Amazon announced many new products in its annual event. In this, the company has also introduced its home assistant robot Astro, which has been in discussion for a long time. This wheeled robot comes with Alexa. It works on the company’s Alexa voice software system. According to the first Bloomberg report, this bot was created in 2018 and was shown during the Amazon product event on Tuesday. It will be able to move around the house easily and will be able to respond to voice commands.
Structure and build
Talking about the software of Amazon Astro, this robot works on Fire OS which is Amazon’s own variant of Android and works without Google Mobile Services. This robot has five different motors, two of which drive the robot’s wheels, one moves the robot’s periscope camera up and down and the other two motors help the robot to tilt and turn its shape.
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This 10 kg robot is 2 feet long and is equipped with such a system that it can move around the house on its own. With its sensors and advanced software, Amazon Astro captures the dynamic changes in the home. With the help of its active and passive brakes, if a child or animal comes in front of it on the road or at home, it will stop.
According to Amazon’s website, this bot is capable of the following things:
- Astro moves around objects with ease and keeps a safe distance from people, pets, and stairs.
- Astro will follow you or deliver a message or reminder to someone else.
- Astro will hang out nearby in low-traffic areas and go to the charger to top up its battery when needed.
- With the Astro app, you can see a live view of your home and check in on specific rooms, people, or things. During setup, Astro learns a map of your home that you can view in the app at any time. You can simply select where you want Astro to go, then raise or lower the periscope for a better look. You can even sound a siren if you see something suspicious.
- You can remotely send Astro to check on specific rooms, people, or things. Plus, get alerts if Astro detects an unrecognized person or certain sounds when you’re away.
- Using the Alexa Together subscription, you can receive activity alerts, and manage shopping lists or set up reminders on behalf of your loved one that Astro can deliver. Astro can also deliver items in the cargo bin, like water bottles or vitamins. If there is an emergency, your loved one can say ‘Astro, call for help’ to connect to a designated number.
- With Alexa Guard, Astro can also detect smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms or shatter glass and send alerts to your phone to help keep your home safe.
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- If you want, you can play a song or a movie of your choice on the screen of Astro and then that robot will keep walking behind you. You can run all the devices working on Alexa with this robot and can also take your phone calls on it and talk to your friend or relative on its speaker.
Privacy is taken into account
Keeping privacy in mind microphone/camera-off buttons are given in this robot, which customers can press whenever they want to turn off the camera, mic and motion. When this button is pressed, the Astro cannot take video or audio and cannot move from its position. Moreover, you can define out of bounds zones to let Astro know where it’s not allowed to go.
How much to pay for this loyal buddy?
Talking about Amazon Astro, this robot has been launched only in the US at the moment and its price is $1499.99.