The newest release from DJI is not a crafty, powerful drone, but a programmable robot that also acts as a learning tool. The RoboMaster S1, short for “Step 1”, is a ground-based rover that features omni-directional movement, six different AI capabilities, a gel-bead launcher, and most importantly, classes and tutorials that teach its users how to program and code the robot’s functions.
Key Features:
- RoboMaster App
- Brushless motor, omnidirectional movement, 31 movement sensors, FPV camera, mechanical gimbal, infrared laser, gel-bead launcher, CPU, and CAN-bus cable port
- 6 AI features including line recognition, vision marker recognition, people recognition, clap recognition, gesture recognition, S1 recognition
- “Road to Mastery” classes and RoboAcademy tutorials
- Solo and Multiplayer Game Modes
The Design:
The new DJI RoboMaster S1 has four wheels and is powered by a brushless motor. The wheels have a total of 12 rollers that allow for quick, omni-directional movement. The S1 is designed with 31 sensors to help it navigate the world and six sensors are placed on the robot’s intelligent body armor to detect any hits.
On top of the RoboMaster is a first-person view camera that streams a live feed to the RoboMaster app. The FPV camera is mounted on a mechanical gimbal that has a rotation of 540 degrees by 65 degrees so the camera catches everything. Also on the gimbal is an infrared, gel-bead blaster for target practice or for firing at opponents.
Thanks to a capable central processing unit and an industrial-grade CAN-bus cable, the RoboMaster can handle hefty amounts of data and several tasks.
The Functions:
The RoboMaster S1 displays AI technology in six cool ways, including: line recognition, vision marker recognition, people recognition, clap recognition, gesture recognition, and S1 recognition.
Line recognition allows users to program the S1 to cruise along a line placed on the ground. The more in-depth the user’s programming and physics knowledge, the more intricate the courses become. With vision marker recognition, the RoboMaster can recognize 44 separate markers in the form of letters, shapes, and special characters to improve combat and gaming. As the name suggests, people recognition allows the S1 to identify a person with the FPV to trail them. My personal favorite, clap recognition, lets users program movements to respond to a certain clap sequence. Similar to clap recognition, gesture recognition programs responses to physical gestures picked up by the FPV. Lastly, S1 recognition leads to more interactivity and gameplay options.
For the more advanced users, Scratch 3.0 and Python can be used to code unique and complicated actions. Users can change the torque of the wheels, change how the S1 moves, or even create custom skills like “hit and turn back” for multiplayer battle modes.
But don’t worry if your skills aren’t up to par, DJI offers “Road to Mastery” classes, which is a project-based series that educates users on coding. Additionally, RoboAcademy offers more tutorials on robotics and programming.
The Games:
To make things even more exciting, DJI offers solo and multiplayer competition modes. The solo mode includes Target Practice and Target Race that follows preset scanned vision markers. The multiplayer mode consists of Race and Free-for-All. Similar to BattleBots, but much more innocent, Free-for-All lets users battle opponents using the infrared beam or the gel-bead shooter. To up the gameplay, Free-for-All mode features four “Mystery Bonus” abilities such as dizziness, electromagnetic interference, extreme speed, and invincibility.
The DJI RoboMaster S1 is now available for preorder for at Adorama.
For more information about the robot, and to see it in action, check out the video below:
