When they tell you that with a Raspberry Pi you can only build homemade projects that are used to experiment a little with programming, robotics and something else, show them this robot. You will surely change your mind quickly.
An autonomous robot with a Raspberry Pi brain
All that we have used a Raspberry Pi for some project, whatever it is, we have been aware of its limitations at the computational level. You don't have to be an engineer to know that of course there are other boards and devices that offer greater capabilities, but that doesn't mean you can't achieve things that really surprise everyone who sees them.
The only thing that is needed is to know how to take advantage of each one of its capacities and, in addition, to have the necessary time and resources to be able to carry out all the rest of the project with the best guarantees. If so, proposals like this myAGV They shouldn't be that surprising.
This Elephant Robotics robot is the dream of more than one maker who loves robotics, because it could be said that it practically has it all. To begin mobility, thanks to wheels based on rotating rollers, the robot can move forwards and backwards, even move laterally without having to turn.
Then there is the issue of the front camera and LiDAR sensor that allow them to see and create a detailed map of the area through which they are moving. Thus, it can not only better detect obstacles, but also find them for what would be its other important feature: the use of a robotic arm.
The arm is one of the great attractions since it allows various actions and a very wide range of movement thanks to its six axes. In addition, it can be placed in two different areas of the robot itself depending on what you want to do.
The price of the robot with the most capable Raspberry Pi
Logically, the cost of this robot is not cheap despite having a Raspberry Pi as its brain. And it is logical, because it is not the board that really raises its price but the rest of the components.
Manufactured by Elephant Robotics, the price for the base of the myAGV robot is 699 dollars. To this we must add the $594,30 that the myCOBOT Pi would cost, a robotic arm with 6 axes that gives great freedom of movement and to which other accessories such as the suction unit ($110) can be purchased so that I can pick up certain objects.
If, in addition, we see that a clip for the base or the myCobot intelligent kit cost 42 and 339 dollars respectively, then it is clear that getting this complete tinkering is not cheap. But when it comes to teaching programming and offering something else, it is frankly striking. It is not a product for everyone, but it is one that a few will appreciate.
the bionic cat
Undoubtedly Elephant Robotics knows what he is doing, because they not only have this interesting robot, but also something even more striking: the bionic cat A proposal that is reminiscent of Sony's dog and that is not too surprising, but after watching the video it draws a lot of attention.
Here, logically, the speed of movement and response makes it lose interest a bit, because one would expect more dynamism, like that of a real cat. Although you also have to be aware that this is very complicated right now, no matter how much the Boston Dynamics robots have accustomed us to certain tricks. But do not detract from this minimum either.