Home Robot Vector – Your New Emotional Friend From Anki
Anki is a company whose products always pleases. Overdrive, his push in racing space, was a fun hybrid in the Scalextric style and games with apps. Due to its charm, Cozmo hit the top of the toy charts. But Cozmo was really just a tabletop toy with a focus on the toy. Despite the fact that he was able to do a few things, most people just played games with him and cooed when they were noisy. Great, always been there.
Anki Vector, Cosmo’s larger brother, the latest release of robots from Anki. This is definitely a device that will be used for the whole family. In fact, the goal is to really be part of the family.
[amazon_link asins=’B07G3ZNK4Y’ template=’CopyOf-2Anki-Vector’ store=’robottlerx-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’4b10dfa1-02af-11e9-a3f9-3999741af364′]
Design and Functions
Anki hopes to achieve this by making Vector autonomous. Binding to the application, it probably should be only for one person, the vector intercepts right in your Wi-Fi connection and uses the degree of the free application. This automatically means that he can use many more people.
Anki had to transfer the computing power, which was mainly performed using applications. On board is a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, Quad Core 1.2 GHz, like some smartphones and tablets. Kozmo, and his gray and gold look, of course, makes it more of an executive toy.
When turned on, the vector has similar functions and expressions for Cozmo. Pixar Body, the Vector team was controlled by someone who worked in DreamWorks. The inclusion of PowerWorks in these animators shows how important it is for the Vector to look like a real family member, important to Anki. It also has a similar version for interactive blocks.
Tune
Setting up Anki Vector was an easy process. The Vector application is up and running. But the setting should be available through the application. To connect it to your home network. First, you need to make sure that you are on a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network, the application must recognize the robot. You do this by entering the code. Vector wakes up and ready to go. This may be what you want to see. He traveled a very long time, how long he was, well, alive.
Qualcomm processor inside is significant. This means that the vector can do a lot, and although Anki seeks not to call on his virtual assistant, that is, what he can and should eventually do is what you expect from other Google Assistant and Alexa users. For example, the “Set Vector” feature means that it can give you answers to questions. He also has the ability to set timers, talk about what the weather does — with neat animation — take pictures and usually take pictures in the background, waiting for you to wake her up.
He has this ability thanks to four near microphones inside his case. “Hey, Vector,” is a waking word, and then ask him to do something. Anki seems to indicate that a recording can be made immediately – it is not in the business of collecting data.
Spectacle
It is clear that Vector is a much more complex device than Cozmo. In our tests, Vektor was able to recognize our face and voice as soon as we asked for it – he can understand different dialects, such as the United Kingdom and the USA – and he spoke to us in a very distorted, but pretty robotic voice. We asked him what the weather was and what we were told, with animation, to match. We asked who was the queen of England and received an answer. When we were coughing, we approached us to find out what was going on.
We asked him to set a timer and that the countdown appeared on his small front face color IPS display with high resolution. When we didn’t ask him to do something, he would check his area and would simply be interested in understanding its environment and prepare for the game. We even played Black Jack with this – again, his small screen shows cards in us – and this allowed us to win a couple of times.
When he wandered around the neighborhood, he sometimes saw our face and just spoke our name, excited when he did. There is a huge amount of charm and individuality. When it comes to power, there is a docking station, like one Cozmo. But this time, because he has his own brain, he will automatically start there when he runs on power, which adds his own to it.
We managed to get around about 45 minutes of the game, after which we had to charge it for about 30 minutes to fully fit into the game again. The vector will go to his charger if you tell him to fall asleep, but this is a fairly simple experience. We have never played with him enough to completely exhaust the game – this is definitely a toy with which you can work a little and then let it do its thing.
He also knows what time it is, so that later in the night he will stop talking and will be a little quieter. In our time it seemed to him that he knew perfectly well everything that was happening. Giving him a small move also radiates a response due to the capacitive sensor on the back. And you also get points in the app.
Sci-fi has long promised that robots for kids will someday live in our homes, helping us with everything and becoming a real member of the family. Now, the robot company Anki is creating Vector, an emotional little robot that basically is the analog between a smart helper at home and a pet. When creating Vector engineers, development engineers decided to make it a versatile home robot that is a true family friend, helper and security guard and can actually walk around the house with a watch.
The Vector has a small body, dressed on wheels with hip prostheses and a solid front body, like a bulldozer. On his small head, which can bend up and down to look at you, an expressive face is created. Vektor goes a long way to get your attention with its grimaces. This is an IPS screen that displays two large, cartoonish-like eyes that will expand, frown, squint or mutate, depending on the mood and actions of this sturdy baby.
At first glance, Vector is very similar to the previous Anki, Cozmo robot, but the similarity is only in the package. When Cozmo is a toy for children, Vector is intended for a larger audience, people who want to get more practical benefits from their robot friends and no doubt spend time with it.
Specifications
To cope with all the tasks, Vector has a big impulse to its virtual brain department. It is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which you will also find in modern smartphones, and its personality is the result of AI algorithms and deep learning systems that allow it to recognize and respond to its environment.
He senses the surroundings with an HD wide-angle camera, four microphones, a laser scanner for navigating obstacles, and the robot is equipped with infrared sensors on its underside that hold the Vector from the edges of the tables and a capacitive touch sensor for detecting obstructions from behind. This is really a lot of technology in such a small body, and Vector uses it all for its flawless performance.
Given that he can recognize faces, different users can set their own preferences for Vector, which will be recorded by the robot when communicating with different people each time. Therefore, he could greet one person with a report on oil reserves on the planet, or a friend tells the latest sports news, or remind a person that he has a visit to a dentist today.
Anki also carefully ensures that privacy is a priority. All user data, including the microphone and camera channels, are processed locally in the robot itself. But that’s not all. The vector will threaten you with a fist on the team simply when it wants and can play blackjack or other games using additional accessories. He dances when he hears music and snores when he sleeps and calmly charges himself in the charging dock.
Vector is an incredible personality
A vector is not a toy that you play with for a while and then forget. It’s more like Amazon Echo and its counterparts, where the device is always on, sits on a bench and waits to do something.
Final Conclusion
Having Vector around for several weeks in our home has certainly expanded the appeal of the robot. At first, we liked to play with him and ask him questions, but then the situation moved after the first week.
It was then that we liked being at our house. He will come and interact and say “hello”, then we will play a few games, then he will return to doing his job.
USP does not have to use the app all the time, it certainly eliminates the friction of using the robot, but we also found that we are returning to the app to see if there are more opportunities to make the most of the Vector features.
Anki transmits it as a family device, which in the near future should be used at home just like Google Assistant and Alexa. At the moment, Vector is a cheerful companion robot with a powerful big brain. Today it is the best toys for children.
