[dorkbotdc-blabber] What do Zanelle and the beer drinking Bar Bot have in common?

[M at]

How did you measure that a beer was empty? Was it a set timer or did
you keep track of the mass of the can and when it didnt' decrease for
a certain interval then you knew it was empty?

M@


On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Alex Barth <mail at a-barth.info> wrote:
> Pindar van Arman started his presentation of Zanelle
> http://www.zanelle.com/ yesterday with a question that I felt familiar
> with: What's missing in all those robots like Asimo? What is it that
> makes them ultimately not human like even though they walk on two
> legs, play ball and talk to people?
>
> Pindar's approach is to teach Zanelle a very human skill: creative
> production, painting.
>
> A couple of years ago I explored the same question but the outcome was
> very different: I felt that the key was purpose. Humans haven't been
> "built" for a particular purpose - we pursue our own goals in a social
> context.
>
> Together with a couple of friends from http://www.timesup.org I set
> out to build a self sufficient robot. The result was the bar bot: a
> robot that hangs out in a bar, scrounging money from patrons and
> ordering a beer when there's enough in its (his, her?) pocket.
>
> Watch the video:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xypy61_GB_c
>
> This project is partly a challenge to humanoid robotics (think: a
> mouse trying to piss on an elephant's leg) and partly a comment on the
> pursuit of happiness in bars (I drink and socialize, therefore I am)
> and certainly not to be taken entirely serious. Still: I think two
> very important aspects of the ultimate humanoid robot are -
> independent purpose and social interaction.
>
> And I might add: the thing needs to have a frickin face :) Don't
> underestimate animism.
>
> It was my first dorkbot dc yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed it, see you
> all soon again,
>
> Alex
> ........................................................................
> .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with electricity.........
> ................... http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotdc .......................
> ........................................................................
>



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"Actually I make more money selling magazines than I ever did at Initrode!"