GetRobo Blog English

Neato to upgrade software via USB for vacuuming robot

  Last summer, Neato Robotics came out with it's robotic vacuum cleaner XV-11, which is equipped with a low-cost laser rangefinder that enables the robot to map the room and go around cleaning without hitting the furniture. As the company ramps up manufacturing and addresses the initial quality issues, it is also preparing to release software upgrades utilizing the robot's USB port. GetRobo visited the company and talked with CEO Max Safai to learn about the latest.  (This interview was conducted originally for a column on the Wall Street Journal Japan. The following is an edited transcription of the conversation.) 

 

(Photo: Neato Robotics CEO Max Safai) 

Q. What is the initial feedback you are getting from your customers?

A. Overall, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m very happy about that. Our product is a first of its kind. The customers cannot believe the fact that it’s a smart robot. It doesn’t just bounce around and they are very surprised by the cleaning power it has.

 If you look at the demographics of people who are really happy with the product right now, pet owners is the major section. They can’t believe how much hair it picks up and therefore love our product. They are also very impressed that hair does not wrap itself around our brush. All the other vacuuming robots - and also the upright vacuum cleaner - they need a lot of maintenance. People love that our robot requires little maintenance. 

Q. I’ve read the reviews on Amazon.com and you seem to have many very happy customers but also a few very unhappy ones. How are you addressing the feedback from the unhappy customers?

A. The only difference between a happy customer and an unhappy one is that the unhappy customer got a product that was not manufactured to our quality standards.

 To introduce our new product, we had to design all the manufacturing fixtures to produce the product. When one is making a product that is rather unique, you go to the manufacturing floor and they don’t know how to build it. How do you assemble it, test it and make sure of the quality? We have designed a lot of the test fixtures and assembly fixtures and actually wrote a lot of the test software. And we had to go to China and train the factory on how to use them. So they’re learning. It’s not that the product is not ready to be produced, but that the manufacturing floor has a learning curve to digest as well. So we are addressing it.

 And of course, what contributes to the disappointment (of the customers) is that these are early customers and they are all very enthusiastic about the product and they have high expectations. They placed their order and sometimes they waited up to 4-8 weeks to get it. Finally the robot comes, and it doesn’t work. It’s a normal human reaction to become upset.

 But if they call the company, we basically replace the robot - no questions asked. We ask them to send the robot back and then we send them a replacement. I’ve asked everybody here (at Neato) to test the replacements before they send them out so that we are 100% sure of the quality of the second product that the unhappy customer is getting. 

Q. Can you share any sales numbers? 

A. No, but thanks for asking. 

Q. The Roomba is selling well in Japan. Any plans for Neato to enter the Japanese market? 

 

What's next for Foldy/Cooky/Walky robot creator Yuta Sugiura

 If you like robots, you must've seen at least one of these.  Foldy the laundry folding robot, Cooky that makes miso soup, and Walky the bipedal robot control system using the iPhone.

 Well, the creator of all three of these inventions is Yuta Sugiura, one of the rising stars in robotics in Japan. His main focus as a robotics researcher is on the interface between humans and household robots.

 GetRobo got to meet him while he was in Atlanta attending  CHI 2010. We talked about his research over dinner and I asked him what's next on his mind. His answer was the following.

  "Right now I'm interested in 2 things. One is to create a robot "concertmaster." A concertmaster is the leader in the first violin section of an orchestra and the role is to be the interface between the conductor and the instrument players. I play the violin and was a concertmaster myself. The key is to be able to communicate what the conductor wants to have happen in a way most understandable and efficient to the players. So the objective of my research is to develop a concertmaster robot that can become the interface between a person and the actuators."

 "The important thing is that I am trying to come up with a robot that itself is the interface. This is different from  developing an interface for a robot." 

 "The other thing I would like to work on is a household robot that is quite invisible - meaning that it functions for you without you knowing it. I have 2 separate images in my mind for this. One is the elf in the Grimm Brothers tale The Elves and the Shoemaker, where the elves make shoes during the night while the shoemaker is asleep. The second image I have is the Senju Kannon which is the deity with 1,000 arms. A robot arm that only appears and performs tasks when you are in need would be very helpful inside the home."  

 Listening to his ideas triggered a lot of thoughts in my head about the future of robots for the home. And I found this nice interview article on the Japanese web magazine moonlinx. It describes well where Yuta Sugiura's research is coming from. Moonlinx writer Takafumi Takani has kindly allowed GetRobo to translate his article into English so here it is. Enjoy!

- You received your master’s degree this spring and have moved on to a Ph.D. track. Can you talk about your work as a “robot creator?”

Sugiura: I’m a member of the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD), and also work as a research assistant for the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology(ERATO) (which is a government-initiated basic research program). My main research area is in the interface of humans and household robots. I present my work at academic conferences and I also do demonstrations at shows like SIGGRAPH.

- What kind of research is that?

Sugiura: For example, a computer’s interface is its mouse and keyboard. A videogame’s interface is its controller. Even household appliances have interfaces, such as switches and remote controllers. Anything new in a household will require an interface.

However, currently robots can only be controlled by entering commands or by using videogame controllers. This is almost like bringing the movements of videogame characters into the real world. Using a videogame controller limits people to perceive robots as an extension of videogames.

There are studies being done on autonomous robots like Doraemon and Astro Boy, but it will still be a while until we start seeing autonomous robots living among humans. So my research is focused on how people and robots can coexist in the context of a household.

- What initially sparked your interest to get into robotics?

 

 

(Yuta Sugiura = far right = with his colleagues at SIGGRAPH Asia 2009)
 

Interview with Max Safai, Neato Robotics CEO

 GetRobo had the chance to visit Neato Robotics in Mountain View, CA, and got a first-hand look at the new robotic vacuum cleaner Neato XV-11. I wanted to try out their "crown jewel" - as CEO Max Safai puts it - which is their original inexpensive laser rangefinder that costs only $30.

 First of all, I wanted to see how the XV-11 can detect and avoid obstacles on the fly. 

 Very clever!

  It's also neat that the robot can identify a door and will not go out of the room until it has finished cleaning. Once it's done, it will go out of the door and move on to the next room. You can check out the other videos on the YouTube GetRobo Channel.

  There were some questions that I wanted to ask the company. The main one being whether they are willing to sell the laser rangefinder component separately. 

 The following is an edited excerpt from an interview with Neato CEO, Mr. Safai. The original article appeared on GetRobo Japanese on Feb. 6. 

 

 Q. How do you feel about competing with iRobot?

Cooky makes you miso soup

  Did you know that the proper way to make miso soup is to boil the water then put miso in, but NOT to return to a boil after you put in the miso? Well, you can program Cooky to do just that, or anyway you want to do it. How neat!

 A project by the Robotic Life Project at the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design. The main person behind it is Yuta Sugiura (who by the way is also the son of Tomio Sugiura, well-known for developing Dynamizer and other humanoid robots).

 To copy the objective of developing Cooky:

"We propose a cooking system that operates in an open environment. The system cooks a meal by pouring various ingredients into a boiling pot on an induction heating cooker and adjusts the heating strength according to the user's instructions. We then describe how it successfully functions in a shared space with the user. First, we use small mobile robots instead of built-in arms to save space, improve flexibility and increase safety. Second, we use detachable visual markers to allow the user to easily configure the real-world environment. Third, we provide a graphical user interface to display detailed cooking instructions to the user. We hope insights obtained in this experiment will be useful for the design of other household systems in the future. "

  

One scenario for future home robots - Magic Cards

 I just found out about this video through freelance journalist Moriyama-san's super informative blog. First half of the video is still imaginary but the second half describes what is currently possible.  

 You can read about the project here. I support research in this direction. And we don't necessarily need humanoids to do everything for us.