My guess is this acquisition speeds up the development of Amazon’s internal Consumer Robotics line targeting the elderly. Their “Astro” robot has a lot of trouble navigating the home.
My guess is this acquisition speeds up the development of Amazon’s internal Consumer Robotics line targeting the elderly. Their “Astro” robot has a lot of trouble navigating the home.
CNET: "This speaks to how impressive Astro's navigation really is. It moves around the house quickly and efficiently, adjusting to changes in the environment, like shoes left by the front door or doors along one route left closed. And the longer it stays in your house, the better it becomes at navigating."
https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/amazon-astro-review/
The Verge: "In the four weeks I tested the Astro in my home, it never backed into a table, tripped on a rug, or mowed down a chair. Contrary to early reports, it never threw itself down the stairs. It did roll right over pet poop (fake) but as most of the bot doesn’t touch the floor this wasn’t the same issue it is with a robot vacuum. Basically, its array of navigation and obstacle sensors seem to disregard anything under a couple of inches high. The Astro is also really fast, able to zip around the house at a top speed of a little over 2mph (1 meter per second), much faster than any robot vac can manage."
https://www.theverge.com/23141966/amazon-astro-robot-review
The notion that Astro has poor navigation came from a VICE article with "leaked" information that turned out to be false.