Like many other companies that are all set to broaden their horizon with the 3D printing technology, Intel, the pioneer in chips and processors, seems to have decided to create new bench marks in consumer level robotics, with the help of 3D printing. Jimmy, the new 3D printed robot, will start a mini revolution.
The masterpiece was brought together with the collaborative efforts of Intel and Trossen Robotics. The demo version of this robot was flaunted by the company’s resident futurist Brian David Johnson at the Code Conference. The robot is a little white humanoid that could do tricks like walking, talking, tweeting as well as dancing. The model runs on Intel Edison, which basically is a low cost computer on a chip. The robot is an open source which allows developers to build their own apps and so users can easily download whatever software applications they want to run on their machines.
Intel plans to launch their fully customizable 3D printable robot kit to the market by the end of the year. The price would be as low as $1,600. This would be a small black robot (unnamed) which will be powered by Quark chip. This robot is fully printable except for some parts such as the actuators, motors, and other mechanical parts, these will be supplied by Intel. The hardware designs will be freely available online allowing anyone to access to a 3D printer to generate and assemble the basic parts. This kit will be available online at the website of 21stCenturyRobot.com. Jimmy on the other hand, is said to be priced at $16,000 which is powered by a Core i7 chip. Jimmy is more enigmatic than the prior cheaper version, as it walked onstage and introduced himself, shook a leg and then sat down during the demo.
Johnson compared this to mobile apps, which empowers the owners to make one piece of hardware do a wide variety of tasks. Johnson went on to say that “It’s like a Smartphone with legs”. Johnson also elaborated about the uniqueness of the project by saying that “Your robot will be completely different from mine; you customize it and program the artificial intelligence, not by having a PhD in robotics but by downloading apps.” Intel’s chief executive Brian Krzanich, also added that ‘Robots are coming, Like it or not! According to the claims made by Intel’s chief executive Brian Krzanich, the robot will be available for sale by the end of the year.
Intel executives also flaunted a proto-type “smart shirt” that is expected to replace a sensor mounted on an elastic band that could be worn by cyclists and other athletes. This “smart shirt” would connect a prototype Smartphone app, communicating real-time EKG data.
This fall, a book written by Johnson will be published named; ‘The 21st Century Robot’ will be released. The aim of this book is to inspire more students and makers to build their own robots. The prerelease version is already available free online.
With all these developments, Intel has made it clear that it plans to cruise into various sectors such as mobile space, inside notebooks, phones, tablets, and the galaxy of embedded devices known as the Internet of Things.
