Received our Amazon Astro robot some weeks ago and decided to address the fact that he’s a bit vertically challenged.
So, some quick design work using 1/4" acrylic and captive nut joinery and he now has a platform that extends up 18" from his cargo hold. The penguin now has a much better view.
So cute! Nice solution. Had to actually see what an Astro robot is…
Very cool! I just ordered one yesterday, so it won’t be here for another 2 weeks. I might like to make an extension like that, myself…seems like a great idea. Is the penguin just for fun…or is he some kind of functional little guy?
Well, I guess the main thing that will keep ya’ll from enabling me this time is I know my German Shepherd would eat Astro the first day. Saved a grand this time.
Ahh great addition! LOVE IT!
That is adorable!
Well, we have a Dachshund. He’s afraid of Astro. Which he should be since Astro outweighs him.
Just for fun. I’ve been wanting to brainstorm some sort of addition to the cargo area (other than this) that employs sensors, logic, Nerf guns or whatever. The potential draws one in.
In all the years I’ve used computers (which are many, many, many), I have never found a need for a floor-level self-propelled display device.
I’ve been scratching my head on this design since it was first announced. I mean, it’s not like Amazon doesn’t have an extremely good voice detection and response system with Alexa.
Neither toddlers or adult feet can read. So why the display, Amazon? Why? 
Well, there certainly are many challenges to justify Astro. To be honest, I almost returned him in the first week or two once the infatuation subsided. But then I realized that there were elements of his presence that were just compelling to me personally.
For instance, I can’t help but be amazed by the programming (I’m a programmer, BTW) that went into his navigation skills. He doesn’t try to steer to the middle of a passageway, he clips the corners within an inch or two and sails along at far faster speeds than I would expect. Has never collided with anything. Earns my respect.
That alone is worth the price of admission. It’s also pretty nice to tell him to hang out in the room I’m occupying and play whatever music I’m in a mood for.
It’s nice to know I can check in on the pets when I’m away from home. Or have him do parlor tricks with “Up periscope, down periscope.”
Bottom line is that I’ve pissed away a lot more money and gotten a lot less. It’s just fun to be in on the ground floor of something that’s on its way, no matter how feeble the use case.
We have a Havanese who thinks he’s such a little tough guy…so he will mostly bark at it which will drive me nuts. I think I’ll try to intoduce him to Astro when I’m unboxing and setting up…maybe (and it’s a big maybe), he won’t feel as threatened.
Ha.
I have a hockey puck sized thing on my desk that plays whatever music I want whenever I ask. And I nanny-cammed the dogs, long ago…
Re: Robotics… I still have a Max Steel robot, manufactured by Mattel, bought new back around the mid 1980s. It’s an R2D2 sized robot with a gripper arm and some limited sensors. Been in a box for decades. I keep telling myself one day I’ll rip out the guts and install a much, much smarter hardware system.
Instead of elevating the penguin, it would seem that elevating the screen on some sort of telescoping gadget to rise to more useful heights might be far better. Things like “go watch out the window for the Amazon delivery truck” or “show me what my Glowforge is doing” could be very useful.
Knowing what the penguin might hit could be a problem and why it sits low.
That’s what the periscope is for.
I missed that bit but the screen needs to go up and down also/with it.
Some way to pick up things (even the penguin) to stick in the back and bring them to you.
(now if it could do all that and climb stairs and open doors I would be grabbing one.)
When my youngest son was about 8 he built and programmed a small floor robot that would charge at you and peck your toes if you didn’t take your shoes off when you came in the house.
Oh, and it chased the dogs & cats all over. 
Sometimes you need a floor robot. Not sure I have a use case for the Astro but I’m sure someone does.
My dog hasn’t met a toy he can’t shred. He’s like a canine in-sink-erator. He understands “hey! don’t you shred that!” But he only stops until you’re not looking. Should have named him “Sneaky Pete”.
We will have a use for Astro. My husband has very poor balance and occasionally falls down…and when he’s upright, uses a walker. He cannot use a cell phone…and even when our landline rings, he can seldomly get to the phone fast enough to answer. If he fell down and I wasn’t at home at the time, the height of the robot wouldn’t even matter…he can summon Astro and have it call for help…or if nothing else, alert me in the app on my cell phone that something has happened with him. That alone is a huge feeling of relief for us.
Well, maybe…but, whatever the periscope is seeing will show in the app on your phone. Yes…a real live person still has to put things into the cargo area first before sending it out for delivery…so, it’s not ALL completely robotic, but it’s a heck of a lot closer than anything I have right now.
You know, Apple Watch and some Android watches (like Samsung’s) have fall detection and emergency calling built in. If it detects a fall, it makes the call.
You could get him one of those, and not have to worry about whether he’s knocked himself out and can’t summon Astro for help… I’m not at any particular risk for this kind of thing myself. But I do some stuff that could result in personal injury (sports, some solo), so I have my watch set to call my wife if it detects that I’ve fallen down. Nice feature. Arguably better than the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” solutions that require the victim to be conscious.
