Cye Personal Robot

From Probotics, Inc. comes a new smart and affordable personal robot. Called Cye, the compact personal robot can do a wide variety of tasks such as carry dishes, deliver mail, lead guests to a conference room and vacuum the carpet. Using wireless communications technology, Cye is controlled by Map-N-Zap, a highly intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) loaded on any PC with a 133 MHz Chip or higher.

"Cye is a practical and inexpensive robot that's easy and fun to work with," said Henry Thorne, CEO of Probotics and robot guru. "Anyone who enjoys remote control devices will be thrilled with Cye's unbelievably nimble and intelligent navigation. PC lovers will find Cye an incredibly exciting peripheral that they can operate using basic point-and-click skills."

He added, "The Cye personal robot is ideal for robot hobbyists, who will think up all kinds of uses for Cye and exploit its design that allows them to easily add hardware and create new features of their own. Because of Cye's open software architecture, developers and programmers will be able to write their own cyeware."

With its PC based interface, users can Drag-N-Drive Cye on the screen and map out its environment. Cye can easily move around a home or office and learn how to navigate a new room in minutes. At a speed of three feet per second, Cye quickly moves around any room, pulling the optional wagon or vacuum attachment. Unlike other robots, Cye can follow scheduling instructions. By point-and-clicking on menu options written in plain English, users can schedule when and where they'd like Cye to go, and then Cye will automatically move there. For example, users can schedule Cye to go to the dining room at 7:00 p.m. and carry the dishes to the kitchen; vacuum the office at 10:35 a.m.; and distribute mail at 11:00 a.m.

Affordably priced at $695, Probotics is today shipping Cye in limited quantities. Cye accessories include: a wagon attachment ($89) and a vacuum attachment ($89) that allows users to attach any upright vacuum cleaner onto Cye. Cye is available in yellow, orange and black by visiting theProbotics web site.

Cye can be set up and working in just 15 minutes. To get started, users just plug the home base in, drop the robot on it, plug the radio pod in, connect it to their PC, and load the Map-N-Zap software from the CD. Cye can then be driven around by dragging its icon on the PC monitor. A compact personal robot, it measures 16" x 10" x 5" and weighs nine pounds. Cye communicates to and from the PC 10 times per second via a FCC approved 900 MHz radio link. The Cye Robot Package includes a fully assembled and tested Cye robot, base station, cables, AC adapter, Map-N-Zap software, operations manual, email tech support and one year manufacturer's warranty.

Cye comes with several tutorials including:
CyeServe: Have Cye bring food and drink to your friends
CyeTruck: Have Cye carry your dishes back to the kitchen
CyePup: Have Cye wait for you, wag its tail, go to sleep
CyePost: Have Cye deliver mail around the office
CyeGuide: Have Cye meet visitors and lead them to your office

Also available is a sound-responsive Cye model, the Cye-sr. Cye-sr is programmed to respond to claps. After one clap, Cye-sr beeps to let you know you've got its attention. To send Cye-sr to a destination, clap to indicate where you'd like it to go. For example, use two claps to send it to the kitchen, three claps to send it to the den and one clap to come back to its home base (charger). Cye-sr can also be navigated using the mouse on the PC, which is linked to the robot via wireless communications.