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DJI RoboMaster S1
- ex3ndr 7y agoSo they are showing how this robots shoot each other and then they show where you can point to a child to follow (or shoot?)...
- yeldarb 7y agoLooks like a cooler version of the AWS DeepRacer mixed with an old LEGO MindStorm kit.
- hurrdurr2 7y agoMaking the offensive component a central design element is... interesting. They could have designed a robot for kids like what anki did but.. this is what they came up with.
- throwaway66666 7y agoThe fact that DJI releases an educational robot for kids that has a working cannon feels super icky from my western perspective. In China do they think it's a great idea? Is the culture gap that big, or is there another reason? Also, how long until someone recreates the famous square scene with a lego character and 3 of these? EDIT: This video from the promo page where it is hunting down a child - https://www1.djicdn.com/assets/uploads/v/1b34c0e069531a08639d0647602d073c.mp4 https://www1.djicdn.com/assets/uploads/v/1b34c0e069531a08639... This would have been great without the cannon, with the cannon it feels... off.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- sho_hn 7y agoIMHO this comment qualifies as one of those "bizarre anti-Chinese sentiment" ones. The #2 consumer drone maker in the world after DJI, Parrot from France, also sells an educational drone for kids with a cannon (it's an add-on but gets sold together in a popular set), and has done so for years: The Parrot Mambo. There's countless other toys for children that include weaponry and/or glamorize it for that matter, like just about any toy for boys sold in the US throughout the 80s, or so it feels like. I'm also quite sure LEGO has sold sets with motors and plans to build catapult contraptions. Nothing about this is "super icky from a Western perspective". I am deeply concerned about many things going on within China (e.g. Xinjiang), but this willful othering and breakdown of empathy has to stop. The bottom line here is that some people think it's fun and/or will sell well to have a toy that shoots things. You can absolutely criticize that, but it's a culturally universal phenomenon and doesn't need to divide us along borders.
- throwaway66666 7y agoZero anti-chinese sentiment from my part. I was wondering if the culture there makes it more acceptable. I understand it is a poor question to ask, as it immediately sets the tone that China is doing something wrong. Perhaps I should have worded it better. Bare with me for a second though. I grew up watching western spaghetti films, playing with bb guns and thinking of cowboys as heroes. I was born and raised in Europe, not in the US (just to see how much things changed in a few decades). And I would not want my kids to grow up like that. Back then, that was normal. Today, luckily is not. In the past, having robots that fight each other was cool, because it was in the realm of fantasy. Now that drones and unmanned vehicles are a reality, and the next step is to make them AI and metadata fully powered. Having robots fight each other begins to feel poor in taste, because the jump from toy to war machine becomes blurry. I was just wondering what the general sentiment and how the culture in China is in regards to the above. Zero anti-sentiment, except honest questions.
- sho_hn 7y agoYou wrote a rather leading "do they think it's a great idea?" (not a neutral way to ask this) and you said this would then constitute a large culture gap. If it's not sentiment, it's at the very least irrelevant - if the implied assumption holds that Western culture broadly considers this not a great idea (and I have my doubts on that one), then clearly it's not a requirement for the thing existing as the West does make and sell equivalent toys.
- ALittleLight 7y agoIt's not normal? I'm only acquainted with a handful of children, but they all have toy guns and things. All I needed to read was your description "educational + cannon" on a drone to know I'll be getting this or something like it for my nephew this year. I'm not Chinese and think this stuff is cool.
- chloerei 7y agoI'm Chinese. China has strict control over gun-like toys, and it is difficult to buy gun toys that can launch ammunition on the market. Story: A women sell balloon shooting game had been sentenced for violating the gun ban. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%99%E6%98%A5%E8%8F%AF%E6%B0%A3%E7%90%83%E5%B0%84%E6%93%8A%E6%94%A4%E6%A1%88 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%99%E6%98%A5%E8%8F%AF%E6... （You should use google translate) In fact I'm worry about is RoboMaster S1 safe for children when I just knew it? I found faq page said that it's meets the safety requirements of major countries and regions around the world. https://www.dji.com/robomaster-s1/faq https://www.dji.com/robomaster-s1/faq It does not indicate age limit, but considering the complexity of assembly, I think it's most suitable for college students with programming skills. And the adults around me think it’s cool.
- tastroder 7y agoAlso from a Western perspective: this looks like a toy, they even include the orange tip. In context, and contrary to that western battle bots TV show, it seems to pretty much focus on education and competition. A goal which they seem to achieve or it wouldn't be viable to put commercial resources into it. I don't get this finger pointing, can we please solve real gun violence in our midsts before going for educational resources?
- __m 7y agoJust preparing them to go to the MIT. Toying with guns is very much in line with western culture, not even mentioning video games. The ability to program the toy just makes it more attractive to nerds.
- Lazare 7y ago> The fact that DJI releases a [toy] for kids that has a working cannon feels super icky from my western perspective. I don't think that's a western perspective, I think that's your perspective. The actual western perspective likes robots, toys, toy weapons, robotic toys, and robotic toy weapons, and all the various combinations thereof. Nerf and Transformers have been cultural staples for decades. This isn't even the first commercial toy robot with a toy gun on it: https://www.amazon.com/Nerf-Creatures-TerraDrone-Discontinued-manufacturer/dp/B00K2QZQUQ https://www.amazon.com/Nerf-Creatures-TerraDrone-Discontinue... Or the second: https://www.amazon.com/TerraScout-Nerf-N-Strike-Official-Rechargeable/dp/B01DREMRGK https://www.amazon.com/TerraScout-Nerf-N-Strike-Official-Rec... Or the third: https://www.amazon.com/Unknown-782-USB-Missile-Launcher/dp/B000XYR2CM https://www.amazon.com/Unknown-782-USB-Missile-Launcher/dp/B... Or the hundredth: https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Imports-Control-Military-Airsoft/dp/B01M23XELQ https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Imports-Control-Military-Airs... I guess you could argue the programmable nature of this somehow sets it apart, but I don't see how. > Is the culture gap that big, or is there another reason? I don't think the culture gap is where you imagine.
- throwaway66666 7y agoyes, there are many commercial toy robots with guns. And there are many gun toys and violent videogames etc etc. But they are not educational. Educational + has a cannon. There is some cognitive dissonance right there. My opinion.
- ezconnect 7y agoToy guns itself is an educational toy. It teaches you on how to use it. As kid growing up with guns the only way I can have my own and learn it is by having a toy version.
- gatherhunterer 7y agoGuns are not toys. The fact that you cannot draw the line demonstrates the problem perfectly.
- foldingmoney 7y agoI grew up in a western country in the 80s; all my toys were war or military based.
- chrismcb 7y agoYou mean the western perspective that have us bb guns, lawn dartsm, nerf guns, slingshots, and a plethora of other destructive devices? As a western kids I woukd have loved a robot with working Canon. As a western adult, even more so.
- codegladiator 7y ago> where it is hunting down a child You are explicitly trying to put it out of context and I don't understand why. Thats tracking and object and not "hunting". Even the hover link which makes that video visible mentions this: > People Recognition > Thanks to advanced computer vision technology, the S1 is able to identify and track any individual you select in the S1’s FOV.
- throwaway66666 7y agoVery well then. The robot is tracking a child with weapons drawn! Better? That was meant as a joke, it looks poor in taste because it is running after a child with the cannister of the cannon pointed towards the child. It even has "cannon cam" vision!! Without the cannon it's a great display of modern technology. With it, it looks kinda funny.
- codegladiator 7y agoSo you must have same sentiments regarding paintball and lasertag as well ?
- lnsru 7y agoI can imagine, that some primitive gripper is many times more expensive than this offensive component. With a gripper robot must be also bigger and wider as well as more expensive. As I can see in my home country (ex Soviet Union), parents have no problems when little kids play with guns, tanks or planes. Germans, for example, avoid this. I have mixed feelings, I love peace, but the guns also exist in this world.
- TomMarius 7y agoI'm from the former Eastern Bloc. Not playing with a toy gun as a child is seen as weird. It's something that never happens, everyone has used a toy gun many many times and never ever thought it's wrong.
- yellowapple 7y agoSame deal here in at least some (most?) parts of the US (the vocal minority of overzealously-violence-averse helicopter parents notwithstanding). Cap guns, squirt guns, Nerf guns, you name it, we had it (and to my knowledge still have it). Such toys are increasingly-frequently disallowed in schools, but they're still prevalent in homes and toy stores nationwide.
- dragandj 7y agoWhen I was a pre-school child, most kids' parents didn't have money to buy toy guns often, but we made toy guns ourselves from sticks, and these worked quite well :)
- jamestimmins 7y agoIt's perhaps notable that Anki went out of business. Given the popularity of games like Fortnite, the shooting dynamic seems somewhat inevitable. They may as well shoot at other toy robots and learn to program in the process.
- Lazare 7y agoI can only conclude they've actually met a child, unlike the Anki designers then. :)
- gatherhunterer 7y agoChildren don’t buy $500 toys, parents do.
- nsnick 7y agoI guess that's why there are no advertisements directed towards children on networks like Nickelodeon.
- gatherhunterer 7y agoThat is a cogent point but I fail to see how it benefits from the snarky tone.
- foxylad 7y agoReally limiting their demographic though. A little thought and they could have have had all the Candy Crush kids too.
- zwily 7y agoDo kids play Candy Crush? I’ve only ever seen adults playing it.
- joaomacp 7y agoThis is obviously being used as a test for better tele-operated war machines. China has realized AI sucks, and they will use remote soldiers - young men with good hand-eye coordination, the same set of people that are good at e-sports. This is a Chinese war-league on these bots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNQfaf_Cr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNQfaf_Cr0
- usaphp 7y agoFrom my experience companies try to design way too friendly and childish robots for kids. Kids at age 8-12 don’t like anki looking robots, they are not cool at all, maybe that’s the reason anki went out of business
- mrguyorama 7y agoIt was also STUPIDLY overpriced for what it actually could do (not much) Meanwhile this isn't a terrible price for what amounts to a programmable ground drone and even is just a fun looking toy
- adultSwim 7y agois... a reflection of where this technology came from
- nosuchthing 7y agoWow so crowdsourcing the military industrial complex's artificial intelligence KILLBOTS? This almost looks like it's satire, but it's completely real and for sale, just $499! Reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlO2gcs1YvM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlO2gcs1YvM
- Sendotsh 7y agoFor those that aren't aware, this is designed for the RoboMaster robotics league in China, which is sponsored (owned?) by DJI in the first place. Overview of the competition series itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyYsCyMC-0w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyYsCyMC-0w Video of the 2018 Finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNQfaf_Cr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNQfaf_Cr0 Bloomberg video about the RoboMaster S1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzq1DoPnXs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzq1DoPnXs
- mikl 7y agoDamn, a younger version of me would have loved this thing. The remote-controlled cars we had in the 90's were downright primitive in comparison.
- cbg0 7y agoThose primitive RC cars weren't $499 though.
- mikl 7y agoGiven we've had about 100% inflation since then, it's actually not that crazy. A $250 RC car would have been extravagant, sure, I think my fanciest was about $100 back then, but not unthinkable.
- djaychela 7y agoI'm clearly old, but I'm sure I remember the Tamiya Frog was about £100 in the mid 1980s, plus radio - IIRC it was about £130 for a complete kit. That equates to about $500 in today's money, so it's not a crazy after all...
- rendx 7y agoThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System cost $199 when it launched back in 1991. Plus the additional costs of the games.
- mrguyorama 7y agoThe original mindstorms set from lego was over $100 in 90s money and pales in comparison
- synaesthesisx 7y agoWild speculation, but I could see Apple acquiring DJI.
- Leherenn 7y agoNo way the Chinese government would let a strategic asset be bought by an American company, especially nowadays.
- xchaotic 7y agoMy kids went through Sphero, Mindstorms and a couple of other robots where you can program them in Scratch and similar. To me such a toy would have been a godsend. They got bored pretty quickly. Another issue is that gimbal adds to video quality but also to cost. Finally with the hype, I was expecting a nice ready to fly FPV drone. So I'm a bit meh about this toy.
- Mauronic1 7y agoWhy do you think they would not get bored? Also, what do you think about the price?
- Mauronic1 7y agoMy American girlfriend's immediate response: seems militaristic and violent. My daughter was turned off from robotics at a young age. She joined firstego league and there was a ton of domineering "boy energy" in her school. She enjoyed creating and personalizing the robots in unique ways, the boys wanted "to win". This is what happens when you have a bunch of dudes designing educational robot toys.
- dgzl 7y agoI'm curious, since you know your daughter's personality (and those of little girls in general) better than I do, how would the game be designed such that they'd be more interested? Keep in mind this is coming from a company known for making high quality drones.
- Mauronic1 7y agoI am not informed enough to even guess. Was it the first robotics ciricculum or the gender dynamics of the class? Or both? That was 7 years ago, now she is in an all girls high school. The same sex education has provided a much less distracting environment. (Don't want to get off topic but I could go on and on about same sex education)
- dgzl 7y agoSo you have enough intuition to criticize this drone toy as being "designed by dudes" and not palatable for girls, but have zero intuition about how the game can be changed so your own daughter would enjoy it better? Do you realize how unhelpful that is? From your own words, it sounds like your daughter enjoys being aesthetically creative rather than technically competitive. In which case, why are you bitter about a drone company being a drone company?
- Mauronic1 7y agoIt's not intuition. The product team was lead by a man (see the Bloomberg video). The CEO of DJI is man, every senior exec is a man and 98% of all the DJI reps that I have met at trade shows since 2014 have been men. It's true that I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about how to solve the problem. But it annoys me when a billion dollar company doesn't seem to either.
- acomjean 7y agoSeems A lot like Robocode, but with hardware and less destruction. (robocode seems to still be going, though I haven't looked at it in a while..) http://robowiki.net/wiki/Robocode http://robowiki.net/wiki/Robocode https://robocode.sourceforge.io https://robocode.sourceforge.io
- yardie 7y agoI like it. Wish it came with an arm instead of a turret. We have a Parrot Mambo in our home. The turret was used for a few days and then removed. It added a lot of bulk and halved the flight time.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- danboarder 7y agoBloomberg Businessweek created an excellent video profile of how this kit fits in robotics education and STEAM programs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzq1DoPnXs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzq1DoPnXs
- yayr 7y agoimo giving way to kids impulses like fighting might be commercially the most viable thing - educationally it is not. It is always much easier to be destructive than constructive. However, we should try to teach our kids the latter. Achieving win-win does not usually come from impulse but from empathy. Although it is hard, I try to avoid fighting games and media for my kids as much as I can and try to teach them competing in more creative ways...
- bubblewrap 7y agoThe kids would presumably spend a lot more time constructing than destructing. I also doubt the robots get actually destroyed in the competition. Do you also forbid water blasters in the hot summer? As you say, those playful fights are a natural impulse. It is also not true that you can solve every problem without violence. I'm expecting people to chime up with "what about the girls?", though. Presumably those battle bots might be considered off putting to girls, putting them to a severe disadvantage because they miss out on their STEM education. (An argument I would also consider bullshit, but those are the times).
- yayr 7y agoas I said, it's hard, but I offer them alternatives: building things, ball games, surfing,... I guess they are better of with that than water blasters.
- bubblewrap 7y agoIn what way are they better off, would you say? Btw Rudolf Steiner (of Waldorf School fame) would also outlaw ball games, at least soccer. After all, the ball could be mistaken for a head and it could train kids to kick heads.
- yayr 7y agoI guess 1) they learn to have fun without the need to feel superiour (ball games need some supervision in that regard though) 2) they learn emotional intelligence, especially for activities that require collaboration (surfing not so much though) people tend to miss, that in the early years many inner brain functions and predispositions, especially emotional regulation get tuned for the rest of the life...
- JustFinishedBSG 7y agoDJI taking the time to write a page for the S1 in my language only to at the very end tell me "Not available in your region" is toying with my emotions and heartbreaking
- xiphias2 7y agoYou can always do dropshipping...it's sucks, but us non-US people are always second class citizens of the world.
- mrguyorama 7y agoIt's a chinese company isn't it? You'd think they'd have a non-US worldview
- xiphias2 7y agoGenerally they are quite global, but we see that they are China and US first.
- Tepix 7y agoSo, how about a DIY variant of this? - Start with a DonkeyCar with Jetson Nano - add mecanum wheels (why not three instead of four?) - add a weapon or laser pointer or whatever On the other hand, do we really want to push gamification of autonomous weapon systems?
- sneak 7y agoDJI is amazing. They sell their drone IMU+RF module separately to make your own drones, and their new 4K Osmo Pocket comes with me everywhere I go. Few companies are making such innovative hardware.
- arnaudsm 7y agoI predict someone will mount a real gun on this.
- willart4food 7y agowhy this? > To comply with local laws and regulations, the RoboMaster S1 will not be sold in Washington, D.C. or North Dakota.
- rosege 7y agoThis website has a major flaw. When I click the buy button it says not available in your country. I was thinking about getting this for my nephew who lives in the USA while I live in Australia. I know I'm obviously a small percentage that is outside USA that could buy and get it delivered to a local address but it still seems crazy not to even allow that. I know I could vpn it but I don't think that should be necessary.
- rendx 7y agoYou can change the country at the top right corner. At least this worked for me to get a price tag and the option to order.
- sjcao 7y agoIt might be a legal issue instead of the small market. the robot shoot water ball so it might violate Australia law. just my 2 cents.
- deskamess 7y agoTo mimic your use case, I went through a trial run and it does let you enter a non US billing address (Australia was a drop down).
- rosege 7y agoYes but are you in the US? When I try and buy it says not in your country. I did just find that if I go store then change to US I think I can now order. I was on my mobile before so this definitely wasn't clear then.
- jpdb 7y agoI know this is a yet-to-be released product and it says Python is supported, but does anyone know if it is possible to install 3rd party libraries and interact with the filesystem? Interested in installing a webserver like flask on here.
- Mauronic1 7y agoIt will be interesting to see how open it is but DJIs first educational offering (Tello) and other products don't go very far in that regard.
- PanMan 7y agoWhat does the "gun" shoot? It seems laser, but then how does the target in the movie (which seems to be paper) fall over?
- sjcao 7y agoit's some kind of small ball, need to absorb water for 2+ hours before use.
- darepublic 7y agoThis looks pretty damn cool and I'd like to try it. But weird that the western media hasn't picked up this story in light of all their coverage on China stealing IP...
- jeannekamikaze 7y agoInteresting how an educational robot project/competition always needs to involve the careful exercising of ballistics against a target. Descartes clearly got it all wrong and should have instead formulated his proposition as "I fire ma lazerz, therefore I am". By that definition, the singularity is clearly near.