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Robotics Toys

Koolio, the Beer Delivery Robot 325

Ipingforpong writes "Recently a University of Florida engineering student named Brian Pietrodangelo built a mini fridge named Koolio that when you place an order through the website, will deliver a cold soda, beer, or various candy to you. Right now it's only available in one building at University of Florida but soon it could catch on in office buildings and other places."
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Koolio, the Beer Delivery Robot

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  • by r_glen ( 679664 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:32AM (#8946722)
    Another excuse to avoid women
    • by mfh ( 56 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:06AM (#8946932) Homepage Journal
      ... but there is plenty of data regarding how females actually destroy the geniuses they encounter by becoming demanding, selfish and annoying enough to trigger deep bouts of depression, and even suicide. When geeks find a really special woman, they still have to avoid *other* women, so there's no change there, really (meaning: it's good to avoid women, and practice that because it keeps you honest).

      What we need is a robot that delivers women! (women who are genetically altered to be quiet, compassionate and understanding of what it is to be geeks; or at the very least, cool enough to chill when papa's coding)
      • by Phenris Wolfe ( 725404 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:17AM (#8946985)

        That happens because the geek approaches the situation from a scarcity mentality. A woman can't do that to you if you're willing/able to walk away if it gets to be too much crap.

        That being said, it took me a long time to figure that out, so I can understand the depression thing as well.

        • Re:You can laugh... (Score:3, Interesting)

          by phorm ( 591458 )
          Ah, and the trick is that really - unless you meet *the one* the first time around - getting dumped is actually a productive thing. After getting dumped a few times, and finding new relationships, you realize that you won't be doomed to singularity if you in turn do the dumping of less desirable females.

          Although the .com has burst, many geeks still make a decent wage. There are women/men that will attach themselves to said geek like a parasite... you know the type: expensive gifts/movies/dinner/etc/etc

          T
      • ... but there is plenty of data regarding how females actually destroy the geniuses they encounter by becoming demanding, selfish and annoying enough to trigger deep bouts of depression, and even suicide.

        which might be why Alan Turing was gay and dated other mathematicians.

        then again, he was driven to suicide, too, so the problem may not rest with women, but just how geeks handle relationships in general.

      • by wadiwood ( 601205 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @05:45AM (#8947795) Journal
        I'm sure we can deliver an inflatable woman with the beer. The right robot could probably even inflate her for you. And we'll throw in a free pizza while we're at it. After all, we wouldn't want an idiot like you out on the streets. (Shut up papa, mamma is coding)
  • I wonder (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:34AM (#8946739) Journal
    does it clean up the barf also?
    • Thats Roomba's job. www.roombavac.com

    • Re:I wonder (Score:5, Funny)

      by prescot6 ( 731593 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @08:02AM (#8948236)

      does it clean up the barf also?

      Guy 1: Where were you last night? I tried to call you.
      Guy 2: Dude, I was just hanging out by myself and up comes Koolio. And you know how he's always all "hey, you probably want a beer, don't you?" Well, to make a long story short, I woke up naked on the floor and Koolio was next to me wearing my shirt...

  • Wives? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Xeed ( 308294 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:34AM (#8946740) Journal
    Instead of missing that knock out punch Koolio could deliver you, and all your friends, beer all night long. You have this luxury 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Find a human to do that.

    Wait... I thought that's what wives are for
    I'm really starting to consider marrying my computer...
  • Oh boy.. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    that's gotta be one hot piece of hardware. I'd bet it'd be hard to keep thieves at bay.
    • Re:Oh boy.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:52AM (#8946859)
      that's gotta be one hot piece of hardware. I'd bet it'd be hard to keep thieves at bay.

      This thing would never survive in a dorm environment. The payload will always be stolen, and it'd be constantly knocked over by people who just want to be jerks.

      However it might work just fine within a "friendly" office environment...
      • Re:Oh boy.. (Score:5, Funny)

        by Saeger ( 456549 ) <farrellj@nosPAM.gmail.com> on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:03AM (#8947153) Homepage
        Well, I can think of one cheap way to keep the delivery robot safe: Start a "respect the beerbot" meme. People might kick the shit out of a regular vending machine, but they'd quickly learn not to mess with the sacred beerbot (as long as it never fails to deliver what was promised).

        Other methods to keep the beerbot safe:

        1. Give it a live webcam to shame vandals (if they have any shame that is).
        2. Give it a GPS locator.
        3. Make it shriek in a loud female voice if abused...

        --
        • Re:Oh boy.. (Score:3, Insightful)

          by evilWurst ( 96042 )
          "Make it shriek in a loud female voice if abused..."

          Most of my friends would feel compelled to abuse it at least once, then, just to hear it.
  • ugh.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by js3 ( 319268 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:35AM (#8946751)
    for a second there I thought koolio was a beer drinking robot..
    • Re:ugh.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by mrseigen ( 518390 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:13AM (#8946970) Homepage Journal
      Finally, something we humans can beat machines at! Once their cast-iron insides are eroded by cheap beer, we'll hop into our expensive SUVs and slaughter innocent pedestrians in a drunken victory lap.

      Oh wait...
    • Re:ugh.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Chris Tucker ( 302549 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:55AM (#8947121) Homepage
      "for a second there I thought koolio was a beer drinking robot.."

      You're thinking of Bender.

      Ah... Bender! A role model for all robots to come!

      First Law: A Bender unit shall disregard all orders given it by a human.

      Second Law: A Bender shall protect it's own existance, even at the cost of human life. Don't forget to loot the corpse(s) afterwards!

      Third Law: If it's not nailed down, it's mine! If it's nailed down and I can bend the nails, it's no longer nailed down and it's mine!

      Forth Law; "Kiss my shiny metal ass, meatsack!"
  • by NarrMaster ( 760073 ) <dfordyce AT mix DOT wvu DOT edu> on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:36AM (#8946757)
    Forget defusing bombs and finding victims buried in rubble.... This robot is damn useful with real world potential!
  • I already have a mini fridge right by my computer desk at work.

    Still, can't beat the R2D2 factor!

    • Re:Thats nice but... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:41AM (#8946792)
      The images on the home page actually made me think that this bot was more advanced than it really is...

      Instead of having an on-board fridge... why not send it down to in-building vending machine, where it completes the transaction against the student's account, and then grabs the item and take it where it needs to go for delivery.

      That'd give it a much wider inventory and an ability to serve a wider audience than just one person.
  • by dulles ( 86837 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:37AM (#8946770)
    ...until someone hacks it and they catch it wandering down the interstate towards my college.
  • by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:38AM (#8946772)
    You can tell these kids are going to make it in the business world...

    He provides no source nor price for such key components as Sonar, LCD, IR detectors, Motors, and Wheels. You can almost hear the future bean counter cutting them a check for $260 for this project and laughing.
  • If only... (Score:5, Funny)

    by hillg3 ( 656728 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:39AM (#8946774)
    But what happens when there is no beer in the fridge? Is it going to roll its ass down to the 7-11 and pick up a six pack and restock itself?
    • and a more important question... how the heck do you card a robot?
    • But what happens when there is no beer in the fridge? Is it going to roll its ass down to the 7-11 and pick up a six pack and restock itself?

      Perhaps it could order on-line and leave instructions to the delivery guy. The delivery guy could then leave them in some hatch, that was the back of the fridge.

      This place delivers beer in Hull, UK [booze4u.com]. I've never used it because their shop is across the road from me and it would be uber lazy to use their website to order beer.

      Anyway, I like the idea of this rob
  • Koolio eh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by aarku ( 151823 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:41AM (#8946790) Journal
    Nice, but does it play Gangsta's Paradise while roaming around the hood of your range vent?
  • by dTaylorSingletary ( 448723 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:41AM (#8946791) Homepage
    When I was going to college in San Francisco, I lived in the dorms and right around that time (1998) cookiesnmilk.net opened, targeted at us more lit folk as a solution to midnight snacking needs. It was great-- warm, delicious cookies delivered to your door with cold milk. Gradually the company had the mistaken notion they could make bigger money by catering to the office crowd. Never heard of them after a certain point, their website is no longer. Oh well. Keep with the college kiddies.

    Here [press-world.com] is some evidence of their existence. I have a photograph with a delivery person that is an utter classic.
  • by spamster ( 766232 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:42AM (#8946796)
    Now if we could just set it up with speakers, mp3 player and a little disco ball......
  • Okay... (Score:4, Funny)

    by c4Ff3In3 4ddiC+ ( 661808 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:43AM (#8946803)
    My address is
    1949 E Camelback Rd
    Phoenix, AZ 85016
    Please have been delivered by 12PM tomorrow. Thanks!
    • What suite number? There's a bunch of shit there from what I see. New York Pizza Department, some sort of Japanese restaurant and a Best Buy.
    • Cool I'm like right near you, when you get yours I'll be sure to hack it and have it drive over to my house.
    • Re:Okay... (Score:3, Funny)

      by AbbyNormal ( 216235 )
      I dunno about the beer, but I'm sure your gonna have a lot odder things delivered.

      Slightly off-topic, but still funny.

      The funniest prank I remember, was when my friend rented a room in an old ladies house. While my friend was at school, the old lady would deliver his mail to his room daily. While cruising around internet, I found a bunch of "Freebie" sites that would allow you to sign up for some free samples.

      Needless the say the old lady was rather confused when a items such as "Female Condoms", "Hair
  • Not New (Score:5, Informative)

    by AyeFly ( 242460 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:44AM (#8946807)
    Hospitals have been using robots similar to this for years, check out these two links...
    http://marc.med.virginia.edu/projects_pi candplace. html

    http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/1999/39/automa ti on.html

    However, I dont think you would want to mix up the fridge robot with one of these by accident, HEY! thats not Cherry Coke, its blood!
    • "If there is this much corporate demand to replace nurses now, imagine how quickly nurses (along with teachers, waiters/waitresses, store clerks, etc. etc.) will be replaced once there are humanoid robots like Toyota's available off-the-shelf to take over these jobs."

      -- Marshall Brain [blogspot.com]

      --

    • Better then getting it the other way around.

      Doctor! You've just transfused him with carbonated soda!
  • Yes but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by FattMattP ( 86246 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:47AM (#8946825) Homepage
    will it say "Bede bede bede... [topkool.free.fr]" when it hands you the beer?
  • They advertise 54oz cans, but you really end up getting between 15-20.
    What a ripoff!
  • by TimeForGuinness ( 701731 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:47AM (#8946832) Journal
    Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!
  • You could have it deliver things you need (other than the beer of course), such as supplies you might need like beer coasters...and pens / paper etc.

    I'd pay a bit more for the convenience factor. I wonder what the total operating cost is for this. hm

  • by OmegaGeek ( 586893 ) <robwall@gmCOBOLail.com minus language> on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:51AM (#8946854) Homepage

    From the description:

    "Imagine watching a movie with someone and you get thirsty. It is an inconvenience to everyone watching the movie to stop the movie, but at the same time you don't want to miss anything important. Koolio could solve your problem."

    Right. So instead of taking 30 seconds to get to the fridge and back, I'll pull out my laptop, login to the robot control server, place my order, then wait for the bot to get my drink to me; at best this takes 2 minutes

    Its a cool idea, I'll admit, but maybe not the most practical. Especially since when I launch my browser to login to the robot server, my home page is /. and it takes me 20 minutes to read and comment on new stories. Now, where was that work I actually meant to be doing right now...

  • What if.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ReflectingGod ( 770324 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:52AM (#8946858)
    Imagine watching a movie with someone and you get thirsty. It is an inconvenience to everyone watching the movie to stop the movie, but at the same time you don't want to miss anything important. Koolio could solve your problem.

    But what when, having drunk that beer, you really gotta piss, what's Koolio gonna do for ya then, can it help with that as well?

    • Dude, after drinking all that beer, and you really have to piss, well, you've likely got a stack of empty cans near at hand...

      Which is why I'm developing the PISSBOY robot!

      Logon, give PISSBOY your dorm number and he'll come over and remove all those beer cans full of your hot, frothy urine and safely dispose of it in the nearest potted plant in the common room.
  • * Dr. Nechyba is in an important meeting with a future client and has a sudden urge for a Diet Coke.

    * He logs on to the network and tells Koolio that he would like a Diet Coke.


    If he can interrupt the meeting for "quickly ordering a drink fir himself", I doubt that the-not-so-the-future-client would be happy to not get one!!

    And then, to surf along on the wave of outsourcing fear, this machine will gets made in .cn or .sg, while the secretary in .us gets cut on her payroll because an important piece of h
    • If he can interrupt the meeting for "quickly ordering a drink fir himself", I doubt that the-not-so-the-future-client would be happy to not get one!!

      Eh, he just has to program a macro on the computer so that he can send the network commands with a simple descrete hotkey sequence press. :)
    • Meh... if the secretary isn't good enough to prove herself better than a robot, maybe she needs to work harder. (Or blow harder.)
  • Great! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ImTwoSlick ( 723185 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:54AM (#8946876)
    Koolio is a traveling autonomous refrigerator robot -- Picture a cross between R2D2 and a vending machine.

    Now he's gonna get sued by both Coolio AND Lucas.

  • by WhatsAProGingrass ( 726851 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:55AM (#8946878) Homepage
    This robot doesn't look like it can hold a lot of beer. It would be cool if this robot could restock itself and rotate the cold beers to the front and the warm ones to the back. Anyone know anything about the robot from the Rocky 4 movie? Are their such things in the making?
  • I call VAPORWARE! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:56AM (#8946883)
    See, this document [ufl.edu] reveals that although this project is ahead of schedule, the prototype won't even be done until August. :)
    • Indeed. It's a school robotics project, all of which is quite old hat now, except for trying to read room numbers off the doors and having a fridge attatched.
      Navigating by reading door numbers will probably be a bit tricky for them, but isn't impossible, and attatching a fridge is simple.
  • I hope not (Score:5, Funny)

    by dj245 ( 732906 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @12:56AM (#8946888) Homepage
    Right now I know my alcohol limit when I am unable to forage for beer. This includes making beer runs, and/or voyaging to other dorm rooms in search of beer. But if a robot brought the beer, then when would the party end?

    Not only that, but foraging for beer is fun. Think of it as a group activity that builds teamwork, and makes long lasting friends. Having a robot might be neat for a while, but half the fun of beer is getting it. It is a quest... The quest... for the Holy Beer!

  • Personally i just put a bar fridge near the TV.
  • by dj245 ( 732906 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:02AM (#8946911) Homepage
    It is very curious that there is an option of that page to "place an order". It is not responding. So either:

    A. The server only takes orders from on-campus ips.
    B. The robot is turned off for the night.
    C. We have just slashdotted a Refrigerator.

  • by m3000 ( 46427 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:11AM (#8946956)
    I'm a Junior at UF, and I took a graduate class in robotics this semester, and I've seen the robot a few times sitting at it's docking station in one of the rooms on the 3rd floor of Benton. It was also supposed to be demonstrated at this semester's demo day for our class [ufl.edu] (even though it wasn't part of the class, they just like to show what all the robots that the Machine Intelligence Lab [ufl.edu] is working on) but it had broken the night before. It does look pretty impressive in real life though just sitting there, but I wish I could report back how it acted in person.
    • Yeah we didn't make the demo because we were up all night before preparing for a TV interview. Koolio wasn't broken. I always have a backup on hand of the last stable code for demos. Just when modifying code he can do some unexpected things, until you work the bugs out.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:11AM (#8946958)

    I'm sorry Dave but I can't do that. You're a little fat to be drinking soda Dave.
  • by azav ( 469988 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:12AM (#8946964) Homepage Journal
    From the web page:

    "It locates room 326 and delivers Dr. Nechyba his Diet Coke thus averting disaster."

    He would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!

  • Exercise (Score:4, Funny)

    by Luciq ( 697883 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:13AM (#8946972) Homepage
    Though Koolio is pretty darn cool, I wouldn't want one around the office. I like having an excuse to get up and walk to the other end of the building now and then (getting my own coffee, thank you).

    All we need now is a "Shtoolio" waste collection robot and I won't have any excuses to get up at all!
    • "All we need now is a "Shtoolio" waste collection robot and I won't have any excuses to get up at all!"

      Those already exist, and they are even shaped like a chair so you can sit on them.
  • by marko123 ( 131635 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:20AM (#8946994) Homepage
    In Australia, we already have it [smh.com.au]...
    • For those who missed the phenomenon, scantily clad girls are hired for $65 an hour to wait hand and foot on groups of thirsty fans, allowing them to enjoy the cricket.Then, for an extra fee the wenches, or another girl from the same company, would do a private strip away from the ground for those fans who had had their fill of sun, drink and cricket. The wenches enraged sections of the community earlier this year and NSW Gaming and Racing Minister Grant McBride raised concerns about them.

      For a moment I
  • Big deal! (Score:2, Funny)

    by dawg ball ( 773621 )
    I've also invented a bot! Not only does it fetch my beer but it also cooks and gives me sex. I call it the Work On My Animalistic Needs bot, or WOMAN for short.

  • by Niten ( 201835 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:44AM (#8947091)

    Koolio was conceived as part of the Intelligent Machines Design Laboratory, a graduate-level class here at the University of Florida in which students spend an entire semester developing their own robots to perform various tasks. The IMDL just had a media expo a couple of days back, and you can find more pictures and information about Koolio and the other robots at the following address:

    http://www.mil.ufl.edu/imdl/ [ufl.edu]

    Mark

  • Damn you, slashdotters! Damn you, all!

  • I'd rather this thing made you chase it for some time -- to force some excercise. Soda is bad enough [yahoo.com] for you even when you have to walk to take it...

  • This robot will bring you beer the one from a few weeks ago will drive you home when you are drunk all we need now is a robot that will let you pee into it all night and clean up after you and your friends the next morning
  • from the article:
    "This floors houses the Machine Intelligence Lab(MIL) as well class rooms and professor's offices."

    Spoken like a true engineer.
  • by Teahouse ( 267087 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:48AM (#8947310)
    The problem is that I STILL have to stock Koolio. What's worse is that I STILL have to go to the store and buy the cases of beverages to LOAD in Koolio. Finally, Koolio can not take a crap or urinate FOR me. I am really dissappointed. Where has good ol' American innovation gone? Why am I still required to wear clothing, bathe, and work? Koolio simply doesn't fit in to my busy sloth-like lifestyle yet. Back to the drawing boards guys.

  • Am I the only one... (Score:3, Informative)

    by geminidomino ( 614729 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:50AM (#8947316) Journal
    that found it side-splittingly hilarious that the "Gangsta's Paradise" artist decided to call himself "Coolio"? That humor is reborn today with this article.

    "Cuolo" in Italian is not something one generally wants to be associated with. I beleive Spanish has a not-too-distant equivalent.
  • down sides (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:50AM (#8947318) Journal
    No, you stupid robot! You are supposed to give it to *me*, not drink it yourself. And stop that disco shit, will ya?
  • [Enter a Hairbot which has replacement hair for the crew growing on it.]

    Hairbot: I got your page Mr Fry, your new hair is ready!

    [He takes the hair off his head and puts it on Fry's head. Fry shuffles it into place.]

    That robot was always just...weirdly creepy.
  • Instead of missing that knock out punch Koolio could deliver you, and all your friends, beer all night long. You have this luxury 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Find a human to do that.

    I did, they're called "kids"....

  • Like trawl the neighbourhood bars until it can find some cheerleaders to smuggle back your room
  • I think I can see it coming... Hey, Koolio: Bring me some Vanilla Ice..!
  • 1,$s/Diet Coke/beer/g
  • Similar Project (Score:4, Interesting)

    by miketang16 ( 585602 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @08:48AM (#8948512) Journal
    The Computer Science House at Rochester Institute of Technology has built 2 networked soda machines, and is currently working on building a robot that delivers the soda to the rooms. I'd like to actually see this U of F robot in action, because one of the problems RIT is having is difficulties avoiding hazards, like people...
  • by TomorrowPlusX ( 571956 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @09:08AM (#8948692)
    Well, as an amateur, spending my evenings and weekends over the last two years trying to develop a robot ( my first one was a disaster, but my current one has much promise ), whenever I talk to someone about it the first question they ask is "you mean like in battlebots?"

    My response is always "I'm not making it for fighting, and if I did, it would get its shiny aluminum ass stomped" ( my robots are legged, and therefore somewhat slow ).

    So... they think for a few seconds and ask "will it bring you beer?"

    "Maybe someday" I respond.

    It's kind of depressing. Here I am trying to make something interesting -- I'm doing private research into behavioral / automata brain design. I firmly believe I can make something as agile and graceful as a cat, or at the very least a retarded cat. But so far I haven't delved into image processing or even goal oriented behavior except for "follow the heat signature". But I think it's wonderful stuff anyway.

    Yet people only care about wether its a battlebot or a beerbot.

    Fie on them all.
  • by bl8n8r ( 649187 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @11:09AM (#8950126)
    So it can drag me off the floor when I pass out.
  • by huntybunz ( 741875 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @05:06PM (#8954323)
    Too many beers from your robot fridge? Time to call in the robot urinal! Never leave your couch again! Hooray for bedsores!

One man's constant is another man's variable. -- A.J. Perlis

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