Submission + - $150 UCSD Robotics Development Kit enables hacking Mobile Inverted Pendulum (youtube.com)
Charbax writes: Here's the $150 BeagleMiP robotics development kit presented by students and professors from the Coordinated Robotics Lab at University of California, San Diego at CES 2014. It's Texas Instruments AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 Beaglebone Black Linux powered, combines all sensors needed in educational robotics development, webcams, displays, 3D printed structures/inventions, the self-balancing Mobile Inverted Pendulum (MiP) motors and encoders, the UCSD spin-off start-up Strawson Design has designed the Novus Robotics Cape sister-PCB Board to connect all kinds of additional motors, sensors, cameras, radios, and a lot more. WowWee MiP is the mass market consumer toy version of this design to be sold for $99 (and which will be somewhat programmable/hackable also using a backpack). The battery lasts for hours, it can carry and balance more than its own weight, potentially future sensors and apps will allow it to be autonomous (like a self-driving car), to feature emotions (how are you doing kid?), advanced artificial intelligence (bring you the beer from the fridge before you even think to ask for it), and larger robots based on these designs can potentially soon carry your groceries and follow you around, make your laundry, cook your food, wash your dishes and take care of your kids when you party.