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Amazon unveils Astro Home Robot

Written By Louigi Balao
Published • September 29th, 2021
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Amazon has introduced its first robot for the home called Astro.

Astro is a robot designed to help customers with home monitoring and family communication, boasting to bring in new advancements in artificial intelligence, computer vision, sensor technology, and voice computing. Here are a few ways Astro can be used around the house.

• Check in your home : Astro can move autonomously around the house and show a live feed of the rooms via its Astro App. If an unrecognized intruder is in the household, Astro can send its owner an alert. Astro can also check if you have left the stove on with its built-in periscope camera or confirm if you have all the ingredients for the dinner party. In addition, Astro can detect a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, or glass break with its Alexa Guard.

• Helps you look out for loved ones: Astro will be able to help customers who are remotely caring for elderly relatives and loved ones. Astro can be asked to set and deliver reminders, but when used with Alexa Together, family members can set up reminders and receive alerts to reassure caregivers that their loved ones are active and going. Alexa Together also supports 24/7 hands-free access to Urgent Response, a professional emergency helpline.

• Provides peace of mind with Ring: Astro also works with Ring Protect Pro, a new subscription service from Ring, that can command Astro to autonomously patrol the household, proactively investigate when an event is detected, and automatically save video clips to its owner’s Ring cloud storage.

• Brings Alexa to you around the home : When you’re home, Astro brings the benefits of Alexa to you, including information, entertainment, smart home control, and more. It can also follow you from room to room while streaming shows or music.

To present an experience that is fun, entertaining, and engaging, Astro uses its digital eyes on its rotating screen, body movements, and expressive tones to communicate with its owner-allowing a connection between consumer and robot. In terms of movement, Astro is equipped with Intelligent Motion. This technology uses simultaneous localization mapping (SLAM) that provides Astro an understanding of where it is and how to navigate the home environment. It also features visual ID, which lets household members teach Astro to recognize them to deliver specific reminders or calls to the appropriate people. To learn more about Astro, check out the video below.

In terms of security controls and features, Astro provides the following:

• Advanced safety systems: Astro’s system of safety sensors, combined with a dedicated safety processor, allows it to detect obstacles in real-time.

• On-device processing: Astro has been designed to handle multiple data processing, which includes image and raw sensor data as it moves around the home. This allows Astro to respond quickly to its environment.

• Out of bounds zones: After it explores the layout of your home, owners can designate off-limits areas.

• Microphones/cameras off: Like Echo devices, Astro has a microphones/cameras-off button that owners can press anytime. Note that when this is active, Astro cannot move or capture video/audio.

• Clear indicators when streaming features are active: Astro has an LED on top of its periscope to let owners know when streaming video or audio to the cloud.

Astro will be priced at USD 1,449.99PHP 85,093INR 122,886EUR 1,381CNY 10,553, but as part of the Day 1 Edition program, it will be available for an introductory price of USD 999.99PHP 58,685INR 84,749EUR 952CNY 7,278 with a six-month trial of the Ring Protect Pro subscription included. Astro will be available in limited quantities in the U.S.