Unless you're some boring, unimaginative schmuck, chances are you've sometimes wondered what the world looks like from a tiny creature's point of view. Well, the Goby robot will show you, as you remotely control it via a simple online dashboard.
Named after a feisty little fish, the Goby was designed by software engineer Richard LeGrand and colleagues at Austin, Texas-based company Charmed Labs.
Among other things, the firm previously brought us the diminutive Pixy and Vizy video cameras. The Goby is likewise very much on the small side, measuring just 60 x 42 x 38 mm and tipping the scales at a claimed 45 grams (1.6 oz).
It rolls along on two independently motorized wheels, propped up by a ball at the end of its articulated tail. That tail is also used to tilt the robot's body (and thus its camera) up and down, and even to flip the bot over if it ends up upside-down.
The Goby perceives its environment via a 1600 x 1200 OmniVision OV2640 camera, two LED headlights and an ambient light sensor, which are wired into an ESP32-S3 microprocessor running Arduino IDE software. A 3-axis accelerometer and in-wheel odometer sensors help the robot keep track of its positioning and orientation.
After initially providing your home Wi-Fi info, operating the Goby is as simple as powering it up, setting it down, and using your smartphone to scan a QR code that appears on the robot's top-mounted OLED screen. Doing so will take you to a webpage where you can view a live feed from the onboard camera, and control the robot via two onscreen joysticks. No apps or downloads are required.
The system-specific BitBang software utilized in this setup is 128-bit-encrypted, and optimized to keep latency to a minimum. It's similar to the peer-to-peer video streaming technology used in Google Meet and Zoom.
And as an added bonus, you can grant remote-control usage of your robot to anyone, anywhere, simply by providing them with the unique URL of your bot's control page. This means that your family and friends could use your Goby to explore the expansive Lego village in your basement, as just one hypothetical example.
One charge of the robot's lithium-ion battery is claimed to be good for about 1.5 hours of runtime. When the battery starts getting low, the robot will automatically park itself on an included charging pad.
Assuming the Goby reaches production, a pledge of US$79 will get you one. There's more information in the following video.
Source: Kickstarter
