Your old Android phone can be the brain of a small walking robot
UCLA researchers built PhoneBot, a 48cm biped that uses a phone's camera, sensors and chip. The design is open source.
Scientists made a little robot that uses an old phone as its eyes and brain. It can walk and follow a person. It is for learning and tinkering, not a robot you can buy yet.
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Why it matters
Using a phone you already own removes the costliest parts of a small humanoid, making robotics easier to try.
Worth a look: a fun second life for an old phone.
The details
- PhoneBot comes from UCLA's RoMeLa lab and is described in an arXiv preprint.
- It stands 48.3cm tall, weighs 1.8kg and has 13 low-cost servo motors.
- The team tested four Android phones, including a 2017 Honor 9 and models bought for about $50 to $80.
- It can walk, follow a person with the camera and stand up from a face-down position.
- It has no arms and walked only on flat ground. Speech and chat run on a nearby laptop.
Receipts
One trusted outlet reports it. Not confirmed yet. Open the sources and check us.
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