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Microsoft and Fresh Consulting present Project Moab, an AI powered self-balancing bot
Project Moab in action
Image: Courtesy of WE Communications
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Microsoft and Fresh Consulting present Project Moab, an AI powered self-balancing bot

Project Moab is an AI-powered balancing robot that brings together the best technology offered by its co-creators.

by STIRpad
Published on : Mar 02, 2022

Microsoft and Fresh Consulting have collaborated to create Project Moab, an artificial intelligence based self-balancing robot that integrates Microsoft’s open-source AI platform Project Bonsai. Moab, whose design is as quirky and unusual as its name, uses camera sensors and AI to balance a ball, eggs or other spherical objects. Project Bonsai is an open-source AI software that was launched in 2020 by Microsoft. It allows users and businesses to create autonomous systems without any prior training in data science or artificial intelligence. Project Moab uses this platform to allow users to create their own AI brains, teaching the little robot how to balance a ball, catch it, as well as balance multiple objects at once. “The most eye-opening moment I had during Project Moab was seeing the first artificially intelligent Bonsai brain deployed onto a prototype, and successfully balancing a ball. At that point I realised what we designed was not just a product for people to experience and test control systems - it was also a physical body for an artificial intelligence to inhabit” says Scotty Paton, the lead designer on Project Moab.

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Packaging details of the Moab M2 bot Image:Courtesy of WE Communications
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The Moab M2 bot’s UI board Image:Courtesy of WE Communications

While Moab has been built as a fun desktop toy that can catch and balance bouncing balls, the seamless technology at use here poses the possibility of taking over several pragmatic and mundane tasks that otherwise take up long hours in our daily lives. With the companionship of the Project Bonsai interface, the AI technology within Moab can be used to cater to the workings of manufacturing industries, while also contributing towards space exploration and satisfying scientific demands. Additionally, its evolution into a full-fledged robot that can cater to both practical chores and fun activities does not seem too far-fetched.

Project Moab, with the product name of ‘Moab M2 Bot’ comprises a motion sensing camera, three robotic arms, a glass plate and an array of small sensors and chipsets all integrated within a black and white plastic body. The design team at Fresh Consulting have used machine learning to create a product that initiates users into AI system building, a skillset and technology predicted to be huge in the future by many experts. The cross discipline approach incorporates not only AI but computer vision and hardware. Paton says, “We took this project from concept through production, designing everything around the product experience. From packaging to injection moulded parts to custom electronics and software, multiple disciplines between Fresh and Microsoft collaborated directly to meld desires and constraints into a feasible, functional design.”

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Moab M2 bot balancing a ping pong ball Image:Courtesy of WE Communications
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The Moab M2 bot catching a ball Image:Courtesy of WE Communications

Fresh Consulting was founded by Jeff Dance and Steve Hulet in 2007, to integrate design and technology for problem-solving in the new digital age. Using multidisciplinary teams comprising the best talent and technology, Fresh Consulting has grown into a software, hardware and robotics company that creates applications, websites, systems, robots and more. Fresh and Microsoft’s Project Moab uses the best offered by both organisations to create a product that challenges users to build something, but with having removed all the initial obstacles that come with building AI systems.

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