The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project is something that is very near and dear to our hearts here at RoobDynamics. For those of you who may not be familiar, OLPC is the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte (chairman and founder of the MIT Media Lab) with the goal of giving each child in the 50 poorest countries in the world a laptop, thus bringing educational opportunities to children who most often do not even have schools to go to. The idea is that by connecting these children to the network, we can provide books and education to children who otherwise will go through life illiterate.

The OLPC project has a monumental goal with a 20 year plan...

 

 

While creating the first sub $100 laptop has been challenging, the organization has contributed tremendously to the filed of computing, has spawned a whole new generation of internet-connected devices (of which the iPhone is one), and has been able to deploy thousands of laptops in some of the poorest regions of the world, bringing children not only an educational opportunity, but hope for a better future.

The stories are heart-warming - but more importantly, encouraging.

 

In yet another move highlighting the need for frictionless face to face contact, Google today announced the addition of Video Chat capabilities to its Gmail service. Despite only a 4% usage rate in "small screen" video conferencing (think MSN or Yahoo Messenger) video chat is nevertheless becoming more important to companies as they will try to decrease Operating Expenditures over the next several quarters, dealing with the current economic downturn.

 

 

Much remains desired in traditional video conferencing: lacking inter-operability, reliability, ease of use, or high resolution video. These are among the most cited issues when examining the lower-then-expected adoption rates. They are also what enables companies like Cisco to sell very expensive Telepresence solutions because they have addressed these challenges in a systematic way and charge a high premium for it. However, the high cost of these Telepresence systems inherently make such systems only available to the C-Suite.

The TiLR robotic telepresence platforms is the affordable alternative for enterprises. TiLR brings reliability, ubiquity, and ease of use to a mobile video conferencing platform - all in an affordable package. This makes TiLR the first Telepresence solution that can be deployed in significant numbers across enterprises. 

And we are going even further... to make TiLR easier to use, more reliable, and more affordable.

Looking forward to your continued feedback...

Best,
/Fred

Our friends over at iRobot announced yesterday that the US Congress has appropriated $2 million in 2009 for continued development of the Warrior 700 robot.

 

 

The Warrior robot is a military-grade telepresence robot designed to provide video, audio and sensor readings to combat troops and law enforcement SWAT teams. You can find out more information about the Warrior at the iRobot website.

 

- Dana

Those who know me know that I love my iPhone 3G. I'll be the first to admit the phone functionality of the iPhone is not the greatest - and I have found myself at times jealous of Alex's brand new T-Mobile G1.

That said, I love the iPhone (and the G1 too) and believe that the future of Robotic Telepresence lies in our ability to use our mobile phones to connect and commandeer robots from the comfort of a device we will carry in our pockets. Imagine having TiLR Command Center on your iPhone...

This of course requires some technological infrastructure that we in the U.S. are unlikely to have for some time to come... but there is no doubt that we will.

In the meantime, I am delighted to see a homemade iPhone Robot coming out of Japan. The iPhone is rigged to a mobile base and connects to MacBook Air over WiFi. If you wish to make your own there is source code and instructions available and you can finally turn your jail-broken iPhone into a robot. 

 

 

 

Best,

/Fred

Today was a big day here at RoboDynamics.  We had 2 robots installed at a couple of Beta test locations.  One is in Anaheim, CA and the other is in New York.  The team at the site in NYC brought the robot online in about 15 minutes.  It shipped there safely and appears to be running well.  We had a consultant onsite in Anaheim and after navigating the IT maze, the robot was up and running in no time.  We expect our Robotic Telepresence platform to increase the level of communication and cooperation between the remote users and the team at the office and to significantly reduce travel.

The main benefit we're getting from having so many robots out in the field is feedback.  The data we get from the user experience has been invaluable.  We're hearing some great ideas and suggestions from various testers and are looking to put them into place for the next software version.  The robots have been performing well without too many reported issues.  It's good to see the platform responding to extended driving and daily usage.

We're continuing our Beta cycles and sending robots back out as users return them to us.  We've managed to stay ahead of the demand with some careful planning and timing.

If anyone has any interest in testing a robot, go to the "beta program" page and fill out the form.

Until next time,

-Alex

The Santa Monica offices of Google invited RoboDynamics for a meet-and-greet and Fred Nikgohar gave a Google Tech Talk presentation to Googlers. We want to thank all the Googlers who attended Fred's talk and look forward to collaborating with Google as we improve TiLR.

Here's the YouTube of Fred's Google Tech Talk.

 

 

When I checked my mail on Sunday I had a message from a friend with a single word: Congrats!

I had no idea at the time that TechCrunch had ran an article on TiLR and RoboDynamics. And we certainly weren't prepared with the massive amount of Demo requests we received on Monday. I knew TechCrunch was big, but I had no idea how big!

Meanwhile, I got an email from Greg Kumparak over at TechCrunch asking me whether we can host him for a private demo at our offices in Santa Monica. This afternoon, we got to spend time with Greg and show him around our office. He shot footage of TiLR in action and we had a nice chat about some of the things we're up to. 

It was striking to me after all the interviews and conversations I've had with journalist over the last five years, how much fun it was to hangout and discuss Robotic Telepresence with Greg.

 I'm looking very forward to the follow on article they'll be doing on us. Thanks Greg. It was great to meet and connect.

 

Best,

/Fred

RoboDynamics announces the addition of Natural Partners Inc to the growing list of companies evaluating the TiLR Robotic Telepresence platform. With the robot TiLR, users can instantly transport themselves to a remote location thereby eliminating travel and downtime.

Santa Monica, CA and Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) September 25, 2008 -- RoboDynamics announced today the addition of Natural Partners Inc. (NPI) to the growing roster of companies evaluating the TiLR Robotic Telepresence platform.

Natural Partners Inc., one of the largest distributors of Professional Only Natural Health Supplements in the West Coast, and producers of the "Well Rounded" and the "Well Well Well" television series, has begun using TiLR Robotic Telepresence in two unique capacities. TiLR will be featured on the Well Well Well TV Show which will enable easier access for Doctors and other Medical Professionals to participate in the TV show without having to travel to NPI's Scottsdale studios. Through the use of RoboDynamics' robot TiLR, guests on the show will be able to participate remotely from their homes and offices through the use of a computer and broadband connection - and will no longer need to travel to Scottsdale in order to participate on the show. When TiLR is not in the NPI studios, it will assist the warehouse operations staff of NPI, enabling rapid face to face communications with various suppliers and other stake holders, leading to faster and more streamlined warehouse operations.

"As producers of the first ever television series to focus exclusively on Professional Only Natural Supplements, we view the utilization of this revolutionary robotic technology in line with our vision of providing greater access to information that ultimately leads to the well being of our viewers and clientele" said Tye Smith, Founder and CEO of Natural Partners. "As a business owner providing exceptional customer service to our clientele, we will use TiLR to streamline our warehouse operations by communicating more effectively with our suppliers and customers".

TiLR, a Robotic Telepresence platform, enables frictionless face to face contact with anyone with a computer and broadband connection. TiLR enables a user to instantly transport themselves to a remote location without traveling to that remote site. In addition to providing bidirectional video conferencing, TiLR also enables the ability for the user to move around the remote site as if there in person, as well as the ability to take high resolution pictures and recording the video stream. Given these features, the TiLR Robotic Telepresence platform is a new form of communication that will eliminate travel and downtime, and will maximize collaboration and communications in a revolutionary way.

"The use of our technology to provide medical information to the community at large in a mass media format is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the way TiLR can eliminate travel and liberate communications in ways never possible before" said Fred Nikgohar, CEO of RoboDynamics. "We welcome Natural Partners to our growing list of participants in our Beta Program and look forward to our collaboration that will lead to optimizing our technology for media oriented applications".

ABOUT ROBODYNAMICS CORPORATION
RoboDynamics is an innovative robotics company that focuses on enterprise and industrial Robotic Telepresence. We have a world class team of engineers with deep expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence, electronics, and mechanics. Our process is to begin with the customer, conduct world class R&D to create revolutionary technology, and culminate it all into a unique product that changes the paradigm of collaboration across the enterprise and industrial landscape. Our mission is to leverages state of the art robotic technologies to change the way people live and work. For more information please visit www.robodynamics.com.

ABOUT NATURAL PARTNERS INC.
Natural Partners, Inc. ("NPI") has become one of the premiere one-stop shopping centers for medical professionals who wish to dispense nutriceuticals to improve patient health and support practice profitability. Likewise, NPI has become an excellent distribution source for manufacturers who wish to reach these medical professionals. NPI carries over 10,000 products from 80+ manufacturers and derives great satisfaction in taking the hassle out of professional dispensing for our Practitioner Clients and a profound privilege to serve their product needs. For more information please visit www.naturalpartners.tv.

###

This is a befitting day for me to write my first ever blog post because it was exactly five years ago today that I started RoboDynamics in my parents' garage. I had spent the previous two years traveling the world and talking to various people in the robotics field. I spoke to executives, academics, attended conferences, AIBO owners meetings, and hacker gatherings to learn about the products and people that made up the robotic world. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

A long time ago, in a country far away, I grew up in Iran during a long and bruising war. There was very little escapisms available for a child, and I began to entertain myself by taking things apart and making things. Eventually I got into building electronic kits - and I learned about resistors and capacitors. This went on for some time and I began to learn a few things and take on more ambitious projects. Then one day, at a friend's house, I watched a movie that forever changed my life. Watching Star Wars was an incredible experience for a ten year old. Not just because it is a good movie - which it is - but because of all the robots like R2D2 and C3PO. The inspiration that Star Wars instilled in me was indescribable. And I began dreaming of building robots…

In September 2003, after two years of research, I started RoboDynamics. Our goal was to create the first affordable telepresence platform. We had four requirements: It had to be useful, it had to be expandable, it had to be affordable, and it had to be open. Doing something useful was very important because I strongly felt most existing robots lacked any real usefulness besides being a hobby or at best an educational opportunity. It was also obvious to me that unless it was open and expandable, we could not make the kind of contributions that are (still to this day) necessary for pushing innovation in this field. And ultimately, if it wasn’t affordable, there would be no point to it at all.

It took us 11 months and seven iterations to introduce MILO at the RoboNexus conference in 2004. MILO was a huge hit at the show and people started to take RoboDynamics seriously. But there was a fundamental problem with MILO that I had not foreseen; MILO was not reproducible. It took two PhDs and several other highly skilled people to put a MILO together and to maintain it. In the last four years, we survived on contracts and small licensing deals. We also got a round of financing from our Angel investor which enabled us to do some serious R&D.

So now, four years and ten iterations later, we are proud to introduce the fruit of our journey. TiLR is the culmination of all the lessons we’ve learned over the last five years – and I’m happy to say that we have met all the four objectives we set forth in the very beginning. TiLR is world’s first affordable enterprise telepresence robot. Standing at four feet tall, TiLR is a PC-on-wheels, with a powerful Canon camera and an 8” LCD touch screen. More importantly, it has an open architecture which enables others to add features and functionalities to it beyond what we’ve done – and even make it do things that have nothing to do with robotic telepresence.

On August 27th, we installed the very first TiLR outside of our lab. TiLRx106 is now working at the offices of the X PRIZE Foundation – where it enables remote people to participate at staff meetings. Over the next several weeks, we will continue to announce other installations and continue to bring you stories of our journey as we enter this very exciting next phase of our company.

So thank you for your continued support, and stay tuned… we have a lot more to say.

Best,

/Fred Nikgohar,
Founder, RoboDynamics Corp.

For Immediate Release

Press Contacts:

Alex Lea
RoboDynamics Corp.
alexlea@robodynamics.com

Mike Fabio
Google Lunar X PRIZE
prcontact@xprize.org

RoboDynamics announces the first installation of its telepresence robot TiLR at the X PRIZE Foundation.

Santa Monica, CA -- August 27, 2008 -- RoboDynamics Corporation, the first company to commercialize an affordable Robotic Telepresence Platform, is announcing its first installation of their robot TiLR at the offices of the X PRIZE Foundation.

With this temporary beta-installation the X PRIZE Foundation becomes the first organization to test and evaluate the benefits of a Robotic Telepresence Platform. Robotic Telepresence provides the ability to instantly transport a person to a remote location without the person actually going there. Robotic Telepresence is similar to video conferencing in that there is a real time audio/video link, but also provides the means for the user to commandeer the robot and move about the remote location as though the user was actually there.

"We are honored to have an organization of the caliber of the X PRIZE Foundation to be the first evaluation site for our TiLR platform," said Fred Nikgohar, CEO of RoboDynamics. "It is only befitting that the X PRIZE Foundation, whose Google Lunar X PRIZE is a race to put a telepresence robot on the surface of the moon and provide a live video feed of the lunar surface, is our first test site."

At the heart of RoboDynamics’ telepresence platform is TiLR, a four foot tall robot which features a bright LCD screen and a powerful Canon camera. An operator logs into TiLR remotely using a standard PC and commandeers the robot at the remote location while having a real time audio/video link with the robot. Leveraging state of the art technologies in robotics, wireless, and artificial intelligence, TiLR provides the ability for a person to be in two places at the same time. By deploying TiLR and harnessing Robotic Telepresence, organizations can reduce downtime, eliminate travel, increase productivity, and maximize collaboration.

"We’re very excited to have this opportunity to be the first official test site for this revolutionary technology. We see tremendous benefits in having the ability to collaborate with people in this new, intuitive, and natural way," said Michael Fabio, Google Liaison and Community Manager for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

ABOUT ROBODYNAMICS CORPORATION
RoboDynamics is an innovative robotics company that focuses on enterprise and industrial Robotic Telepresence. We have a world class team of engineers with deep expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence, electronics, and mechanics. Our process is to begin with the customer, conduct world class R&D to create revolutionary technology, and culminate it all into a unique product that changes the paradigm of collaboration across the enterprise and industrial landscape. Our mission is to leverages state of the art robotic technologies to change the way people live and work. For more information please visit www.robodynamics.com.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world’s attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its revolution partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Exploration (Space and Oceans), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.