www.914pcbots.com has some interesting pics of the 914 used as a navigator-bot if you're interested.

www.914pcbots.com is starting to fill with some content, a few wacky discussion and great ideas for working with 914 PC-BOTs.

Have to say I'm very pleased with the participation so far considering product is yet to ship. Waiting is SO HARD :)

For those of you who might be interested I've added a new editorial to www.914pcbots.com regarding the issue of robots size.

Introduction excerpt:

Like many people who've put some thought into robotics I've got my own vision of a pefect robot butler... or actually in my case I should say robot 'buffer'. While most people dream of the million physical chores their robot will be doing for them that they won't have to do (vacuuming the floor, feeding the dog, babysitting the kids, fetching beer etc) my robot would act more as a buffer against what I call 'technology spam'.

I love technology and I make my living in the technology industry but frankly...

Hi,

I've started a new website: www.914PCBOTS.com which I hope to build a community around for people interested in building robots around PC technology and also the White Box Robotics 914 series of robots.

Working for VIA I've long been a proponent of using our Mini-ITX boards and PC technologies for robots (I call'em PC BOTS) so I decided on my own volition to start this new site.

If you're interested please do drop by. I'd certainly appreciate any feedback the robots.net community can give me to point me in useful directions.

Cheers,

Tim

Just a heads up that MobileRobotics.org has published the first ever actual review of a 914 PC-Bot from White Box Robotics... if you're interested you can check it out here:

http://www.mobilerobotics.org/robots/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=223&Itemid=2

Just wanted to share with you that my personal website (sponsored by VIA and/or anyone else who wants to pay for adverstising... nudge nudge, wink, wink) has served up over 150,000 page views this month already.

I love doing the site (even though I'm a lousy web master) and I plan to add even more features soon. If any of you have any suggestions let me know.

Tim www.mobilerobotics.org theeditor@mobilerobotics.org

Dafydd,

I think your experience shows how in the future governments will have to start to get involved with the legislation relating to robotics.

In Fukokua in Japan, they have already started with these laws to allow future robots to roam freely in the streets and move about without human interference.

Tim B.

Tim from VIA and www.mobilerobotics.org here reporting in to let you guys know that WindowsforDevices.com has a great feature on a hacked RoboSapien with a Camera/PocketPC head.

Check it out here.

Deskoid Robotic PC System is a techno tower of Babel

In my capacity as VIA Robotics Program Manager one of the major ideas we are trying to convince the robotic community of is the need for x86 architecture. We have a vested interest in this idea of course but also we believe the standards, connectivity options, processing power and pricing are right for the robotics industry. Because VIA's design principals also include small, fanless, low power drawing properties, we believe we have the edge over other x86 solution providers.

While there are many different robotic design and concept possibilities that can be based around x86 architecture one of the interesting categories that is slowly emerging is that of the PC-Bots. While many robots are designed to do a particular task, PC-Bots do what you PC does and then extend its functionality by adding a few robotic touches. White Box Robotics 912 series of robots due out later this year, are a perfect example. RoboDynamics will likely be coming out this year with a Robotic Personal Assistant that is also based around a PC platform.

Wayne Chiang has given the PC-Bot concept a lot of thought and has come up with his own unique approach developing what he calls a Deskoid Robotic PC, which marries the PC, robotics and the desk itself to create a useful, multifunctional tool that he feels may introduce the furniture industry into robotics. The Deskoid Robotic PC would take advantage of several well developed PC based technologies such as web cams, VOIP (Skype for instance) to further enhance its functionality. The Deskoid Robotics PC would be used for remote security monitoring, long distance eLearning, AV-appliance integration, mobile videoconferencing or even robotic photography.

The Deskoid Robotics PC has its own blog/website that is an illustrated guide through the design and conceptualization process of this truly unique PC-Bot.

A briefer Chinese version of the website can be found here.

www.mobilerobotics. org We have now become media sponsors for The Prodigies a DARPA Grand Challenge team, and also the upcoming Robonexus event in October.