{"id":1347,"date":"2012-10-04T10:09:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T14:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/schulich\/?p=1347"},"modified":"2015-10-28T16:56:46","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T20:56:46","slug":"now-in-the-realm-of-the-possible-the-10-dollar-robot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/schulich\/now-in-the-realm-of-the-possible-the-10-dollar-robot\/","title":{"rendered":"Now in the realm of the possible: the 10-dollar robot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wired.com has a story about the winners of the AFRON “10 Dollar Robot” Design Challenge<\/a>, run by the African Robotics Network (AFRON)<\/a>. The object of the contest<\/a> was to see what sorts of design ideas would arise, in the hope of creating really affordable robots for educational use in Africa (and elsewhere), similar to what Raspberry Pi<\/a> aims to do for computing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contest had a few simple restrictions, including the loose $10 target; entrants from around the world had to build a prototype, offer instructions on a website, and make the whole plan open-source, software included. The winners were little, an inch or two in size and up, never more than a foot long. They were sourced from cardboard, old cell phones, and circuit boards. They performed simple tasks: navigating, following lines, even communicating with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kilobot from Harvard University<\/a>, introduced in the video below, was the winner in the Traditional (Roaming) Category.<\/p>\n