Mobility
Aido balances on an omnidirectional ball – a ballbot design. This allows him to move around the house with ease. He has object recognition and obstacle avoidance built in, so he can navigate your home comfortably.
Ground-breaking Industrial Design
Aido is a result of cutting edge robotics research and development. In addition to this, a lot effort was put into understanding the consumer's requirement. Through various surveys, testing and taking feedback from early testers, Aido has gone through several iterations in its idea phase to deliver an incredibly powerful yet easy to use home-robot.
Dual battery technology
Aido boasts a unique dual-tech battery – a lead acid and nickel cadmium hybrid battery that both charges fast and retains power over extended periods of time. Both battery parts are in hot standby mode. Aido also has a patent-pending power management board that lets him switch between the two batteries based on requirements and power load. Aido’s battery should last about 8 hours on regular usage, including 2 hours of mobility.
Voice controls
We believe that voice will play a huge role in making robots more personal. When designing Aido, we wanted users to talk to Aido, and Aido replies back in a conversational & personal manner.Aido has a 6 mic array set around a circular base with a dedicated hardware chip for listening to a human voice, even in noisy environments.
A dedicated voice artist has recorded most commonly used sentences, phrases and words. Aido stores a library of these for regular communication to make him sound friendly. For obscure words, Aido uses standard text-to-speech engines.
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Android - Linux architecture
We wanted Aido’s interface to run Android, as this would immediately give users access to millions of apps on the Google Play Store. However, Android was not powerful enough for what Aido had to tackle at home. Hence the Android-Linux Hybrid Architecture.
Workflows
Aido is here to help, whatever your needs may be. Using Aido’s companion app on iPad, iPhone or Android tablets or phones, you can create Aido “workflows”. These workflows can then be triggered easily using simple voice commands.
Workflows can be created on Aido’s companion app on iPad, iPhone or Android tablets or phones, and automatically sync with Aido. You can even automate apps like Netflix or ask Aido to control your home appliances. See the video below for some sample screencast.
With Aido’s visual automator, you can build your schedules that can be triggered on weekdays, weekends, holidays, or even when some triggers are set.
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Dolphins are highly social animals living in groups. They teach, learn and cooperate amongst themselves. Aido’s physical form is inspired by the dolphin and its personality mimics the dolphin’s intelligence, warmth and friendliness.
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Aido is the brainchild of Arshad Hisham CEO and Founder of InGen Dynamics Inc. - A Palo Alto-based automation firm. Before founding InGen Dynamics Inc and building Aido, he started and successfully exited four firms – one in e-commerce, two in hardware and one in enterprise software.
A big science fiction fan, Arshad has been fascinated by the various robots in popular culture - Serge from Caprica, R2D2, Data from Star Trek and Wall-E to name a few. Arshad was keenly interested in Robotics even during his undergraduate degree. He always dreamed of having the perfect Robot Companion - A Robot that is useful, affordable and sleek.
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Over the years, he realized that the cost to build a genuinely cutting edge Robot was steadily decreasing even as the technology was maturing. A year ago, he saw that most of the pieces to put a home robot were in place: powerful processors; practical artificial intelligence - including image, scene and object recognition, massive storage, powerful microcontrollers, smart appliances and cutting edge mobility research coming out of leading universities. After doing extensive studies on the feasibility, economics and practicality of building a home robot he decided that the average home was ready for Aido. He worked meticulously with leading architects and industrial designers to come up with a truly groundbreaking industrial design. The ideas and technology behind Aido were then put to test through a lot of consumer & behavioral research.
The result is Aido in his final form - a beautifully crafted machine that is the convergence of the most advanced technologies on the horizon, a showpiece for robotics innovation. A home robot that anyone would be proud to own, incredibly useful and super affordable.
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FAQ
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A complete list of FAQs is available here.)
How does the ball-bot design work?
We chose a ball-bot design for Aido’s mobility as it suited the home environment well:
- Balancing Aido on a single ball means it is easy to spin around a central axis, so turning Aido around is much simpler.
- With a single ball base, Aido can move out of the way quickly if it bumps into something.
- By balancing forces between Aido’s body and the ball, Aido can navigate floors & even carpets.
With software, we can make sure Aido is balanced when at rest or when moving.
Aido is never really still, even when it is standing. It constantly equilibrates by slowly revolving the ball underneath its center of gravity.
If Aido has to stand for an extended period, retractable legs pop up to support Aido.
Will Aido topple over if I push it hard?
Aido counters sudden changes to its balance (a tilt of more than 8 degrees) with a set of retractable legs that spring out from the base to prevent it from keeling over. Push Aido and the legs will spring out to provide immediate support. Aido will quickly try to stabilize by itself and draw the legs back in.
When Aido is stationary for a long time, it uses the legs to support itself. The legs also offer support when Aido is charging.
Is the face a custom skin on Android?
Our team has studied a lot of research material about how robots and humans interact. We designed the UI to be a friendly, approachable and communicative interface.
The UI is also designed so that you can see it from across the room. We expect that a lot of the interactions with Aido happen over voice, so the UI accommodates various possibilities of using voice, gestures and touch.
The UI layer is built on top of Android, so all your Google Play Store apps will run without problems on Aido.
What security protocols does Aido support?
Aido uses SSL encryption to secure personal data sent to and from the cloud;
Aido uses 256-bit AES encryption in the cloud; digital certificates are used to authenticate devices.
How does Aido protect my privacy?
Aido only collects data it needs, keeps it encrypted, and doesn’t transmit any personal data back to our servers. All sensitive data like passwords are encrypted with 256-bit AES encryption to ensure that no one can ever gain access to them. Aido may collect some data anonymously for purposes of improving the product. You will have control of how much data Aido shares with us and can turn off sharing if you like.
Can I see an entire movie using the HD multimedia projector?
When fully charged, Aido can operate for about 6 hours. Aido can run the HD multimedia projector and multimedia systems for 3 hours, so you should be able to watch your favorite movie completely.
You could also set Aido in its (optional) charging dock when seeing movies. In this case, the HD multimedia projector can run for a much longer time.
Will all Android apps run on Aido?
Yes, Aido runs Android Lollipop. All Google Play Store apps are natively supported on Aido. Apps designed for tablets will run best on Aido.
I have an iPhone. Will you have an Aido app for it?
Yes, we will have the Aido companion app available for iPhones and Android phones.
When will I receive my Aido?
We plan to ship Aido around February 2017. You will be amongst the very select few to receive Aido first.
Which countries do you ship Aido to?
We provide worldwide shipping.
How much does shipping cost?
We charge a standard shipping charge of $75 for the US and $149 for international shipments. Customs, VAT, duties and other charges may apply additionally for international shipments.
Is Aido under warranty?
All product specifications, illustrations, drawings, particulars, dimensions and other information on the Site or made available by us are intended to represent no more than a general illustration of the Product and its features and do not constitute a warranty or representation by us that the Product will conform with the same.
InGen Dynamics will offer a 90-day warranty on Aido when it ships. Please note that this will not cover intentional damage.
How do I choose more than one perk?
The Indiegogo system is not set up to choose multiple perks. If you would like to choose more than one perk, you will need to initiate a separate process for each pre-order. If you encounter difficulties, please email hello@getaido.com and use "NEED HELP WITH ORDERING" as the subject line.
I preordered an Aido, but I didn’t get a confirmation email. How can I check the status?
Please refer to this article on How to Check if Your Contribution is Successful. If there is still an issue, you may contact us at hello@getaido.com with the subject line: PREORDER CONFIRMATION.
There was an error with my contribution. What happened?
Please refer to this article on standard contribution errors and steps to resolve: Common Contribution Errors.
Why am I checking out through Indiegogo?
We are using the Indiegogo platform to maintain transparency with our campaign: all the stats, numbers, deadlines and dollars raised are real. We want you to know that we have the full support of the crowdfunding community to help keep us accountable.
If I have other questions, who should I contact?
We are receiving a lot of inquiries and are responding as fast as possible. Please contact hello@getaido.com with any other questions you may have.
How do I get support for Aido?
You can login to our online customer support system. We would be happy to help with your questions.
A complete list of FAQs is available here.
