Company
Date Published
Author
Christine Sunu
Word count
475
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Candybot is a remote-operated, voice-interactive candy-dispensing robot designed to provide a spooktacular experience for Trick-or-Treaters while maintaining social distancing. It can be controlled via sound or text and uses IBM Watson to auto-detect the words "Trick or Treat". The robot's powerful candy-pushing arm is actually a simple linear actuator set off by a relay, controlled by Twilio Electric Imp. The technology underlying Candybot can be used for other use-cases, such as remote pet care or touchless retail. The team behind Candybot has made the source code available on GitHub and invites users to build their own and add new features.