Most home robots available currently are designed for one specific use, like the iRobot Roomba for vacuuming, the WowWee Rovio for mobile surveillance or the Scooba for mopping floors.
Now, two students at the Louisiana State University’s department of computer science have created a prototype robot that can be fully customizable and used for multiple tasks such as lawn mowing and surveillance among others.
“What is most impressive about this robot is that it is
multi-functional and no one else is currently designing
multi-functional robots,” said S.S. Iyengar, chair of the computer science department at the university in a statement.
LSU’s robot called AgBot is solar powered and can move at up to six miles per hour for at least four hours.The robot comes with Bluetooth and GPS system that makes it easy to navigate.
In its avatar as a lawn care machine, it can be fitted with a seed dispenser and a fertilizer tank.
The robot is also equipped with a night vision camera positioned atop a 360
degree swivel, a high-frequency alarm system and advanced motion
detector.
So in its surveillance mode, if the AgBot detects motion it can sound an alarm, photograph the intruder and email the picture.
The ultimate goal for the AgBot is to be completely customizable. With minor adjustments, the robot can support five or six different
applications including picking up mail, say the students.
Here’s the video showing the AgBot at work.
Photo: Louisiana State University
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