The Galileo: A Remote Controlled Tripod for your iPhone

The Galileo: A Remote Controlled Tripod for your iPhone

Socialeaf | Peter Del Bosque | 03/31/2012 10:58PM

There's a new Kickstarter project that has gadget geeks and amateur cinematographers excited with anticipation to get their hands on the clever little device. The device is so versatile, it comes with its own SDK development software so that someone with knowledge in robotics can create a robot based on the Galileo platform.

Here's how the Galileo works. First of all place an iPhone in it's cradle which can swivel 360 degrees from the left to the right and 360 degrees up and down. With an infinite combination of camera angles that can be achieved, it's versatility is unparallelled. Second, the Galileo can be controlled by a second iPhone. The Second iPhone pairs up wirelessly with the iPhone that's sitting in the Galileo's phone cradle. This allows someone to control the direction and angle of the first iPhone from great distances.

So, with every shipment of the Galileo comes an SDK developers kit. The kit will allow someone to create any type of robot they wish to use as an extension of the Galileo platform. Using the commands coming from that individual via a second iDevice albeit an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, the communication technology will be very useful in sensitive or distant situations. It is not clear if the Galileo will ever be able to run on the Android platform, but only time will tell.

To manipulate the Galileo that holds the recording iPhone, someone has to pair up either via bluetooth, wifi, or by sharing ip addresses. Once a connection is established, you would be able to see exactly what the iPhone in the Galileo is seeing on your iDevice. To go a step further, simply swipe your finger in any direction on the controlling iDevice to move the Galileo any of 360 degrees. The Galileo however, does have a blind spot. It's blind spot is located directly towards the bottom. If you move the iPhone to where it's facing down, you would only see the platform it's sitting on.

Here are some examples of how the Galileo can be applied. You can use it to set up a monitoring station at your home or business. You can use it for observing animals in nature without spooking them. You can use the Galileo as a baby monitor. The list goes on and on and I'm sure people will come up with very clever uses for this new technology. Here is a cool video to help you better understand how the Galileo works.