How to build your own Internet-controlled robots

Carnegie Mellon University researchers say building robots doesn’t have to be rocket science. They’ve unveiled a set of recipes for building Internet-controlled robots with off-the-shelf parts. The Telepresence Robot Kit (TeRK) features one key piece of Linux-based hardware called a Qwerk controller, but otherwise calls on would-be robot builders to use off-the-shelf parts. Qwerk boats USB interfaces and controls a robot’s motors, cameras and other components. It also allows for wireless connectivity to the Internet, from which the robots can be controlled. One example of a robot that could be built using the kit include a three-wheel rover with a camera attached that could be used to keep an eye on your houe or pet. Other examples would be a flower loaded with sensors and an Internet-controlled teddy bear. The TeRK project is led by Associate Professor of Robotics Illah Nourbakhsh and members of his Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment (CREATE) Lab. Charmed Labs of Austin also developed Qwerk. “We want robots that don¹t just subscribe to geeky notions of what robots should be,” Nourbakhsh said in a statement. It has taken about 18 months to build TeRk, with support provided by Google, Intel and Microsoft. We wrote last year about a robot from CMU researchers beating automated Texas Hold’Em programs. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/070706-texas-hold-em.html Cisco is another outfit that has been busy on the robotics front, having developed a set of small smart robots, which can act as wireless communications relays, that sense when a mobile user is moving out of service range, and can follow the user to maintain connectivity.http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/032807-cisco-laptops-wireless-connectivity.html