Nothing beats the nostalgic rush of classic 1980s robots. The world seemed to be buzzing with dreams of how these futuristic electronic beings would be integrated into our society.Well, thanks for this raspberry pi A project by Matt from Viam Robotics has finally completed a new use case for one of the most popular robots of the 80’s, the Tomi Omnibot 2000. This project Omnibot MAIV, Update classic robots with Pi to add new AI-powered capabilities.
Omnibot MAIV harnesses the power of the Raspberry Pi, full of creative possibilities. Matt outlines some possibilities in the tutorial, but you can recreate this project at home and modify it to add your own new features. From AI integration to wireless command, the limits are endless. Or maybe it’s just the number of his GPIOs in reserve for add-ons.
The new name, Ombinot MAIV, stands for Ombinot Modernized with AI and Viam. Matt tried to keep as much of the original hardware as possible while introducing as many cool new things as possible. His Ombinot MAIV creation is loaded with a host of new sensors that allow him to interact with the world around him using machine learning and can be accessed remotely via secure connections.
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If you want to build your own, you’ll need a little hardware, including the old Ombinot. Matt admits that he doesn’t need a remote control or a tray, but the better the conditions, the less work he has to do. He has built in some LEDs in his eyes and his webcam for video input. Any SBC he can run 64-bit Linux should work. In this case he is using his Raspberry Pi 4B. All powered by his 12V battery pack.
The real fun starts with digging into the software side of things. This is where you can control the Omnibot MAIV very flexibly. Great new features are handled using his Viam Server. You can follow Matt’s tutorial to see how to set up eye controls, movement functions, and visual input from his webcam’s nose. But don’t be limited to tutorials. There are many other great features that you can add yourself. Matt suggests things like object and color detection and navigation.
If you want to learn more about this Raspberry Pi project, check out Matt’s project page and tutorial. Viam website.
