Android Controlled Robots At Intel's Science & Engineering Fair Steal The Show [Video]
We love our robots. Especially the small, controllable ones. Not so much the freaky bears, though. At Intel's Science & Engineering Fair, where robots are one of the things shown off, this year's event had a very smartphone-centric appeal, as it showcased moving robots. And, to make it better, they were being powered by the lovable Android from Google.
Google's mobile Operating System (OS), Android, is one of the most popular platforms in existence at this point, and we're seeing it all over the place. Even in cars. So, it's not that shocking to see it controlling robots. They're called "cellbots," and that's about as fitting a name for something that we've ever heard. The robots themselves are controlled by the Bluetooth protocol XMPP, which is natively available on the Android handsets that were showcased, including: HTC's Nexus One, Motorola's Droid, and HTC's T-Mobile G1.
And while battery life in an Android handset is one of the most talked about features, they didn't have a problem powering some of these little robots. To make the whole thing better, there's even an application that some of these developers/engineers created to sit atop their phone's homescreens, to show they were powering the robots. And another icon gets placed in the notification drop-down bar, too. If you want to create a robot, head on over to the Cellbots' website and look over the instructions. Do it yourself was never so much run.
[via Android Community]