Spiders. Most people imagine giant, hairy disgusting creatures at the mention of the word, not adorable little robots that scuttle across the floor. But that is what Roboeve have created. Meet Xpider, the world’s smallest programmable spider robot.
The Xpider comes in at 85mm tall and weighs just 150 grams. It is powered by an Intel Edison board and is capable of facial recognition, obstacle avoidance, and smartphone control. The robot can even be trained using a simple neural network. It can also be set on roaming mode, so it can go explore the big bad world all by itself.
With a camera as my eye, I can show you what I see on your smart phone and with my small size, I will bring a totally new perspective on everything around. Guide me with your phone or a game controller, I will show you a totally different world view!
I don’t just record images with my camera. I can also understand what I see thanks to the powerful computer inside me with computer vision. I recognize objects around me and also people and their faces. This is my super power!
My eye guides me through obstacle so I can roam freely without getting stuck! Set me on roaming mode and I can explore the space all by myself.
With my people recognition power, you can set me up on your desk and I will dance happily when I see you and alarm you when someone else approach.
These are just some of my skills. Thanks to SmartNode, the awesome program that powers me, you can change me by simply drag and drop. We can do so much more together.
-Xpider.
Roboeve, the team behind Xpider
In August 2015, Beijing-based Roboeve began by modifying an off-the-shelf children’s toy (the Nerf ‘TerraDrone’) to enable first person view.
Fast forward one year, they have created 26 different 3D printable designs with 40 parts each, resulting in over 500 unique 3D printable parts. Each has been tried, tested, and improved over 1,800 hours of research and development. The project founder, Binbin, is the hardware and prototype engineer. Together with his team the Xpider was created in 8 months.
The six person team is comprised of a group of young robotic engineers and industrial designers just graduating from college. An interesting aspect of the team is how gender diverse it is, with 50% being made up of women, unusual for the robotics industry.
They have an upcoming crowdfunding project, so sign up for updates on their website for further details and give generously to see their project come to life.
Featured image: Wevolver
