring by feedback. This gives you the effect of a spring with an adjustable spring constant and zero point, which is what you want. It's inefficient, though; you don't recover much of the energy of a stride. (Muscles act like springs, storing energy from one landing to the next takeoff. Humans get about 60% of the energy back at a run; for horses, it's about 80%).
Linear motors looked promising for a while, as an alternative to pneumatics or hydraulics, but the best ones came from Aura, which tanked in a financial scandal. A friend of mine, who built a self-balancing unicycle, suggests firing a fuel charge in a cylinder as a linear actuator. Sandia actually does this for a new line of mobile land mines.
What's the world coming to... (Score:4, Funny)
Someone, quick, start a non-profit organization to save the dogs!
smoke detector? (Score:2, Funny)
Hmmmm.... (Score:2, Funny)
Yeah, I'm going to recommend that all sorrorities on campus deploy these units for, ummm, safety reasons.
robots are cool (Score:3, Insightful)
heh
--dogs are great, got two. They are small,15 lb'ers, good for fires or intruders for notification purposes. 10 cents of pepper spray or straight ammonia in a squirt gun would knock them out, same as any rottweiler at 150 lbs. That's what I used to use when bicycling and jerks let their packs of mutts chase bikers and cars. Spray, howl, done. Got tired of breaking frame mount air pumps as a club. False security with a dog, useful for detection, not for "security" as regards other humans, not any determined human anyway.. You need a thinking human who's armed and awake for any real security, that and actual for-real barriers to entrance. I think of "guard" dogs as sensors and kamikaze slower-downers to the badguys.
-no security at your home if the bad guys can get in. No one is all that security conscious most places I've seen. Thick plexi windows and steel reinforced door jams and solid steel doors exist, hardly no one uses them. I've custom installed them for people, and have some friends who did it, but it was always after the fact of getting robbed.
And a lot of newer houses, sheesh, vinyl siding on the outside,then gyp board,then fiberglass insulation then drywall. Like, all you need to get in someone's new house built like that nowadays-and quietly- is a simple razor knife right through the wall, skip the doors and windows. It's a problem not advertised much in the press.
Re:robots are cool (Score:2)
Enjoy.
Re:robots are cool (Score:2)
I hear you there - my wife's sister and brother-in-law bought a house not too long ago, and he hit a golf ball clean through an exterior wall! There wasn't even any chicken wire to stop it. Not that it would have mattered:
We had a case out in Scottsdale, AZ where a couple of burgleries occurred by the the guys using a chainsaw to cut through the exterior wall.
Fact of the matter is, if someone wants in, they will find a way (of course, if you have solid block construction with security bars/shutters on the windows, and a good alarm system, with video - you probably won't have many problems)...
Ban Ryu? (Score:2)
That's a good idea -- I wouldn't want Ryu [mit.edu] coming into my home and hadouken-ing the place up.
techno garbage (Score:2, Interesting)
BANRYU? (Score:2)
Re:Queue Kentucky fried movie (Score:2)
Re:Very interesting (Score:2)
Neal Stephenson, in his book Snow Crash [amazon.com], writes about just that. They run at supersonic speeds and can disarm a gang of armed thugs in an instant. They were nuclear powered, though. And required an actual canine brain in the machinery. Each Rat Thing could communicate with other Rat Things through wireless connections, forming a network. Virtual barking over this network alerted Rat things in neighbouring vicinities to come and lend help if needed.
Reminds me of Ping [megatokyo.com] of Megatokyo.
As usual, speculative fiction paves the way to the future.