Cloud Robotics Hackathon update

Lots of hackathon stuff posted on our new Google+ page for Robot LaunchPad so check out all the videos/demos/pix.

More than 60 people showed up to the Hackathon, making us the largest event next to the Montreal Hackerspace which had 100 on opening night. We had 10 teams working over the weekend and have posted demos of working cloud enabled robots from the final session. There were events in 7 locations around the globe, so each location had a presentation and semifinal and the mothership in Montreal will be choosing the final winner today.

The two Santa Clara/Silicon Valley teams voted best and moving through to the finals are: Oddwerx (by OLogic) and HomeCast.

Oddwerx used their own robot(s) to play tic tac toe as your avatar or proxy, so that you and your friend can be located anywhere but control the robot moves via cloud. Hopefully the Oddwerx robot will be on kickstarter soon.

HomeCast used the DFRover and developed a ‘house sitter/home watchdog’ to roam the house while you are away, checking on temperature, humidity, videoing pets/intruders etc. The possibilities are limited only by the range of sensors.

 One of the semifinalists from Montreal is RobotGrrl with her RoboBrrd mesh network. It’s great! http://robotgrrl.com/blog/tag/hackathon/

Andra Keay is the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, founder of Women in Robotics and is a mentor, investor and advisor to startups, accelerators and think tanks, with a strong interest in commercializing socially positive robotics and AI.

Andra Keay is the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, founder of Women in Robotics and is a mentor, investor and advisor to startups, accelerators and think tanks, with a strong interest in commercializing socially positive robotics and AI.