I like their tiny kickstand as a solution for keeping the thing upright without draining the battery. I wonder if that deploys only when the bot is in sleep mode, or if it can come out when someone is using it but "standing" in a single spot for a prolonged period of time.
Yes, that's right! Our very first prototype was using a 5 degree of freedom IMU board from SparkFun.
Yes, the kickstands can be deployed manually during a call or automatically, if the robot is sitting in one place for a long time. When the user attempts to drive again, the kickstands instantly lift off the ground and the robot can drive again.
I would guess that it is a beefed up version of something like this: http://blog.makezine.com/2012/03/28/an-inexpensive-self-bala...
I like their tiny kickstand as a solution for keeping the thing upright without draining the battery. I wonder if that deploys only when the bot is in sleep mode, or if it can come out when someone is using it but "standing" in a single spot for a prolonged period of time.