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Imagine walking into a shopping mall, and a 1.7-meter tall, 70-kilogram "robot clerk" warmly greets you: "How can I assist you today?"
This isn’t a scene from a sci-fi movie but a real-life experience brought to us by MenteeBot.
In the latest demonstration video, MenteeBot showcases its ability to assist a wheelchair user with their shopping. The entire process is smooth and natural, leaving a lasting impression. When the customer requests MenteeBot to push a shopping cart and follow along, the robot understands the command immediately but doesn’t act rashly. Instead, it cleverly waits for the wheelchair user to start moving first before gracefully approaching the shopping cart.
This meticulous interaction design fully demonstrates MenteeBot's high level of intelligence and deep understanding of human behavior.
▍Technical Details: The Key Role of Cubemars AK80-64 Motor Module
One of the most impressive aspects of MenteeBot is how naturally it handles the shopping cart. To achieve this, Mentee Robotics specifically selected the Cubemars AK80-64 motor module to drive its shoulder joints. This motor was chosen for its excellent torque control, compact design, and efficient energy conversion capabilities, making it a central component in the robot’s design.
The AK80-64 motor module provides up to 120Nm of peak torque, ensuring that MenteeBot can handle heavy loads or situations requiring precise control while maintaining smooth operation. Its high power density design allows MenteeBot to integrate a powerful drive system within a limited space without sacrificing flexibility or aesthetics. Additionally, the motor supports low-noise operation and excellent heat dissipation, ensuring that the robot can maintain optimal performance even during prolonged use.
▍Exceptional Performance: The Perfect Blend of Intelligence and Precision
As MenteeBot moves, it exhibits a relaxed and fluid motion that impresses onlookers. Every time a shopper stops to add items to the cart, MenteeBot seamlessly adjusts its position, ensuring it neither obstructs the customer nor allows the cart to collide with the wheelchair. This precise spatial awareness and motion control are undoubtedly one of MenteeBot's standout features, made possible by the powerful support of the AK80-64 motor module.
Cubemars’ motor provides MenteeBot with high-precision torque feedback control, enabling it to respond instantly to minute changes in its environment. This not only enhances the robot's agility and safety but also significantly improves the naturalness of its interactions with humans.
▍Technological Marvel: What Powers MenteeBot’s Extraordinary Abilities
MenteeBot’s impressive performance is no accident; it results from the integration of multiple cutting-edge technologies. In addition to the AK80-64 motor module, MenteeBot is equipped with powerful 3D vision capabilities, allowing it to accurately perceive its surroundings, identify various obstacles, and locate targets. This ability enables MenteeBot to navigate complex shopping environments effortlessly, avoiding obstacles and positioning itself precisely.
Furthermore, MenteeBot is equipped with efficient path-planning and real-time adjustment algorithms, allowing it to closely follow customers without colliding or lagging behind. During shopping, MenteeBot can make various autonomous decisions, such as when to stop or when to move, all relying on advanced AI algorithms and real-time data processing capabilities.
It’s worth noting that much of MenteeBot’s progress is due to extensive training and refinement in the NVIDIA Isaac Lab simulator. Through repeated practice in a virtual environment, MenteeBot can perform so well in the real world.
▍From Shopping Malls to Your Home: MenteeBot’s Versatile Capabilities
While the latest demonstration focuses on a shopping scenario, MenteeBot’s capabilities go far beyond that. Mentee Robotics aims to create a truly versatile robot that can assist humans in various scenarios.
In a home environment, MenteeBot is expected to become a capable household assistant. It can understand natural language commands and quickly learn new skills, meaning it can adapt to various household tasks, from simple cleaning to complex cooking operations.
Moreover, MenteeBot has astonishing mobility. Whether turning, reversing, or sidestepping like a crab indoors, MenteeBot can accomplish it all with ease. This all-around mobility allows it to adapt to various complex work environments.
By employing Sim2Real technology, the robot achieves agile movement and balance control. Users can train the robot in new tasks through digital simulation, enhancing its learning ability and adaptability to perform complex work.
▍Behind the Scenes: Mentee Robotics’“Dream Team”
The success of MenteeBot is backed by a robust R&D team. Mentee Robotics was co-founded by Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua and former Facebook AI Research Director Lior Wolf, among other industry heavyweights. Amnon Shashua is not only a professor of computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem but also the founder of Mobileye, the world’s largest supplier of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). This background provides MenteeBot with strong technical support and industry insight.
The diverse backgrounds of the team members also give MenteeBot a unique advantage. For example, their deep expertise in generative AI and computer vision allows MenteeBot to excel in natural language understanding and environmental perception. Meanwhile, their experience in the autonomous driving field provides strong support for MenteeBot's navigation and path-planning capabilities.
▍The Future is Here: MenteeBot’s Commercialization Path
Although MenteeBot is currently in the prototype stage, its commercialization prospects are already beginning to emerge. Mentee Robotics plans to launch a mass-produced prototype in the first quarter of 2025. While the specific price has not been disclosed, the company aims to make the product "affordable" for the market.
MenteeBot's product line will be divided into two versions: one for household users, focusing on domestic chores, and the other for industrial scenarios, such as logistics warehouses. The recently demonstrated shopping assistant feature also opens up new possibilities for its application in the retail sector.
Mentee Robotics' core technology is expected to encompass generative AI and computer vision. The founders' backgrounds suggest strengths in integrating large language models with robotics and computer vision technology. The demo shows that MenteeBot can understand natural language commands and execute tasks. Additionally, using NeRF technology endows the robot with "3D vision," enhancing its environmental perception and dynamic path-planning capabilities. Through the Sim2Real method, the robot can apply simulated training to reality, executing actions and tasks with precision.
As technology continues to mature and costs gradually decrease, we have every reason to believe that intelligent robotic assistants like MenteeBot could become a part of our daily lives. They will not only be cold machines but also intelligent companions who understand, assist, and even accompany us.
In an era of rapid advancements in AI and robotics, MenteeBot’s emergence undoubtedly paints a promising picture of the future. In this future, humans and robots will coexist harmoniously, collaborate, and create a better life together. Let’s look forward to witnessing this future unfold.