14 DAY TRIAL // Robots have always been a controversial matter. Artificially created things which are able to make decisions on their own based on some kind of environmental sensors made the subject of many technological and engineering researches in time. The first record of a mechanical artificial agent man-created dates from 1738, when Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical duck able to eat, grain, flap its wings and excrete.
In time, robots have gained a significant use in industry, mainly in the automation of mass production industries. Due to their incredible power of usage, robots have also been seen as an important development resource that can be configured for different types of actions in various domains. Today, researchers think of innovative shapes and functionalities for these "mechanical fellows".
Illah Nourbakhsh, founder member of the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment (Create) lab among with his associates founded the Telepresence Robot Kit (TeRK). Here, the technicians from Carnegie Mellon University, who are also part of TeRk, announced the successful creation of some robots able to connect wirelessly to the internet allowing the owner to interact with it from any computer connected to the internet. According to them, these robots are very easy to build, the main part being a controller, called Qwerk as the rest is customizable according to the need or purpose for the machine. Querk controller consists mainly of a Linux computer with the software and electronics required for controlling the other devices. For example, one of these robots can be made out of a three-wheels machine with a mounted camera on top, which can be used for spotting your home while at work.
The researchers claim that these robots have an educational purpose, and they intend first to make them affordable for pre-college and college students and for any common individual interested in robots and robotics.