Q.bo

The ROS-based Q.bo Pro Evo robot

The Q.bo robot is a programmable mobile robot based on ROS and developed by the Spanish company The Corpora. It is an open-source platform for development of artificial intelligence and social robotics.

The Q.bo has an attractive curved shape with a round head, motorized eyelids, and a mouth made of leds that allows it to express emotions. Its small size, two large motorized wheels and a small free wheel make it very stable, even on uneven ground.

 

The main features of the Q.bo robot are:

Obstacle detection: The Q.bo ultrasonic sensors allow it to avoid obstacles while moving around in its environment.

Stereoscopic vision: With two cameras in its eyes, the Q.bo can see in 3 dimensions

Face tracking and recognition: Q.bo looks at you, recognizes you, tracks you.

    Speech recognition: Speak and Q.bo understands! The Q.bo has several microphones and uses the Julius software to understand human speech.

    Play music: You can control the volume or change the song without touching the robot, thanks to the gesture recognition application.

    Wifi connection: Q.bo can be remote controlled or get information on the internet with its Wifi connection

    Localization with the Xtion Pro Live: This depth-camera allows to spot 3D objects in the environment and use them to build a map. It can then localize itself and navigate in an autonomous way.

 

Technical specifications of the Q.bo robot:

Weight and size of the Q.bo

  • Height : 456 mm
  • Width : 314 mm
  • Depth : 292.5 mm
  • Weight : between 9 and 11 kg

The Q.bo head

  • Motorization: 2 servos (up-down and right-left) give the head its mobility, allowing the Q.bo to look around, follow objects with its cameras.
  • Eyes: Each eye of the robot contains a camera, the combination of the two cameras allowing to do stereo vision. The two eyelids are actuated by two servomotors. The Pro Evo version of Q.bo has a depth-camera Xtion Pro Live.
  • Ears: The robot has three microphones disposed around the head.
  • Mouth: Q.bo's mouth is a 20-leds matrix. Its nose also has a led.
  • Connection: The robot connects to Wi-fi using the antenna in the back of its head.
  • Control card: The Q.board2 electronic board manages the sensors and actuators of Q.bo's head and communicate with the body

The Q.bo body

  • Sensors: Its two ultrasonic sensors (+ two optional) allow Q.bo to detect obstacles. The infrared sensor aims at the floor so Q.bo can avoid steps and stairs.
  • Wheels and motors: The two wheels are actuated by two DC motors (170 rpm) with magnetic encoders. The free wheel gives stability to the robot.
  • Speakers: Two speakers are located on the robot's sides.
  • LCD screen: This 20x4 LCD screen displays information about the robot's state.
  • Processor and electronic boards: The Mini-ITX main boards supports a Intel processor (Intel Atom for the Lite Evo version, Intel Core i3 for the Pro Evo version). 
  • The Q.board1 electronic board manages the sensors and actuators of the body and the Q.board3 supplies power. 
  • Power: The Q.bo is powered by a LiFePO4 battery (10Ah).

 

Programming the Q.bo using ROS

  • The OpenQbo linux distribution for the programmable Q.bo is based on Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) with some software frameworks added like ROS (Robot Operating System), Julius speech recognition software and Festival vocal synthesis software. 
  • The main programming framework for the Q.bo is ROS. The Q.bo specific open-source ROS libraries are online available. The provided ROS packages allow to have the robot move and speak, use stereo vision, to extract and track an object and to recognize faces. browser.</div></div>
  • The openQbo community give information and advise, as well as sharing new applications.

 

The Pro Evo version of the Q.bo

  • The Pro Evo version of the Q.bo is delivered entirely mounted, ready to be programmed. It contains all the robot's components, including a Xtion sensor and its adapter. The electronic boards, sensors and actuators are mounted and connected.
  • The main board is a Intel Core i3. The robot also has 4 GB of RAM and a SSD hard drive of 128 GB.
  • This Pro version of the Q.bo is a very complete robotics platform, more powerful than the Lite Evo version. It is intended for intensive artificial intelligence applications demanding more computational power. The Xtion sensors gives lots of opportunities for mapping, localization and object recognition.

Q.bo One

The Q.bo One version

Q.bo One cannot move but is expressive and fun.

It is made for makers, developers, children and educators. Really for everyone.

Q.bo One is built on an open platform based on Raspberry Pi, Linux and Scratch.

Q.bo One is built to be simple. Easy to assemble, easy to program and easy to integrate. The open architecture of the robot makes this possible.

It is designed for easy interaction between people and robot.

Furthermore, it is an ideal system for a connection with many artificial intelligence ("AI") systems.

 

The Q.bo robot: http://thecorpora.com/