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Yes, it's a marketing gimmick. Sure. It's a bit trivial. But damn if this doesn't unexpectedly strike a chord.
Husqvarna, maker of automatic home lawn mowers that resemble Mad Max-era RC tactical attack vehicles, is rolling out an unusual software update to celebrate the lonely robot thousands of miles away. In early August, the Curiosity Mars rover will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Following the software update, approximately 100,000 Husqvarna Automowers around the world will be able to sing happy birthday to the intrepid explorer.
There's some behind-the-scenes information here (and a video, of course). Curiosity's engineers clearly had some fun. They programmed an advanced data collection robot to sing happy birthday to itself on its first birthday in space. But for the next birthday, saving batteries took priority and the still-running rover hasn't had any birthday magic since.
Rovers have long occupied a unique space in the public imagination, and while anthropomorphizing machines is always questionable, this rover (and the team behind it) is worth celebrating. My kids love the book Good Night Oppy, about the Opportunity rover. Similar titles about curiosity.
“For us, this is a way to pay tribute to the great engineering work at NASA and the work of our extensive team of robotics experts. By having our robotic lawnmowers celebrate their fellow robots… no one has to sing happy birthday to themselves. ?” We asked Björn Mannefred, Robotics Software Manager at Husqvarna.
Husqvarna is a leader in working on IoT and external third-party solutions including Google Home, Amazon Alexa and IFTTT. This latest software update arrives on August 5th and has a bit of Elon Musk flair. If you have an Automower, the update is coming to models 405X, 415X and 435X AWD and will be made permanent in September for Automower owners to use for future birthday celebrations.