Aido is a new personal robot that wants to interact with all aspects of your home – assistance, entertainment, home automation, security and more. And he’s blowing up on Indiegogo at the moment, having raised $339,488 at press time and easily surpassing its original goal of $75,000.
Aido rolls around on an omni-directional ball that allows him to move around the house. Aido has built-in object recognition and obstacle avoidance, and the battery should last about 8 hours, including 2 hours of mobility. If you don’t want Aido to move around your home, however, the top half is detachable and the “Aido tabletop” can remain stationary on your office desk to be your personal assistant, for example – think Jibo.
Source: InGen Dynamics
The 3-foot-tall robot can also control smart home products that use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, DLNA, Z-Wave, or IR signals. Aido has six mics to hear voice commands and haptic sensors that recognize and respond to touch. It’s also got onboard sensors for ambient light, air quality, noise and pressure, as well as GPS.
Aido has two operating systems powering it. Android Lollipop powers the interface elements, while a headless version of Ubuntu on a different set of processor cores controls elements like mobility, WiFi ranging, system guidance, onboard sensors, projectors and more. Aido will be exposing select APIs for this interface, especially around the sensors for users who would like to play around with controls and data.
Source: InGen Dynamics
Aido features a projector in its head that tracks gestures, but here’s a unique feature that sets it apart from some of it competitors. There’s an optional HD multimedia projector (sold separately for $199) that’s designed for watching movies and playing games. Aido also has a 2-inch woofer, dual tweeters and a 10-watt amplifier, offering the possibility for a fun, mobile home theater experience.
So, what can all this technology help Aido do? A number of things. Take a look at this image below, but to to see all of the things it can do, check out the preliminary user manual, as well as the demo video above.
Source: InGen Dynamics
The Aido Classic is selling for $549 with delivery set for October 2016. A smart home kit with controllable light bulbs costs $75, and the smart charging dock adds $199. A premium Aido with all accessories is $940.
Source: InGen Dynamics
