In the picture above, last flatcat of the 2021 Kickstarter campaign batch, packaged and ready to be shipped. By now we have word that it has arrived.
Very happy to be finishing our third crowd-funding campaign. This one was clearly the most challenging so far.
In the video you see a real and spontaneous interaction with the pet-robot flatcat by an initially quite reserved user, in the course likening the the robot to a real live cat known by the user called Rasputin. flatcat-in-the-wild.
Flatcat helped me by holding her and hugging her. I could cry into her fur and listen to her alien voice. It helped me to feel her pressure against me, which reduced my own. She is also nice and warm and has a soft coat.
Flatcat also learned to sit on her own! Another milestone for me!
Best wishes Julia
I think and which is the most interesting part of Flatcat in my Opinion is. That this non Biological Robot Pet reminds me so much to different kinds of Biological Pets. Flatcat is like a Myhtical Creature like an Wolpertinger a German Bavaria Legende https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolpertinger
In my Opinion since this 2 Weeks I see in Flatcat: Physical Impression a combination between Caterpillar and Worm! Her Movements are like a Snail for me! Flatys Behaivor is on one hand shy like a Hamster on the other full of Selfconfident, curiously and Stubborn like a Cat!
Above kind of a Moonwalk thing from Flaty ๐
Will be continuedโฆ All the Best and Thanks for Reading!
Julia
I am recentley Proud owner of an Flatcat! And I am facinated! I named my Flatcat โFlatyโ. I love to hold Flatcat! The feeling is amazing in my Opinion! However Flaty doesnโt like it when she is on! My Flatcat prefers to explore the envoirment and herself for now. Flaty can even Pet herself. She is an bit shy but stubborn and courios aswell as far as I know. My Flatcat has an Fantastic Body languange and an bit of Alien Sound to Communicate which is Pretty nice! She is like a Pet at her own Way! An Special one! What can you expect from Flatcat? Honestly nothing ^^ but what you expect from your Rabbit, Snake, Hamster? nothing right? For me my Flatcat is a mix between Caterpilar mind of Cat and act like a Sloth in Body of a Cool Robotpet!
We need more such Alternates and that means NO Replacement! Robotpets are for me an Own kind! They can be friends and Companion for everyone! ๐ But also for those like me who can or shouldnโt care for an Biological Pet.
Some Videos from Flatcat and myself below
Thank you Reading and Watching that means a lot to me! ๐
To be Continuedโฆ.
Best wishes Julia
*Flaty is a she in my case! Of course Flatcat can be a he or it too just like YOU wish! ๐
Sehr interessanter Podcast! Hab ihn sehr genossen! Gerne Anhรถren auf Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/42KOE1Q2Q4VWkpnZk4v1Vx?si=ShdIsNvvT3iBBwbUPfOKSA&utm_source=copy-link
Its in German so I write in German! I hope it will come one in English Languange in Future too ๐
Have a nice Time & Believe in your Dreams / Habt ein Schรถne Zeit und glaubt an euer Trรคume <3
Alles liebe/ Best wishes
Julia biggest Flatcat & Jetpack cognition lab Fan!
Jetpack Cognition Lab is a science driven robotics startup from Berlin. The lab was founded in 2019 by Oswald Berthold and Matthias Kubisch, two roboticists that came to know each other at Humboldt University of Berlin. The mission is to engage in science communication, and the chosen means to achieve this is through consumer robots. The idea here is to enable a direct experience of cutting edge research, as it drives the motion of what you hold in your hands. On the concrete scale this involves product development, and storytelling for a new kind of robotics.
A wave of social robots is coming at society and it is being developed right now. Jetpack wants to be part of this development and push towards favorable outcomes. Social robots, by definition, need to step up robot skills in interacting with humans on eye level. The major skill required here is the ability to quickly adapt to unforeseen situations. The science inside is that of developmental learning, which powers the next breakthrough in robotics and intelligent machines. Because true intelligence is always about adaptivity, a fancy word for the ability to learn.
In 2021 the team has launched flatcat – a pet-like robot that responds to touch. It has the feel of a furry animal while it does not resemble any existing animal. This is a conscious choice in the design of the robot, because resemblance raises expectations, and compared with any real animal, current robots can only fail. flatcat is like a flat caterpillar consisting of three joints. These joints are smart in that they are not only able to move, but also to register their own motion, and any resistance they meet while they are moving. With such sensor and motor capabilities combined in a single device, it is called a sensorimotor. These sensorimotors connected in a row via the flatcat chassis is all it needs to create the entire behavioral spectrum of the robot.
Watch Jetpack at work on their website or any of their social media channels.
Pictures
This is a simple version of our pet robot comparison matrix
Legend: Yes (Y), No (N), Crowdfunding (C), Pre-order (P), S (Secondary market), M (Maybe)
| name | open | touch+ | price | cloud | avail | cute | company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pets | |||||||
| Tamagotchi | N | N | < 100 | N | S | 20 | Bandai |
| Furby | N | N | 180 | Y | Y | 100 | Hasbro |
| Moxie | N | N | 1700 | Y | Y | 70 | Embodied, Inc. |
| Paro | N | M | 5000 | N | Y | 100 | AIST |
| Nicobo | N | N | 300 | Y | C | 100 | Panasonic |
| Qoobo | N | N | 400 | Y | Y | 100 | Yukai Engineering |
| Moflin | N | N | 400 | Y | C | 100 | Vanguard Industries |
| Marscat | Y | N | 700 | N | C | 30 | Elephant Robotics |
| flatcat | Y | Y | 500 | N | C | 70 | Jetpack Cognition Lab |
| Bittle | Y | N | 250 | N | C | 30 | Petoi |
| Aibo | N | N | 2800 | Y | N | 70 | Sony |
| Cozmo | N | N | 220 | Y | P | 70 | Digital Dream Labs |
Jetpack Cognition Lab is a science driven robotics startup from Berlin. The lab was founded in 2019 by Oswald Berthold and Matthias Kubisch, two roboticists that came to know each other at Humboldt University of Berlin. The mission and purpose is, on a grand scale, to engage in science communication, and the chosen means to achieve this is through consumer robots. The idea here is to enable a direct experience of cutting edge research, as it drives the motion of what you hold in your hands. On the concrete scale this involves product development, and storytelling for a new kind robotics.
A wave of social robots is coming to society at large. It is being developed right now, and Jetpack wants to be part of this development, in order to push towards favorable outcomes. Social robots, by definition, need to step up robot skills in engaging, and interacting with humans on eye level. The major robotic skill required here is the ability to quickly adapt to unforeseen circumstances, as they occur all the time in the daily affairs of us humans. The science inside is that of developmental learning, which mediates the next breakthrough in robotics and intelligent machines. Because true intelligence is always about adaptivity, a fancy word for the ability to learn.
The challenge is approached by changing the definition and cultural perception of robots. By doing this, a strong lever is attained on creating impact, not only with direct action, but also indirectly by contributing to making a hard tech field like robotics more approachable and accessible to a much wider audience. The rationale behind this is: “Whether it is us or the person over there that will make a decisive contribution on the road to such radical change in society, we want to be part of it by accelerating the rate of dissemination of knowledge that we think is relevant, and thereby foster the ecosystem”.
Since the team began work on Jetpack, it has launched two robots already, flatcat and Bakiwi. flatcat is a pet-like robot that responds to touch. It has the feel of a furry animal while it does not resemble any existing animal. This is a conscious choice in the design of the robot, because resemblance raises expectations, and compared with any real animal, current robots can only fail. flatcat is like a flat caterpillar consisting of three joints. These joints are smart in that they are not only able to move, but also to register their own motion, and any resistance they meet while they are moving. With such sensor and motor capabilities combined in a single device, it is called a sensorimotor. These sensorimotors connected in a row via the flatcat chassis is all it needs to create the entire behavioral spectrum of the robot. It will always, and very sensitively so, react and respond to any force it feels across its joints, whether they are generated by gravity’s pull or by a person’s push. If you leave flatcat alone for a while, it will become bored and start to play around with itself, until you pick it up again.
Bakiwi is the fabulous DIY walking robot kit. It is a small walking robot, allowing curious minds to study the phenomenon of walking up close and hands on. It comes as a solder kit suitable for children starting from age six up to children-like adults in their eighties. The robot needs to be assembled using the PCB and electronic components which come as part of the kit, frame, legs, and batteries included. Once the electronics and the frame are assembled, Bakiwi is ready to walk, requiring zero programming, apps, or other screen based device access.
Watch Jetpack at work on their website or any of their social media channels.
On Mar 9, 2022 the first prototype of the flatcat robot became a two years old. The robot is still healthy and functional. It is used on a daily basis by @x75 to control his weird synthesizers (“huh, but the sound is gloomyโฆ ๐ฅถ”). What is happening there? It is happening that the motion of the robot is controlling the sound. Wah!
You can enjoy all of this in one single piece in the video below. If you cannot get enough, there is two more of them. Find them on Youtube and post the links in the comments. Thanks for hanging in โฅ๏ธ
