Ever wanted a robot companion to follow you around the home? It sounds useful, right? Like a pet but with practical features rather than a never ending appetite. That’s the idea behind Roboming fellow. The little guy is a cute looking robot that’s willing to help you at every turn.
The idea is that Roboming enters your home, scans the layout of your rooms and areas, so he’s able to easily negotiate the house, before completing various tasks for you. Accepting commands via your voice or an app, he’ll follow you around, and deliver things to you. When you’re not home, his HD camera allows for remote capturing and continuous live-view video streaming, so he also works as a security aid. He’ll even entertain your pets, playing with them, or simply delivering treats. Plus, he knows when he needs to recharge, automatically taking himself back to his recharge point.
The robotic assistant is currently in the prototype stage and looking for further backing via an Indiegogo campaign. Part companion (for your pets as well as you) and part practical assistant, he’s the brainchild of Shanghai based Kong Yao, who we talked to find out more about the cute gadget.
“Ming is a funny name in China among young people,” he says. “We decided to combine fun and robotics, [with] Roboming representing technology that brings joy and convenience.”
The robot was inspired by cute and emotive robots such as Disney’s Wall-E and Eve. As Yao pointed out, “machines always make people feel cold and emotionless.” The plan here was to create a “personal cute robot with a warm heart.” That’s why Roboming follows its owners around, while being able to carry a book or cup of tea at the same time.
Once the team devised the concept, they worked on garnering funding. Having sent out applications to various different crowdfunding platforms, Indiegogo provided the greatest amount of support for marketing and branding, even going so far as to offer recommendations for market positioning and what product features to show. It was a no-brainer to launch the robot on its service.
Despite its appearance, Roboming can deal with thick carpet as well as wooden floors, thanks to its crawler based structure. Its maximum thickness level is still to be determined but the team has seen plenty of success so far. The plan is to continue working on Roboming, eventually adding more kinds of robots to his family. Yao also promises that there will be additional accessories, such as a mechanical arm, making it easy for the little guy to grab something as well as carry things already positioned on him.
Most promising of all, Yao says that Roboming will eventually be able to work in conjunction with services such as IFTTT and Stringify. “We expect to flesh out usage scenarios,” he says, with the plan being to add such connectivity in the next version. That immediately expands the potential for Roboming. Working alongside smart lighting systems, cooking appliances, and audio visual equipment, it could mean that on a lazy day, you might hardly never need to move. Roboming could simply bring your snacks to you.
A gadget with plenty of potential, while also being rather cute, a pledge of $299 gets you one Roboming fellow, along with a t-shirt. $519 offers up two Robomings to ensure all your possible needs are catered for. Suddenly, the idea of having your very own BB-8 or R2-D2 doesn’t seem quite so distant after all, does it? The campaign runs until November 26.