Photo by Nik on Unsplash
Build Your Own AI-Powered Robot: Startup Launches Affordable Kits for Beginners
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by
LeRobot, the unicorn startup Hugging Face’s new open-source robotics project, just launched a new tutorial to help regular people build their own AI-powered robots. Remi Cadene, a former Tesla scientist now leading the initiative, announced the update, and all instructions and tutorials are available on GitHub.
“The wait is finally over! We just dropped an in-depth tutorial on how to build your own robot!” wrote Cadene on X, “Teach it new skills by showing it a few moves with just a laptop. Then watch your homemade robot act autonomously.”
The wait is finally over!!! 😁 We just dropped an in-depth tutorial on how to build your own robot! Teach it new skills by showing it a few moves with just a laptop. Then watch your homemade robot act autonomously 🤯 1/🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/ReeDvNlrg9 — Remi Cadene (@RemiCadene) August 19, 2024
Hugging Face, an AI and machine learning open-source platform originally founded by French entrepreneurs and now headquartered in the United States announced the new project LeRobot in May. According to Venture Beat , its mission is to “democratize AI robotics and inspire a new generation of roboticists.”
Now, LeRobot has launched its first tutorial, Getting Started with Real-World Robots, available for everyone through GitHub. The new instructions have been designed to teach users to order and build their own robot, connect and configure it, record and visualize the database, prepare policy for evaluation, and visualize results.
The kit with the robot parts—including instructions to print 3D parts— and the links to buy each piece are available on GitHub for customers in the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. The total price for all pieces is $278 or 360€, but Cadene said on X that they are already working on a less expensive version, Moss v1, that won’t require 3D-printed parts and shouldn’t surpass $150.
Users on social media have already expressed excitement. “Finally, a robotics tutorial that’s accessible to everyone! Can’t wait to try it out and see what kind of skills I can teach my robot. Thanks for making robotics more inclusive!” wrote one user on X .
Amateur robot builders could soon try to compete against other mechanisms like Google’s new ping-pong robot or at least build a similar structure.
Image by Charles J. Sharp, from Wikimedia Commons
High-Tech Hives And Dancing Robots To Help Save Honeybees
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
EU-funded scientists are developing innovative solutions to protect declining bee populations. These include smart hives and robotic bees designed to improve bee health and assist beekeepers. These initiatives were featured yesterday in Horizon Magazine .
Honeybees are vital for pollinating crops and wild plants, but their populations are declining due to threats like climate change and pesticides. Researchers are looking for technological solutions to help bees thrive.
One project, called B-GOOD , has developed a “digital comb” – a sensor-equipped circuit board that bees build their combs around. This device monitors vital hive data like weight and temperature, allowing beekeepers to remotely track hive health and receive instant alerts when issues arise.
Professor Dirk de Graaf, who leads the B-GOOD project, said, “Using our technology, we can now identify colonies that need intervention. This is then communicated to the beekeepers via tailored alerts with specific instructions.”
Additionally, as reported in Horizon Magazine, the project also developed maps and virtual landscapes to help beekeepers find ideal beekeeping locations.
“This works a bit like a flight simulator, but for beekeepers,” notes de Graaf in a European Commission brief . “In this virtual online landscape, modelers can position a virtual colony in a certain location and see how the bees are likely to respond to the environment.”
Another project, HIVEOPOLIS has created a similar digital comb with an additional feature: heating elements. Professor Thomas Schmickl, who leads the research, explains how this can help bees survive winter.
“A lot of honeybee colonies die in the winter,” he said. “They need honey to survive, but sometimes these stores are out of reach, so bees die from cold trying to reach them.”
“This is the first time we can change the temperature from inside the comb, directly sending the command over the internet. No one has ever done that before,” he said.
HIVEOPOLIS is also exploring the use of robotic “dancing bees” inspired by the waggle dance honeybees use to communicate food source locations to each other.
Dr. Tim Landgraf, a leading expert in artificial and collective intelligence from Freie Universität Berlin, has been at the forefront of developing robotic bee technology. His previous work on RoboBee demonstrated that real bees can follow the lead of a robotic dance partner.
Building on this success, the HIVEOPOLIS project is exploring bee communication further by translating their dances into map coordinates. Dance robots will guide foraging bees to optimal pollen sources while deterring them from harmful locations, such as pesticide-contaminated flowers or Varroa-infested hives.
These technologies are set to revolutionize beekeeping. Ultimately, a healthier bee population means a healthier environment for everyone.
While the prototypes are promising, larger-scale adoption and commercialization are needed. Researchers are working with beekeeping organizations to promote these technologies.
