Anki Cozmo (Photo : Facebook )
Anki's little artificial intelligence (AI) robot named Cozmo was designed with complex software including facial recognition tech. The Silicon Valley company hopes that programmers and hackers will become curious about the cute robot, then use the software development kit (SDK) to discover the lines of code that make it chirp when it wins a game, for example.
Anki announced on July 11, Monday that Cozmo will be rolled out with an open-source SDK and a target market of power users such as robotics fans and hackers, according to Engadget.
The little robot is set to launch in October. Anki hopes to get feedback before the final SDK becomes available to the general public as well as third-party developers.
The company's engineers have already built Cozmo to do complex operations. However, the user can send instructions to the mini robot using simple code.
For example, a user can write one line of code that commands Cozmo to approach a block and pick it up. The simple action requires hundreds of lines of code that involve the robot's machine vision, navigation, and expressions.
Hanns Tappeiner is Anki's co-founder and president. His AI and robotics company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
Tappeiner used an iPad mini plugged into his laptop to give a live demo using the bot's SDK. He used the devkit to make the robot move back and forth at a set speed and distance.
The robot's SDK allows the users to interact with the robot's code in a way ranging from simple to labyrinthine. Tappeiner explained this will allow young kids and game developers to give instructions to Cozmo.
A beta version of Cozmo's SDK will launch with the tiny robot in October. Customers only need a mobile device and laptop computer in order to run and change the bot's software.
Anki is making a big jump from remote controlled toy racecars that sped around a mini track, according to The Verge. The company hopes its new AI robot will affect the retail robotics industry like Microsoft's Kinect motion camera for its gaming consoles. This Xbox accessory is a cheap computer vision tool with many real-world applications.
