[HN Gopher] OpenCat: Open-source robotic pet quadruped framework
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OpenCat: Open-source robotic pet quadruped framework
Author : kristianpaul
Score : 89 points
Date : 2024-03-22 19:25 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.petoi.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.petoi.com)
| mysterydip wrote:
| Presented with a signup popup modal before I could even scroll
| down to read the first paragraph. I get you want engagement, but
| that's too aggressive for me. Page closed.
| gobsmacker wrote:
| Do you feel like this focus on minutia versus substance has led
| you to miss otherwise insightful content?
| exe34 wrote:
| I instinctively closed the popup, so I have no idea what I
| just agreed to...
| skadamat wrote:
| GitHub page is better & cleaner for those curious:
| https://github.com/PetoiCamp/OpenCat
| jimsmart wrote:
| I have Bittle, their Open Source robot dog. Got it when they were
| doing the kickstarter.
|
| It's pretty cool :)
| A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote:
| Super neat. I am slowly trying to get my kid into the space so I
| will be watching this one.
|
| Incidentally, if anyone can share similiar efforts or kid ready
| sets, I would love to hear about it.
| tamimio wrote:
| Depends on their age and what level, there are "toys" you can
| buy with some visual programming like DJI robomaster, or
| advanced ones that actually use real lidar and stereo cam with
| ROS like AgileX limo (original price is $1000 btw, if a
| reseller is selling it for more they are just gauging the
| price), and also there are DIY ones that require 3D printing
| and such.
| gareth_untether wrote:
| Charles Stross's Accelerando comes to mind.
| nimbius wrote:
| The price to adopt a real cat is ~100usd in most states. Why not
| just get a cat? This projects like 300usd.
| ksenzee wrote:
| Total cost of ownership of a cat is considerably more than
| $300, unless you plan to make your cat hunt its own food, fail
| to license it, and never take it to the vet.
| wccrawford wrote:
| And it never destroys anything.
| nimbius wrote:
| So we already known the TCO of the product and the TCO of a
| cat, and we know the product will never cause damage due to
| a battery fire for example.
|
| _sigh_ if you want to build a robot, build one. Quit
| calling them cats and dogs. The marketing is cheezy.
| aj7 wrote:
| But live cat ships with much better software. It's not close.
| lagrange77 wrote:
| Superior interfaces.
| yumraj wrote:
| Real cats eat and shit and need medical help at times, while
| this doesn't.
| tamimio wrote:
| Despite their cool look and visually appealing design, QUGVs are
| still not optimal for practical real-world applications. Their
| limited mobility in comparison to UAVs for ISR operations,
| coupled with a mediocre payload capacity relative to traditional
| UGVs, results in a platform that have disadvantages from both
| categories. In my opinion, QUGVs are primarily beneficial for
| educational purposes or just a show or a 'wow' reaction from
| those outside the robotics field. For example, Boston Dynamics
| cannot descend stairs in reverse last time I checked, while
| Unitree tend to overheat rapidly, with internal components that
| are susceptible to failure, and they are constructed with cheap
| components, such as three Jetson Nanos, rather than a single,
| more robust SBC, etc.
| tweetle_beetle wrote:
| You're not wrong, but probably applying a critique which is
| irrelevant to the product under discussion. I don't think
| potential owners of 'robotic pets' will be making purchases
| based on maximising payload capacity, or practical real-world
| applications.
| mkoubaa wrote:
| Humans bred cats for thousands of years for utility that had
| nothing to do with "payload capacity"
| martey wrote:
| Both the website and the project's Github repository loudly
| trumpet that they are "open source" next to photos of proprietary
| hardware.
|
| In https://github.com/PetoiCamp/OpenCat-Old/issues/7, the creator
| admits that the "nyboard"
| (https://docs.petoi.com/nyboard/overview) at the heart of their
| robots is derived from Arduino, but insists that they don't need
| to comply with the licensing terms for derivative boards
| (https://support.arduino.cc/hc/en-us/articles/4415094490770-L...)
| because Arduino is unlikely to sue them.
| jonathankoren wrote:
| Not "open" like "open source". "Open" like "OpenAI"
|
| "As we get closer to building AI, it will make sense to start
| being less open. The Open in openAI means that everyone should
| benefit from the fruits of AI after it's built, but it's
| totally OK to not share the science. -- Ilya Sutskever
| https://openai.com/blog/openai-elon-musk
| brookst wrote:
| Ah so we have free as in speech, free as in beer, and free as
| in shoplifted.
| twelvechairs wrote:
| It's standard business tactics to stretch the use of words
| until they are no longer recognisable.
| clhodapp wrote:
| Petoi had a rep at OpenSauce in San Francisco. I picked up a
| Nybble, because I like the look of Nybble better than Bittle.
|
| It's a fun little toy and I really appreciate what Petoi are
| doing with the robots & the OpenCat framework! However... due to
| either a design flaw or my own subtle mistake in assembling it
| (haven't identified which yet), the poor cat's tail is too long!
| It hits the floor and topples the bot over!
| isuckatcoding wrote:
| Real pets looking nervously around...
|
| In seriousness this is really cool! I wish I had this in school
| for robotics learning.
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(page generated 2024-03-22 23:00 UTC)