Mayfield Robotics Announces Kuri, a $700 Mobile Home Robot

For about two years now, Mayfield Robotics has been working on something and today, they are introducing Kuri, “an intelligent robot for the home.‚ Kuri is half a meter tall, weighs just over 6 kilograms, and is “designed with personality, awareness, and mobility, [that] adds a spark of life to any home.”

Kuri has some fairly sophisticated technology inside of it. Besides what you’d expect (a camera, microphone array, speakers, and touch sensors), Kuri also has some sort of “laser-based sensor array” that it uses for obstacle detection, localization, and navigation.

Besides mobility, what makes Kuri unique is the fact that it has no display (besides a color-changing light on its chest), and that it doesn’t even try to talk to you. There’s speech recognition, but Kuri won’t talk back, instead relying on a variety of beepy noises and its expressive head and eyes to communicate.

Or more specifically, in the context of Kuri’s hardware and software (which you interface with through an app):

• A built-in HD camera so you can check in on the house or pets while you’re away;
• A four-microphone array, powerful dual speakers, and Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity, so it can react to voice commands or noises, play music, read the kids a bedtime story, or follow you around playing podcasts while you’re getting ready for work;
• Easily programmable tasks and IFTTT capabilities to connect within modern smart homes.

Read more at IEEE Spectrum

Image Credit: Mayfield Robotics

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