Robbie and The Olympics

Like so many in the world, our TV has been tuned into the matches of the Olympics in Beijing.  The completions, the complications, the crashes, all the beauty, and amazing talent.  Nights I have stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, 3 AM.  The ice skating events are so beautiful!!!!  This year so many raw emotions for winners as well as those who did not win. 

It appears Robbie has become caught up in all the excitement.  When I checked the pattern of cleaning for this morning this is what I found.

There is a resemblance to a skater reaching back to grab the skate at the beginning of a twirl.  It could also be a snowboarder reaching for the board during a big jump.  We have been watching a lot of those competitions, also.  How cool that Robbie has become so excited about the Olympics.  Makes me wonder if Robbie wants to compete in some Robot Olympics.

There are robot competitions.  Many are about inspiring school-aged youth to become involved in the robotics industry.  This type of competition encourages increasing or gaining knowledge in design, programming, actual build, and other skill sets.  The general abilities of the actual robots that are built are covered in this article.

Intelligence.  ...  Robbie is programmed to move back and forth in a way to cover the space assigned.  According to the included manual, Robbie would eventually develop a pattern followed each day.  Not sure if we have detected that.

Sense Perception. ... Where the robot is in relation to its surroundings.  Robbie has three sensors.  He will slow down as he approaches an object.  The sensors require cleaning about once a month.  If The cleaning is not performed a fault of  'collision plate malfunction' displays on the app.  Basically, Robbie knocked himself out running into the dresser as an example.

Dexterity. ... This is for robots with appendages for use similar to hands.  Robbie only has brushes.  The side brushes do reach under things and along edges.  He occasionally throws his side brushes off the spindles.

Power. ... How does the robot get its power?  Robbie has a rechargeable battery that will last about 1.7 hours.  About the only thing that can be a challenge is returning to the source.

Independence.  The article explains this as a culmination of the above four skills.  Robbie does the sweeping or mopping.  We must clean the dust bin and other maintenance requirements.  In addition, when in mopping mode, we must block carpet areas to keep Robbie from mopping those!

Robbie might now medal in competition against some robots, but he does a good job when compared to other robot sweepers.  I still need a flying robot for dusting.

Thanks for stopping by for a Little of Nothin',

Janice