While the idea of building a robot is one that captures the imagination—assuming of course it ends up more “Bicentennial Man” than “Terminator”--that same idea also often comes with a shockingly high price tag. But thanks to Rapiro, a Japanese creation that uses some unusual methods to keep its price down, getting hands on a humanoid robot may be much simpler and cost-effective than some might have thought.
The Rapiro robot manages to trim a substantial amount of cash from its price tag, bringing it all the way down to 249 pounds sterling each (around $385 U.S.) by doing some innovative things with the construction of same. First, the Rapiro is really more of a kit than a completed robot, which means that buyers will be doing some of the assembly processes. Given that the Rapiro can be assembled with the strength of a screwdriver—the whole thing is run on just 12 servo motors total, one for the head, six for the arms, four for the feet and a final one for the neck—it's not going to be difficult for most users to build a robot right in the house.
But perhaps the biggest savings are realized in the brain of the robot. Kiluck has focused on the Raspberry Pi microcomputer to carry out much of its complex set of programs, and since the Raspberry Pi traditionally runs around $25—not too much more than an actual raspberry pie or two, depending on where it's bought—that really helps keep the prices low. Even the name reflects this, as it comes from the first two letters of each word in the phrase “Raspberry Pi robot.”
Kiluck's Rapiro also boasts a set of LCD-based eyes that can easily be modified across the color spectrum—no Terminator red here, unless that's what the user wants—as well as the ability to walk on flat surfaces unescorted, making it ideal for fetch quests. Extra mounts are in place for a camera sensor and speakers to be added later, and further sensors can be added down the line to improve Rapiro's abilities. Kiluck is even offering up the spec files for a Rapiro shell so that those out there with 3D printers can actually build a Rapiro outer shell at home, further dropping down costs, as no one will need to ship it any more.
Kiluck recently staged a Kickstarter around the Rapiro, seeking 20,000 pounds sterling ($30,896 U.S.) to get the robot going. The Kickstarter was a clear success, hitting its goal in a little over a day, and with 54 days left to go the project stands at 31,979 pounds sterling (just a bit over $49,401 U.S.), so it's clear that people are interested in getting their hands on a Rapiro.
While the Rapiro's actual usefulness may be limited—forget about it bringing you a drink so much as it might bring you a pen—it does have certainly some usefulness as a security system, especially thanks to the embeddable cameras. It's also best not to regard the Rapiro as the target, but rather as a step along the road to inexpensive, fully-featured labor droids that can fetch and carry and do those things around the house we'd all rather not do.
The Rapiro itself could well be the start of something very impressive, and given where the overall course of the art of robot building is going, we may well get to the whole robot-cleans-your-house concept sooner than anyone really expected.
