Robots were a big story this past week. Tech companies announced a number of robots during CES, including a small robot that helps manage your home, a smart sprinkler that tracks how much water your plants received and androids that can act as companions and assistants.
However, one new robot didn't appear at CES; Disney's BeachBot.
The BeachBot was developed by Disney's Research Lab in partnership with the Swiss engineering school ETH Zurich.
"The BeachBot is just one of Disney Research's projects in the area of mobile robotics, including work on path-planning, robot choreography, localization, and human-robot interaction," a Disney spokesman stated.
The three-wheeled robot drags a series of attachments on its tail to create a pre-programmed image in the sand. If needed, the robot can adjust the attachments in order to account for sand depth or for how visible the sketch needs to be.
In order to use the bot, users will have to first install a series of reflective poles around the robot. The BeachBot's built-in scanner and smart software will then determine how much space it has to work with, and the bot will use this information to convert a pre-scanned image into a sand drawing. If artists are feeling creative, they can also take direct control of the BeachBot and create whatever image they desire.
While this robot may not have many practical functions, it provides a functional and seamless way to create images in the sand without having to walk all over a drawing. It also has special uses for Disney.
Disney can use the BeachBot to create sand images of their characters at their beach resorts, TechCrunch reported.
Regardless of how this bot is used by Disney and other creators, the Beachbot's use of scans to create large images in rough environments will open up a number of opportunities for future creators.
