A Windows Phone app designed to help operate a robot that performs home inspection duties has won the New Civic App Category grand prize in the 2014 Accela Construct App Challenge.
The app was created by Robert Oschler and is called Inspector Buddy. It combines a Windows Phone app and device, a Surface 2 tablet, a wearable Bluetooth-based controller and the RoboMe robot. The contest's press release says:
The remote-controlled robot can reach places humans cannot, facilitating more thorough property inspections and protecting the property inspector against potential injury. The Inspector Buddy application is easy to install and integrates with the Accela Construct and CivicID APIs.
The video above shows Inspector Buddy at work, with the Windows Phone device attached to the RoboMe robot. Using the wrist-based Bluetooth controller, the user can control the robot with just his or her arm movements, assisted by the tablet Oschler says. "The remote PC can be any laptop or tablet, etc. that is capable of running a Windows Store App. The client app is a Windows Store App and it talks to the Windows Phone app running on the phone controlling the robot.
Oschler will receive $7,000 or the software equivalent for winning his category, plus access to a mentorship program. He is currently developing software tools that will allow anyone to make Windows Phone apps that can connect and use the RoboMe robot.
What do you think of this home grown robotics project?
Source: Accela via PRWeb, Robodance
