Using smartphones for low-cost robotics

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Smartphones and robots can have an adversarial or a symbiotic relationship because they strive to serve overlapping customer needs. While smartphones are prevalent, humanoid robots are not. Even though considerable public and private resources are being invested in developing and commercializing humanoid robots, progress seems stalled and no humanoid robot can be said to be successful with consumers. A part from the obvious engineering differences between humanoids and smartphones, other economic factors influence this situation. On one hand, the product cycle of robots is slower than smartphones. This makes robot computing hardware, (as it with automobile's infotainment systems), perennially outdated when side-by-side to a smartphone. On the other hand, the incentives to develop Apps are high for smartphones and they are comparatively low for robot platforms. Here, we point to how smartphones could be used to lower hardware cost and foster robot app development.