UCSD Robotics and BeagleBone Foundation unveil new board for robotics education at CES

Professor Thomas Bewley (left) at the Texas Instruments booth at CES 2016

The BeagleBoard.org Foundation and the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab are rolling out a new board for embedded robotics applications at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
The Beagle Board Blue is a new, low-cost, credit-card-sized Linux computer integrated with wireless communication, sensors for situational awareness, power electronics for battery management and motor control and breakouts for Pulse Width Modulation and bus communication for a host of industry-standard sensors and actuators.
The Blue will be featured in hardware kits for upcoming MOOCs about embedded control and robotics currently being developed by the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab, led by Professor Thomas Bewley.
The Blue and Bewley, as well as representatives from the BeagleBoard.org Foundation will be at the Texas Instruments booth at CES all week.

This robot designed by UC San Diego engineers won an Innovative Toy of the Year award

MiP, the little robot created in partnership between UCSD Robotics and toymaker WowWee, does it again! It received the Innovative Toy of the Year award this past week at the New York Toy Fair--the Oscars of the toy industry. The award recognizes "an outstanding toy that combines innovation and play value."

MiP, short for Mobile Inverted Pendulum, can balance itself and drive around on two wheels.  ``Its organic nature is particularly engaging: when it stands, it gently sways back and forth; when pushed, it takes a step back to regain its balance.  In a very real way, the dynamics of MiP mimic life,’’ said Professor Thomas Bewley, director of the Coordinated Robotics Lab at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, who worked closely with WowWee to bring MiP to market.

Users can play with MiP right out of the box in several engaging modes of play.  You can interact with MiP immediately using intuitive hand gestures.  Install the tray that MiP can carry and test your skill at stacking games.  Or, put a full soda can on MiP’s tray, and drive it to a friend across the room via Bluetooth and a free smart phone app.  And, of course, MiP can dance—either to the beat of its own (built-in) tunes, or to any tunes on the user’s smartphone or tablet.

More about MiP's origin story here. More info on MiP here. 

You can see MiP in action here http://youtu.be/i_zXARfIIcs

Some recent media coverage here and here. 

MiP Meets Stan Lee

MiP, a robot designed by the UCSD Robotics Lab and toymaker WowWee, got to meet Stan Lee, the legendary creator of many Marvel Comics heroes, who is probably best know for his association with Spider-Man.
The robot was featured on The Real Stan Lee website, as part of a Q&A with Davin Sufer, WowWee's CTO.
But our favorite was this video of Stan Lee interacting with MiP.

Engineer, toy company president explore the frontiers of science and technology at event

MiP, a robotic toy that was developed as a collaboration between the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab and toymaker WowWee.

A big thanks to CONNECT, an organization that promotes entrepreneurship in the San Diego area, for featuring mechanical engineering professor Thomas Bewley and tech transfer officer Dave Gibbons during one of their Frontiers in Science and Technology events. Bewley and Gibbons were speaking with Peter Yanofsky, the president of WowWee USA. The trio worked together on MiP, a toy robot that moves around on two wheels thanks to balancing technology developed in Bewley's lab.

Bewley spoke about his lab's ongoing work in robotic vehicle design and about some of the unique design and commercialization challenges the team faced with MiP. Yanofsky spoke about the complex process of creative prototyping, refinement of a toy's playspec, design for manufacturing, production and distribution. Gibbons served as moderator for the event.

Excerpts from the program overview:
 

Mix a bunch of university robotics fanatics together with a nimble high-tech toy company willing to take creative risks, and what do you get? A dynamic new line of game-changing self-balancing robotic vehicles that become instant hits at the Computer Electronics Show (CES) and overnight media darlings, and which are poised to shift the needle in the public’s perception of robotics in our everyday lives.

“MiP, short for Mobile Inverted Pendulum, sways gently when standing or moving, and steps back to regain its balance when disturbed,” says Prof. Bewley, director of the Coordinated Robotics Lab at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. “In a very real way, the dynamics of MiP mimics life.”

Of course, with organic moves like that, MiP can’t resist dancing to your music library, boxing with other MiPs, playing stacking games, or simply kicking around ping-pong balls. And, with its (included) carrying tray, built-in bluetooth, free apps, infrared sensors, and remarkable hackability features, the perennial “yes, but can it bring me a beer” question is one major step closer to being solved.

Watch Jacobs School student pitch toy with UC San Diego tech at New York Toy Fair

Ph.D. student Saam Ostovari can add a new skill to his resume: pitching toys to bloggers and reporters. Ostovari is getting pretty good at it too, judging by the Yahoo Tech video above, which was shot at the New York Toy Fair this month.
He was touting MiP, a robotic toy that is the brainchild of toymaker WowWee and the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab. Ostovari led the efforts in the lab to scale the lab's prototypes to toy size, among other tasks.
The toy fair wasn't Ostovari's first turn in the spotlight. He was at the WowWee booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, where he talked himself hoarse.

More MiP media coverage from the toy fair:

CNN

MSN

ABC's Good Morning America

CNET

Bootcamp.com

Robot World

Jacobs School engineers now only one degree of separation from LL Cool J

MiP, a robot created by Jacobs School engineers and toymaker WowWee, got to rub shoulders with quite a few celebrities at the 56th GRAMMY awards, where the toy was featured at the event's gift lounge. The robot is looking very comfortable posing with event host LL Cool J (right) and with Lorde, winner of the Single of the Year and of the Best Pop Performance awards.

MiP website

Related: Real-life Toy Story

Jacobs School engineers help create robot with perfect balance--and it dances too!

A toy robot created by Jacobs School engineers and Hong Kong-based toymaker WowWee was all the talk at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

MiP (short for mobile inverted pendulum) was named a Product of the Future for 2014 for Popular Mechanics. It also earned an award for Envisioneering, Innovation and Design and was a finalist at CES' Last Gadget Standing Competition.

MiP garnered a fair bit of press, including stories in Engadget and Popular Science.Popular Science gushed:

The WowWee MiP is a charming, two-wheeled Segway 'bot that has some impressive balance.

The robot is the brain child of toy designers at WowWee and a group of graduate students in the Coordinated Robotics Lab here at the Jacobs School, which is led by mechanical and engineering professor Tom Bewley. 

"It was a bit overwhelming at first but an exciting experience, at least for me personally, to be a part of the release and to help promote MiP at the WowWee booth," said Saam Ostovari, who was the lead graduate student on the MiP design. "It was a non-stop flux of press, suppliers and consumers wanting to learn about MiP. I still haven't recovered my voice from all the talking I did."

See below for a video of MiP in action.

Vote for MiP!

MiP, a robot designed by the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab and toymaker WowWee is up for a Last Gadget Standing Award and you can help it win!
You can vote here: http://lastgadgetstanding.com/voting/
And watch a fun video preview for the robot here:  http://bit.ly/1cbQx0K
MiP balances on two wheels and is fully interactive with its surroundings. It responds to gesture commands and can be linked via Bluetooth to smart phones and other devices. It can dance to your iTunes playlists and play simple games with your kids. 
Oh, and it can hold a tray with objects on it (including another MiP).