Sony's Robot Dog, Aibo | Hacker News Reader

Sony's Robot Dog, Aibo

theguardian.com

73 pointsleancz50 comments

Aibo is coming back? I haven't seen one in like 20 years ...

I thought Sony stopped making them.

First released in 1999 [1]! Wow..time flies

One thing that isn't very clear in the article is she seems to be talking about the reissued Aibo from 2017. Hence all the stuff about neural networks.

yeah - It sounded like she didn't realize how far back the aibo's go..

Though, the original Aibo's were supposed to have some AI and even cloud functions - learned behaviors and online 'journals' and pictures.

They had one at the Sony experience center in NYC, so I was able to play with one. Far more advanced than the 20 year old ones. Covered in touch sensors, they are much more lifelike and natural acting than I expected. My favourite was the tricks, you make your hand into a gun and say play dead. And ha, I almost died laughing. Wonderful thing, but it is limited export as it uses a cellular plan in only a handful of countries. It is very expensive, it can’t jump, but I still want one.

heh - they are cute...And after watching mini-cheetahs do backflips, the no jumping thing can seem limited.

Supposedly we'll be seeing some chinese mini-cheetah clones soon at around $2k. That would make them quite a bit cheaper then the Aibo, and a potentially more capable hardware platform. Though, seems like the Aibo has the win on the software side.

I think the new Xiaomi[1] fits that description? Still a little spendy, but compared to $75K for Boston Dynamics, not quite as far out of reach...

1: https://blog.mi.com/en/2021/08/10/xiaomi-launches-cyberdog-a...

oh wow - $1500 USD ? thats really nice! Hopefully the prices will keep dropping!

Why on earth does it need a cellular plan rather than Wifi?

So you can take it for a walk?

The walk really slowly. The can "run", but only for a very limited amount of time before their servos overheat and the dog has to take a nap.

Not going to walk with it doesn’t seem very …erm animal friendly.

The one I saw back in the early 00s walked off the end of the conference table it was being shown off on :-)

Perhaps its gotten better at walking since then...I mean, roomba's can avoid edges - so robot dogs should too, right?

I guess for a seamless experience if you take it out of your home wifi range. It would be illusion-breaking if the dog displayed "Connectivity error" if you take it to your car.

It'd be pretty awesome if it scrolled across its chassis though.

Because the Internet of Things is not about Convenience to the Customer but Surveillance from the Supplier.

They are big in Japan, some even have 4 of them in the house and they love them.

The Aibo. Famous for indicating Roast Beef's transition from circumstances to confidence. http://achewood.com/index.php?date=11122004

man why you even got to do a thing

Who would you rather fight, one Boston dynamics big dog, or 100 Sony aibos ?

Pretty sure the Boston dynamics dog can knock me out with a blow to the head. So I'll take my chances with the Aibos.

There are some surprisingly well maintained and restored Aibos on eBay from 1999 onward, lots of really neat upgrades.

Can anyone comment on the state of running your own code on these machines? I can’t remember if I ever found homebrew tools, or what sdk Sony provides

They were conceived with homebrew software in mind. Back in 2006 I had a uni assignment that involved programming Aibos to play soccer and I vaguely remember there being a relatively high-level FOSS SDK for them - if you didn’t want to use Sony’s C++ libraries (OPEN-R).

Just remembered what the SDK was called - Tekkotsu. Here's a paper on it: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.39...

I seem to recall there being some activity around creating certain 'dances' etc. for it to perform. Though I can't remember how "offical" or "open" it was. Knowing Sony's MO at the time, probably not that much.

Also, everything had to be stored on the Sony Memory Sticks. (And I seem to remember they too had to be a special type. Not 'Duo' though.)

Yep, the bots loaded your code from these (even more) overpriced Aibo-branded pink Memory Sticks

That's right. It only read from the pink ones.

Ours was named Otno. Still around but not operational for the last 10+ years.

A really incredible achievement, totally ahead of its time. Not ready to grant Otno true consciousness, but there was certainly a degree of -- intentionality?

One option is the Aibo funeral: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/in-japan--...

Ours was called "Cybinky". After our old (late) cat "Binky".

I was just talking about Aibo a couple of days ago, because Huawei announced their CyberDog: https://www.engadget.com/xiaomi-cyberdog-robot-dog-141128369...

I wonder how they will compare.

The subscribtion model and cloud connection has so far also stopped me from getting an Aibo.

I was reminded of the Vector bot by Anki, and very pleased to see that apparently it was saved from the insolvency of Anki by Digital Dreamlabs.

The interesting part: while Vector originally was also cloud based like Aibo, Digital Dreamlabs now offers an "Escape Pod" that makes it possible to use Vector without the cloud (or with your own cloud): https://www.digitaldreamlabs.com/products/escape-pod

Thought Vector was a charming idea but knew it was doomed because of the cloud requirement, glad someone fixed that so they didn't end up as landfill fodder.

Good video from NYT about someone doing Aibo repair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYDpbLQ-To

Does anyone have experience with having one of these robot dogs as a companion to a real dog? Could be useful for keeping the biodog happy.

I don't know what they're called, but they have dog runs supervised by professionals where you can drop your dog off to socialize. You might consider one of those.

Doggy day care is a thing. That's definitely something they enjoy, just wondering if a robodog would be useful.

I recall watching videos of interactions with dogs. Dogs seem to hate them, then ignore them. It seems they aren’t fooled, but I really enjoyed playing with one.

Makes sense - after all dogs rely mostly on smell to identify other dogs, and the Aibo may look and behave more or less like a real dog, but it definitely doesn't smell like one...

I have an original AIBO. Left it on its charger, off, for a prolonged period after getting a real dog. Once the new puppy had acclimated to his new home after a month, I turned AIBO on.

New puppy freaked out. So badly I never turned it on again. Imagine how you would react if your chair just started wandering around by itself.

Several dogs later, AIBO sits nearby - in want of a functioning battery. Anyone have pointers on finding original AIBO batteries?

I still have my ERS-220. Given it in lieu of payment for a website I did years ago.

I love how many random things people get in stead of the cash they deserve for web design.

The friend/colleague I built it for had been given it for some other unrelated job he had done. So, I asked for it ;)

Actual title:

A dog’s inner life: what a robot pet taught me about consciousness

I submitted it so, it was changed by someone else.

These things were cute for about 10 minutes (in the year 2000) and then you gotta wonder why you spent all that money.

I used to desperately want one of these. Now I have a real dog, and I can't imagine a robot one being any fun at all. I also have a house and a yard and a family and a job that lets me stay at home these days, though; a robot dog probably would have fit better into my bachelor lifestyle than a real one.

I have the original (ERS-111) that I bought used - even for as old as primitive it now is, it was remarkably fun for its time and offered entertainment without the complications of an actual dog (vet visits, pet deposits, etc.) Now it sits since the battery pack has died again and I don't want to deal with replacing it but I do miss it.

> we lived in a building that did not permit pets

For those in the UK: since January 2021 there are new rules that make it easier to secure leases for people with pets. Also, issuing a blanket ban on pets is no longer allowed. Details: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-standard-tenancy-agre...

This was a great read.

The old ones look much cooler than the new model.

And yet I still want a Nabaztag.

Super-Toys Last All Summer Long

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