A Ready-To-Go Robot for Creative Programmers

by RayRenteria on August 31, 2007

At first glance, SPC-101C might look like a toy akin to the white plastic skinned robots you’re used to seeing at your local electronics store. Upon further inspection, however, you’ll find that this little guy is anything but.

Although there are many humanoid robots out there that allow you to “program” them with motion editors, SPC-101C does that and then goes a step beyond by opening up its control to programs you write and run on your computer. Speecys has been building robots since 2001 that communicate with the internet using standard internet protocols. SPC-101C talks SOAP and HTTP to get his instructions using 802.11G wireless protocol. He can also be connected to your PC via a USB cable.

So what?

Well, the notion of a small autonomous client-server designed robot is very compelling. It relieves the device from the burden of expensive and power-hungry components and instead leverages computing technology everybody already has: computers with tons of disk space and tons of processing power. For example, the SPC-101C has an on-board video camera that transmits video data to your computer. If you’re a computer vision person, you could write a computer vision based application in whatever language you want on your PC and leverage the Speecys API to send commands wirelessly to SPC-101C.

SPC-101C has two speakers and a subcutaneous LED display on his hands and chest. His mobility is snappy. Instead of the sluggish movements of other robots I’ve seen, SPC-101C makes good use if its RS301CR Futaba servos. At 360,000 yen (about $3,000), SPC-101C is an expensive robot. There are other robots like the Futaba RBT-1 and Hi-Tec Robonova-1 that are not as programmable as SPC101-C but sell for less than half the cost.

Cost aside, Speecys has the right idea. I want one.

I found out about SPC-101C on GetRobo.

J L Borghead

Oooh, that looks fantastic! It’s a bit expensive…

What would *you* recommend for a cheaper programmable robot? I suppose you could make that into a separate post.
Ray Renteria

That’s a great idea for another post. Thanks for the suggestion.

In the meantime…

The iRobot Create is of consumer-grade quality and at just $129 is very inexpensive. All it can do is move around and avoid obstacles–a very common “trick” for robots. Admittedly, although basic obstacle avoidance is common, it does a great job of evoking emotional responses in kids. The Create has ports for you to add your own stuff like more sensors or actuators. I recommend the iRobot Create (http://store.irobot.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2591511). I’ve never programmed one but I trust the guys who make it. Their products have been through the worst trials imaginable–they’ve been in the hands of average consumers.