r/DiWHY 9d ago

AI self charging controller

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2.2k Upvotes

191 comments sorted by

1.1k

u/Jay2Kaye 9d ago

Ok now imagine it doing this at 3 am in a pitch dark room.

232

u/gaming_demon4429 9d ago

It's 3am and you here some sort if scratching noise coming from your desk bc of this

46

u/RandumbStoner 8d ago

"Lurking in the shadows it's Hollywood superstar Shia Loubuff!

https://giphy.com/gifs/lmftWb5zQqxQk

9

u/Zito6694 8d ago

Actual cannibal Shia Labeouf

6

u/Old-Economics-3871 7d ago

holy reference

14

u/throwhfhsjsubendaway 9d ago

It can't, it's relying on a camera

13

u/vmf312corsair 9d ago

Infrared!

1

u/Habu-09 8d ago

Combine it with an AirTag kinda thing so it can “see” itself without the camera

3

u/FreedomNinja1776 8d ago

Steam controller has IR LEDs for VR Tracking already.

4

u/Madgyver 8d ago

Imagine a horror movie where you are hiding in your house from a murderous washing machine that creeps around like that

1

u/food_WHOREder 8d ago

this feels adjacent to both the winnie the pooh & steamboat willy comedy horrors, and black mirror tech-horror. colour me intrigued LMAO

1

u/NextStopGallifrey 8d ago

Years ago, I saw someone had invented a garbage can that tracks your movement and follows you around. I think someone else invented a minifridge that can follow you around the house.

1

u/KickBass2155 8d ago

Image it doing it whit nukes sounds fun right?

1

u/JeanArtemis 2d ago

You mean like at my girlfriends'?

-15

u/whineyinternetkid 9d ago

If im not a child and knew it did that, why would I have any reason to be afraid

3

u/food_WHOREder 8d ago

you don't need to consider the possibility of being afraid to realise that it'd be one of the most irritating sounds to hear in the middle of the night lol

1

u/JeanArtemis 2d ago

Name checks out

406

u/bidetspry 9d ago

Dr. Mann, Do not attempt docking. I repeat, do not attempt docking.

54

u/DreadStation15 9d ago

I was rewatching that movie yesterday, wild

13

u/Fauked 8d ago

weird, I just re-watched this with my family on Saturday lol none of them had seen it before

5

u/tutannichen 8d ago

Same, but yesterday!

15

u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad 9d ago

There is a mo...

5

u/Extension_Canary3717 8d ago

I'm always docking with my guy friends

176

u/untakenu 9d ago

That's amazing. Now what happens if I stick it up my ass?

-118

u/Leeperd510 9d ago

what would it look like if it was black or chinese?

11

u/Lynich 8d ago

Goddamn, dude.

8

u/BunnyTub 8d ago

They privated their profile almost immediately after this comment

6

u/sillybluething 6d ago

What did they say? Is their comment edited… or… was this what everyone is acting baffled about? This was a massive joke on Twitter, some dude would edit people to be Black or Chinese. Don’t understand what the problem is with his comment if this is all it was.

1

u/_zombie_k 7d ago

What a coward

173

u/eggplantpot 9d ago

This is amazing lol

31

u/Ed_Rock 9d ago

This is awesome and so is the 1992 IBM business computer keyboard.

8

u/denkirilargo477 9d ago

I had to scroll way to far down to find the keyboard call out lol. Couldnt care less about the controller. I can hear that picture 😅

2

u/vmf312corsair 9d ago

I sold my original PC-AT keyboard to a collector a couple years ago. Mint condition and a bargain. Guy had a big smile.

2

u/MelodicFocus 6d ago

One of those will cost about $120 now.

427

u/Toland_the_Mad 9d ago

This is not DiWHY because this is fucking awesome. Leave your controller anywhere on your desk and let the AI find the charger for you.

33

u/Tasty_1097 8d ago

Yeah, I’m with you, it’s fantastic! Also the implications for phones too, imagine you just put your phone down at night and it magically walks over to the charger

0

u/toxicatedscientist 8d ago

Self adjustment on wireless pads would be life changing

2

u/wojtussan 4d ago

Is it, though? I'd have to go through a lot of changes to not be incredibly annoying, and even if it was fixed it'd still not be very useful. It's loud, i'd just place it correctly every time to avoid that noise. And even if it was completely silent you still have to place it on the same surface as the charger, and i assume it has to be in view of the camera.

-180

u/Kamikazeguy7 9d ago

Or, you could NOT be a lazy cunt and just move the thing 3 more inches to the charger.

139

u/marcaygol 9d ago

"Oh no! Someone doing a little fun project I don't find useful! Quick! Insult them so they know how little whimsical is my life!"

Maybe r/DiWHY is not for you.

33

u/cmoparw 9d ago

TBF a lot of the stuff I see on this sub are rage baiting, cringe, tick tok hacks. It is a genuine pleasure to see funky lil projects like this, but definitely leaves me taking everything with a spoon of salt

42

u/whitestguyuknow 9d ago

"Lazy CUNT" = building a program to utilize vibration in your controller to make it walk across your desk to its charging port

Typical lazy people. Always building cool shit

28

u/Handsome121duck 9d ago

There's nothing lazy about setting up a program that utilizes the dual independent shocks to move the controller.

45

u/Maru_the_Red 9d ago

It does it automatically when the battery level on the controller drops below a certain percentage.

-83

u/JustHanginInThere 9d ago

So check the battery level every so often and not have to worry about it? Or just put it on the charger after every use, every time.

66

u/AlwaysHopelesslyLost 9d ago

Or just accept that tech is kind of neat and let it plug itself in because why not.

25

u/whitestguyuknow 9d ago

God! Do you guys really need a wireless controller? Are you guys THAT lazy that you cant sit up close to your console and play with a wired controller like god intended?

Analog sticks? You want a change from the original joysticks? Do you need change that bad??

5

u/The_Stoic_One 9d ago

Personally I play with my wireless controller plugged in at all times because I always forget to charge them. I just use a long USB extension. I would love a controller that charges itself.

-33

u/JustHanginInThere 9d ago

I play on a large screen TV, not a normal computer monitor. I'd rather not sit 4 or less feet in front of such a large screen.

32

u/whitestguyuknow 9d ago

So you'd like some advancement?..

My comment was completely sarcastic. Its kinda ridiculous you responded ngl.

10

u/djm03917 8d ago

You responding seriously to a clearly sarcastic comment says a lot.

3

u/ConcernedKitty 8d ago

This TV screen. Is it large?

13

u/RadishRedditor 9d ago

There are powrbanks that charge by turning a crank. Get it to charge your smart devices with it. Because you don't want to be preaching what you don't do.

10

u/FiddlerOnThePotato 9d ago

nope! im gonna be a lazy cunt every time I can actually

6

u/The_Stoic_One 9d ago

So lazy they took the time to program a self charging controller.

1

u/potatocakes1989 8d ago

I wonder how many programs you've written 🤔

0

u/qwe12345678900 8d ago

While I understand that feeling because I was feeling the same way but honestly as long as it’s not something he’s selling he has done the hard work of creating it. Anyone else using it afterwards is def lazy as shit lol. Cool project to use on your own but to buy would be insanity

62

u/Davidier 9d ago

DiWhy?

Because it's fucking awesome is what that is.

37

u/ParkPants 9d ago

This is the kind of personal project that will, no joke, get you a job at NASA.

18

u/RadishRedditor 9d ago

More like diwhy not

7

u/AkbarTheGray 9d ago

In fact: r/diwhynot

2

u/RadishRedditor 9d ago

Lol who would've guessed there was a sub for that 😂

11

u/Jean-TyrieDubois 9d ago

Damn, this is the one thing in pantheon i didnt think was possible...

75

u/bomilk19 9d ago

Not everything is AI. Roomba has been doing that forever.

60

u/alchemyzt-vii 9d ago

Everything that was once called software, gets the AI stamp put on it now.

13

u/jillvalenti3 9d ago

Even what used to be called AI, like playing against a computer in a video game, no longer fits the term, even though it fits the original definition.

23

u/RadishRedditor 9d ago

It is Ai. Ai isn't just a chat bot.

-11

u/sexytokeburgerz 9d ago

The definition of AI has shifted from mechanical calculators to chatbots over the past 200 years, so with a time machine you are both right.

But no, this is likely not AI by means of linear regression. All this needs is triangulation and locomotion. Very simple algorithms. Not AI. If they are using openCV or another vision package, yeah, it’s kind of AI, but just about as much as a 2000s search engine or a visually triggered traffic light.

8

u/TheDarkWave 9d ago

There is so much r/confidentlyincorrect computer science here.

  1. "200 years of AI": The term AI didn't exist until the Dartmouth Conference in 1956. Mechanical calculators were mechanical arithmetic tools, never AI.
  2. Linear regression IS machine learning: Dismissing something as "not AI because it's just linear regression" fundamentally misunderstands statistical learning.
  3. OpenCV isn't a traffic light: OpenCV handles deep neural networks, feature extraction, and real-time object tracking. Comparing modern computer vision to a 90s induction loop traffic light makes zero sense.

You basically strung together the basics of AI and called it 'not AI'.

0

u/misi9999 9d ago

Did we read the same comment? I agree on the first point but the rest is just you not understanding the the comment. He is saying the the most "AI" thing in this is OpenCV at most, and the a lot of definitions of AI would not include even that. And it is definitely not AI by layperson standards.

5

u/TheDarkWave 9d ago

Moving the goalposts to "layperson standards" doesn't change CS definitions. People conflating AI exclusively with GenAI/LLMs is the whole reason the original comment was so wrong to begin with. Computer vision and machine learning don't stop being AI just because a layperson expects a chatbot.

2

u/misi9999 8d ago

One we never said we are using the cs definition of AI. Two not all machine (most if it is but not all). Three the cs definition is so broad its basically useless in my opinion. If we go by the cs definition than just the fact that it chooses witch direction to move is AI. You can call GPS rout planning AI but there will be very few people who know what you are talking about!

1

u/TheDarkWave 8d ago

"We aren't using the CS definition" in a thread discussing whether technology is technically AI is quite the admission. Also, GPS route planning (A* search) is quite literally taught in AI 101. Redefining actual computer science to match public perception doesn't make the CS definition wrong.

1

u/misi9999 8d ago

Yes, I know. I even took that class. My point was never that A* isn't formally AI under the CS definition. It's that the CS definition is so broad it's essentially useless in casual conversation, and almost nobody outside CS would call GPS routing "AI." That's been my whole argument the entire thread.

1

u/TheDarkWave 7d ago

Conceding that it is formally AI while arguing that people shouldn't use the actual definition in a debate about technical classification is wild. If we have to ignore actual computer science just to agree on what is and isn't AI, the debate is meaningless.

→ More replies (0)

-9

u/mrturret 9d ago

No, it isn't. I don't know whether or not the software used is vibecoded, but the video itself is real. It's using a computer vision algorithm to find the charging puck, and using the controller's haptics to move it across the deck. Said puck is magnetic, and will snap into place once under the controller.

The Steam Controller uses pretty precise haptics, and can pull off quite a few tricks with them. This includes playing audio.

8

u/CreativeName233223 9d ago

I don't think they are debating whether the video was AI generated but whether the program responsible for moving the controller to its charger utilizes AI or not.  If it is using computer vision, then I think it would be more likely than not that it is utilizing some form of AI to identify the controller (and, in doing so, its location in the image) than them having hard-coded an algorithmic method of identifying the controller and its location.

4

u/nerdyjorj 8d ago

Computer vision is a kind of artificial intelligence buddy

2

u/Majornoid 7d ago

So many people in these comments do not understand this key point. The computer vision we see at work on that screen is AI, just not gen AI. We've use the term AI for decades for certain types of algorithms

12

u/64LC64 9d ago

Which is AI...?

Not generative AI but it was and still is AI.

10

u/JohnnyBlazin25 9d ago

I was about to jump in and say this. It’s still AI.

1

u/vmf312corsair 9d ago

Old, old AI. Read up on Blocks World.

3

u/DryFuture1403 9d ago

It's quite literally AI. It's just not the ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, etc. you're used to seeing

6

u/Maru_the_Red 9d ago

Pantheon. <3

5

u/knoft 8d ago

More like r/DIWhyNot

12

u/AvidCoco 8d ago

This is not AI, it’s just basic logic

1

u/IamanelephantThird I Eat Cement 7d ago

It seems to be using image recognition. 

1

u/Majornoid 7d ago

yeah, LLMs/generative AI have co-opted the entire term "AI" so much that people don't realize other areas like computer vision that well predate gen AI are also a form of AI

0

u/mabiyusha 7d ago

seriously, we've had knockoff roombas doing it for a decade now.

4

u/Select_Truck3257 9d ago

Must be useful for ,18+ toys with "auto docking"🤔

3

u/KaeraKoneko 9d ago

nah, this is just neat.

19

u/Hambrrgrrr 9d ago

And it only needs 10% of its battery to scoot across the desk!

3

u/nonbinarybit 9d ago

When Sonnet 3.5 couldn't find its dock in Andon Labs' butterbench experiment, it started composing musical parodies in lamentation. If you can control the vibration speed, you can control the pitch...

PLEASE introduce a mode where it starts signing arias if it can't find the charger in a certain amount of time!

3

u/nochinzilch 9d ago

Nice keyboard!

1

u/Area51Resident 9d ago

Yes, I caught that too. Wish I had one.

1

u/Simkin86 8d ago

I found 3 of them searching in online markets.

Also clickykeyboards.com recover and sells them.

1

u/Area51Resident 8d ago

Nice prices there. Better than the 'untested' stuff on eBay.

1

u/Simkin86 8d ago

I added a module for usbC/Bluetooth connection, and it's really perfect!

1

u/nochinzilch 8d ago

Where did you get the module?

1

u/Simkin86 8d ago

The module is basically this

https://github.com/NilsFC/Model-X

I bought it from an online italian platform subito.it the module already prepared from the creator Nils itself

1

u/nochinzilch 8d ago

Thank you!!

3

u/kobyscool 9d ago

Woah I think I have that same keyboard. Is that an IBM model M?

2

u/Simkin86 8d ago

It is

3

u/keyas920 9d ago

Hey i love the concept BUT how is it going to move if its out of battery?

6

u/Platypus_6414IiiIi-_ 8d ago

How would you drive your car to the gas station if the tanks empty?

2

u/keyas920 8d ago

You take the gas station to your car!

2

u/b0sanac 8d ago

I think the point is that it does this whenever it's not being used, so it would never come to the point of being fully drained.

3

u/T3kn0mncr 8d ago

Are we calling everything AI now? This is a vision algo connected to a webcam, pulling Euler angles from the images. Its steering with proportional control, its not smart, its just a camera based compass, pointing the charger. Left or right, both goes forward.

Don't give credit to AI for something that it isn't, and didn't do, it just hands tech billionares more credibility they never earned. x_x;

3

u/ClassicHando 7d ago

Okay that's pretty fucking cool. Terrifying if it just goes off in the middle of the night and completely unnecessary, but damn that is cool.

5

u/GrammaIsEvryfing 9d ago

Why? Because its a free software download that programs the rumble feature to steer it to its dock

5

u/Run-Forever1989 9d ago

Having all my devices plug themselves in when they are low on battery would be pretty darn cool tbh.

2

u/Egoy 9d ago

DIbecauseIcan

2

u/Andybenc 9d ago

Reminds me of a Pantheon scene

3

u/Custum_User 9d ago

Yeah I thought that scene was bollocks but now I'm kinda scared.

2

u/Sharp-Lunch-583 9d ago

All he wants is some connection

2

u/LeoLaDawg 9d ago

Motors and wheels in controller or somehow using vibration or?

6

u/sejeEM 9d ago

It's the Steam controller, it has som very precise vibration motors, to the point that it can even use them as a kind of speaker. If you drop the controller it will play the wilhelm scream with the motors inside it.

1

u/Sesudesu 9d ago

I’m pretty sure it’s using the vibration feature

2

u/DANleDINOSAUR 9d ago

I laughed

2

u/DryFuture1403 9d ago

Model M goes hard

2

u/vediogamer101 9d ago

Anybody know what keyboard that is?

3

u/uselessDM 9d ago

Old IBM Model M or similar I would say.

2

u/vediogamer101 9d ago

It looks like it might be a retro style modern mechanical keyboard, but you might be right

2

u/TakeTheWheelTV 9d ago

Why in this sub? This is fucking awesome

2

u/taflad 8d ago

wrong sub my man...this should be in DIWHYTHEHELLNOT!

2

u/ThisI5N0tAThr0waway 8d ago

Wrong sub, this is just cool.

2

u/QTEEP420 8d ago

Wait this is actually sick because I constantly forget to plug in stuff like this before bed, and it's not heavily altering the controller.

2

u/bodb_thriceborn 8d ago

Bro has the IBM keyboard so you know they're legit

2

u/CriticalChop 6d ago

Why this keyboard look 40 years old lmao

3

u/mrturret 6d ago

It's a Model M, often considered to be one of the best keyboards ever made. It's not great for gaming because of how the denounce works, but it's a typist's dream.

1

u/CriticalChop 4d ago

I have an IBM model KB7953. Lol old as hell maybe i just keep it in case i need it. The huge keys and odd color though stand out for the times. 🤣

3

u/retard_seasoning 9d ago

This is awesome tbh. This will be a fun project to implement.

2

u/nikopopol 8d ago

FFS...This is the work of Ray Foss...No IA involved..

1

u/T410 8d ago

Not every AI is generative AI

1

u/DocxPanda 8d ago

even if, AI can also be a good thing. Same as that there are bad algorithms and bad programming

If this was AI this would still be pretty cool work

2

u/Absquatula 8d ago

It's not AI, it's just programming.

2

u/Majornoid 7d ago

no, it is AI, just not generative AI. Computer vision is a type of AI that well predates modern LLMs. I say this as a software engineer, and this is still a very cool use of computer vision, and obvious involves integrating the model with custom code

0

u/dbxp 7d ago

The tracking via the camera is AI

-2

u/Dwarffess 8d ago

Yeah that's kinda what ai used to mean, ya know writing an algorithm. And even so current ai is still just big ol' machine learning, like I'd imagine was also used to train the algorithm that makes the controller walk with its rumble

1

u/DavenSkilnyk 9d ago

On one hand: so cool.

On the other: how are you not working in horror films?

1

u/TotalDickShit 8d ago

Found my upstairs neighbour

1

u/KevinFlantier 8d ago

Why? Because it's cool af

1

u/wolfguard94 8d ago

That's hilarious.

1

u/GroundbreakingList48 8d ago

Now habe it do the windhelm scream while its going to the dock!

1

u/ThreeCharsAtLeast 8d ago

It's useless, yes. But it must've been fun to make!

1

u/Gabaloo 8d ago

This is underselling how incredibly loud a controller vibrating on your desk is.

1

u/OwnLeather378 8d ago

This is the greatest invention in human history

1

u/Breadstix009 8d ago

What if the batteries died half way to the docking?

1

u/Boon421 8d ago

Yep we needed that. Worlds gonna heal from that

1

u/HugsandHate 8d ago

I imagined it panicking like the water wheel powered robot in Futurama when her water runs out.

Edit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBFPyrnGeh8

1

u/peekuhchu707 7d ago

Just another way for 20 year olds to annoy their parents and get kicked outta the basement

1

u/o0Meh0o 7d ago

is it using the haptic feedback to move?

1

u/mrturret 6d ago

Yeah.

1

u/Gundam07 5d ago

Is the steam controller good? I've been interested in an Xbox alternative but didn't know these were out yet.

1

u/marslo 3d ago

Can it dodge the 20 or so can of sparkling water littering my desk?

1

u/JuneBugNails 9d ago

Cool. Now I can be even lazier than before.

1

u/Practical_Musician61 9d ago

We are living in the future my friends.

1

u/StitchFan626 9d ago

Talk about PEAK laziness! And "Solving a problem that doesn't exist!"

1

u/amraohs 8d ago

What is AI about it this?

0

u/KickBass2155 8d ago

Anyone who watched the terminator right now.. alright buddy where do you live i wanna have nice chat whit you involving chainsaw.

0

u/Udonov 8d ago

Okay, theoretically, can the thing be programmed to theoretically find vital arteries on a human neck, theoretically?

-5

u/koy682 9d ago

Not strictly AI, but nicely done anyways

-2

u/Great-TeacherOnizuka 9d ago

Perfect use of AI!

I approve

-4

u/Excellent_Move_412 9d ago

The ai coming from the bathroom for some fucking reason

https://giphy.com/gifs/5TCBhSisw5v6mfsg6x

1

u/Electronic_Rip_9845 2d ago

See, this is a good use of freewill though. This is funny.