New Robot with Web Connectivity Monitors Home or Office

Probotics just announced a new affordable personal robot that enables users with a web-connected PC to remotely monitor their home or workplace. Called Spy-Cye, this mobile robot is equipped with an on-board video system that enables the user to see what's going on at home from another location, via the web.
The Spy-Cye personal robot can be used for a range of uses, including:

• Check on kids from the office, and actually see them walk in the door from school and start their homework. Helps parents connect with their kids, even when they aren't home.



• Monitor a vacation home, from anywhere. Or, install Spy-Cye in your primary residence, and keep an eye on your house while on vacation. It enables you to make sure everything is safe and secure before you return. And, you can even check on plants and pets at home, from another location.



• Keep an eye on elderly relatives living in another location, and actually see how they are feeling.



• For businesses, managers can check on after-hour alarms without traveling to the office.

"Spy Cye is well suited for security by meeting the basic curiosity instinct of people about the places they live and work, when they can't be there themselves," said Henry Thorne, CEO of Probotics. "It is the only robot of its kind that is easy to use and costs less than $1,000."

He added, "The Spy-Cye robot combines wireless technology, Internet connectivity and superior robot navigation technology to deliver a new level of functionality. At the same time, it can be out of the box and working without any programming, just point and click with its software."

From anywhere in the world, Spy-Cye owners can control their robot by visiting the web site (www.web-bots.com), and logging onto it by entering in their user name and password. They can then see the map that the robot has made of its location in the browser window. Then, they can click on destinations within the map to send the robot to them and click the "take picture" button to see images from those destinations.

The Spy-Cye robot must be hosted by a PC with a connection to the web. The connection can either be an "always on" type (DSL or cable modem) or "dial-up" line in which case the robot can be easily scheduled to dial into the web for preset intervals, providing access during those periods, without tying up the phone line.

The Spy-Cye is affordably priced at $945, for the package that includes robot, video camera, software and T-shirt. It is available via the web at www.personalrobots.com or by calling 1-888-550-7658.

For current Cye personal robot owners, the video camera is available as an add-on device ($245). In addition, Cye robot accessories include a cordless vacuum cleaner for easy vacuuming and a wagon to carry items for room to room.

The Cye robot can navigate its indoor environment, learning how to navigate a new room in minutes. At a speed of three feet per second, Cye quickly moves around any room. Cye includes patented navigation technology that provides tracking accuracy three times greater than any previous robot.

A compact personal robot, Spy-Cye measures 16" x 10" x 5" and weighs 10 pounds. The X-10 video camera loaded on Spy Cye is radio linked back to the users personal computer to send images wirelessly. The receiver end of the video camera plugs into the USB port on a PC. Spy-Cye communicates with a PC, 10 times per second via a FCC approved 900 MHz radio link. Using wireless communications technology, Cye is controlled by Map-N-Zap, a highly intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) software application.

Probotics, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, PA, is a leading-edge robotics company that specializes in developing personal robots for home and office. Probotics launched its first Cye personal robot in May, 1999, along with a line of accessories that includes a cordless vacuum cleaner and wagon for carrying items from room to room. The other personal robots in its product line include: Cye-SR, the personal robot that responds to sound; and the new Spy-Cye, the personal robot with an on-board video system that can provide security for home and office.

Source: Probotics