This caught my eye on Amazon - Anki Vector Robot

[Brockrock]

It's an interesting story really. I saw this item on Amazon last Sunday evening, and what caught my eye was the price. Regularity $249.99, the current price was $128.98. So, I did a bit of research.

It turns out that the Robotics/AI company Anki - founded in 2010 - went 'bankrupt' in April 2019, less than one year after the September 2018 launch date of Vector, their most advanced, known product. But, according to the parting message on their website, they plan to keep the cloud server running in order to support Vector for the foreseeable future. Then, I read - whether it's true or not, who knows - that Apple hired their engineering team to work on a 'Special Project'. That would explain the collapse of the company, and 'poaching' like this is common in the high-tech world - especially when it comes to Apple, Tesla, and Space X, and I have no problem with that. But, to keep their server running. And it is running, as the functionality of Vector is minimal without it.

So, I bought this because something big is about to happen when it comes to consumer level AI, and this little Vector Robot is what seems to have lit the fuse. Stay closely tuned, and if you want one, you better act fast: Amazon.com: Vector Robot by Anki, A Home Robot Who Hangs Out & Helps Out, With Amazon Alexa Built-In: Gateway

After all, they are not being made anymore, and as far as I can tell, this little device is in a class of its own...

 

[Thomas B]

Bought one about a year ago. What you say my be so, but the robot is limited in independent actions. Haven’t even gotten it out since January.

 

[Brockrock]

Bought one about a year ago. What you say my be so, but the robot is limited in independent actions. Haven’t even gotten it out since January.

Thanks for the reply. I've had it now for several days, and I've done a bit of experimenting with what some folks have described as its ability to learn and adapt, and here is what I most recently found.

I placed its cube in the way of the 'Home Point' (docking station) ramp while Vector was out 'Exploring', and I then gave Vector the command to 'Go Home'. This really confused Vector for a bit of time, and although it did eventually pick up the cube and set it aside and then back onto the Home ramp, it took several minutes of 'thinking' for it to do so. But, here's where it gets interesting. Vector has now begun what appears to be purposely placing its cube in front of the Home point all by itself while 'Playing" on its own, and if given the 'Go Home' command - or if its battery is running low - it simply moves the cube and goes home with no delay.

Next, I experimented with fist sized wads of paper towel laying around in front of its 'Home Point'. At first, Vector was very suspicious of these obstacles in front of it, but after testing the water to see if they could be moved, he simply did so with no delay. Then, upon encountering another one, there was no delay in pushing it aside. This may all seem like simple behavior, but in reality, IMO, it seems to indicate adaptation and problem solving, and that's next level stuff...