RoboCar – Autobots Roll Out!

by twinks on 28/06/09 at 8:00 am

If by some unexplained cosmic phenomena (let us say – ZMP) mystically managed to cross an open sourced Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT) from Knight Rider with a crash test dummy, then RoboCar will be the product. This cute little intelligent Linux based bugger is designed and made by ZMP – a renowned robotics company based in Tokyo, Japan, to test autonomous auto technologies. It means that before putting untested AI or automations on a 3 digit horsepower vehicle, it is better to test their algorithms and program instruction on this adorable 6 pound little model. It is probably safer and least expensive too. Although it would be fun putting a “brain” on a Dodge Viper and watch it say “I am Cobra, I have horsepower!” in an Austrian oak like voice.

linux robocar

This 17 inches robot car, albeit small, has features that only you can dream of for your own automobile. Say for instance a top of the line CPU in the form of AMD Geode LX800 processor. Now for what is “under the hood”, RoboCar has WiFi 802.11b/g/n, stereo CCD cameras, eight infrared sensors, three accelerometers, a gyroscope, and a laser range finder. Basically, all the toppings and trimmings you would need in a robotic test car. Initial price is around $7000 and is limited to only 200 units this year. If cars, AI and David Hasselhoff is your thing then save up and get in the line early.

For more about robots and other related products, visit this website.