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Netbook-Based Robot Takes Popcorn Orders via Twitter

by Joseph L. Flatley on March 15, 2009 at 02:43 PM


In the far-out, sci-fi future of 2009, robots are doing some pretty amazing things, like capturing prowlers, assembling communications networks, and playing Rock / Paper / Scissors. Now, with a little help from RoBe:Do and Twitter, robotics has achieved what may be its crowning achievement: couch-side popcorn delivery. Coppa is a $1,649 software-ready robot (you supply the machine's netbook brain) that arrives with native support for a plethora of languages and tools (including C / C++ / C#, Flash AS3, Java,Microsoft Robotics Studio, .NET, and Visual Basic), and ships with a 12V rechargeable battery, autofocus webcam, and a sonar system. Optional accessories include motion, heat, and humidity sensors, and servo-driven grabbing actuators. The video below shows one such unit that's been programmed to take popcorn orders via-Twitter, timed to deliver the goods when the operator arrives home from work. Couch surfing may never be the same.

[Via SlashGear]





Tags: Coppa, diy, food, hack, microblogging, mod, netbook, popcorn, robotics, robots, social networking, SocialNetworking, tweet, twitter

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