A robot can be defined as a programmable, self-controlled device consisting of electronic, electrical, or mechanical units. More generally, it is a machine designed to execute one or more tasks repeatedly, with speed and precision. Unlike humans, they never get tired, they can endure physical conditions that are uncomfortable or even dangerous. The term comes from a Czech word, robota, meaning slave, servant, or forced labor and first appeared in a 1920 play by Czech writer Karel Capek: Rossum's Universal Robots.
Dynamically balancing bipedal robot:
Robot with human face:
Baseball batting robot:
Robots are sometimes grouped according to the time when they were first used. First-generation robots date from the 1970s and consist of stationary, nonprogrammable, electromechanical devices. Second-generation robots were developed in the 1980s and can contain sensors and programmable controllers. Third-generation robots were developed between 1990 and the present. These machines can be stationary or mobile, with sophisticated programming, speech recognition and synthesis, and other advanced features. Fourth-generation robots are in the research and development phase, they include features such as artificial intelligence and nanoscale size. Some advanced robots are called androids because they are designed to look and act like a human. Androids have been mainly an element of science fiction, today it is becoming a reality.
Dynamically balancing bipedal robot:
Robot with human face:
Baseball batting robot:
One of the earliest robots was sketched by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1495. The robot, witch appears in hiss sketches could (if built successfully) move its arms, twist its head and sit up. But the world's first successfully built mechanical automat was the flute player, invented by the French engineer Jacques de Vaucanson in 1738. He also constructed a mechanical duck. The duck moved, quacked, flapped it's wings and even ate and digested food!
In 1939 Westinghouse electric corporation builds a mechanical man 'elektro'. The robot relied on a combination of motors, telephone and record players to perform preprogrammed routines initiated by voice commands. As part of these routines, elektro could raise and lower his arm, turn his head, count on his fingers and smoke a cigarette.
But real robots wouldn’t become possible until the 1960s, with the invention of transistors. In 1953 American inventor Harvey Chapman built first remote controlled robot 'garco'.The most advanced humanoid robot 'ASIMO' was created by Honda Motor Company and it is still developed. The robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack (where is battery placed), and can walk and run on two feet with speed up to six km/h. Latest ASIMO generation robot has 156 cm and weighs 54 kg. ASIMO was created to be able to function in the real human living environment and serve people. In order to interact better with humans, ASIMO has many interesting features in its design. ASIMO has ability to recognize moving objects using information captured by the camera, detect distances and directions which makes possible to following a person. ASIMO can also interpret postures, gestures and react to voice commands. ASIMO using advanced movements. It can move not only in the front and in the back, but also in the sides, go up and down using stairs, analyze terrain and avoid hitting humans or other moving objects. Very interesting is ability to identify faces and addressing by name after registering new person.
ASIMO commercial:
ASIMO walk and run abilities:
Questions to discuss:
- What is the most interesting or advanced robot you have ever seen? Please put some pictures or films.
- Why do robots have human appearance?
I have seen great movie about machines that are worth to mention despite of fact that they don't have any electronic element (but some of them have some kind of "intelligence").
ReplyDeleteHere is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY
and closer look to topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo
Maybe those machines aren't useful too much and not much technologically sophisticated but look beautiful and very monumental. And they are very ecological :)
I prefer that sort of things than speaking robots with human face which looks a little bit scary even though it seems to be completely preprogrammed. Fortunately for human kind A.I. isn't developed too much and we can still feel safe:) I think that it is worth to mention about Touring Test that tries to set a border between humans and "thinking" machines. I'll not enclose rules of this test but I'll just say that no computer passed it :) So vision of world from "Matrix", "AI" or "9" hopefully will remain on screens.
And one movie more - something than can carry your backpack - at least it can be practical:):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJJQ0zNNOM
I don't know much about robots and I'm afraid the most advanced one that I use frequently is my washing machine ;-) As a housewife I dream about some kind of asimo. I prefer his look than android-like faces. I'm sure that presence of machine with human look would make me feel strange at my own flat.
ReplyDeleteThe only one that comes to my mind is Asimo.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that tend to have look like humans. First one should divide robots and purpose of building them into two categories: industrial and private.
Industrial obviously covers all the machines used at the industrial plants during production. Their speed and accuracy are irreplaceable.
But when it comes to private usage like helping in rehabilitation or teaching aid it is very important for such a machine to imitate at least few features of human. It's just our nature.
Most interesting to me are robots that can be fully self-sufficient.
ReplyDeleteCan not find the information on this subject, but I watched a program about a man who built robots (solar robots) and rerouted them to the desert.
Some time ago I found this short film:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.joemonster.org/filmy/20816/Wall_E_spotkany_w_Los_Angeles
And I think that robots have human apperance becouse people like to play a God. So they want to make something that would look and act as a human.
The most funny thing in robots is that they are made to help people but when I look at some films which are presenting robot' abilities and power I'm always quite disappointed. How they can help in houseworks when they are don't really move. In fact they move but so slowly that it seemed unprofitable and waste of time and money.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to most interesting/advanced robot I have seen, that would be ASIMO, but you already described him as well as supplied links, so its pointless for me to repeat all the information.
ReplyDeleteIm quite happy to share my general opinion about robots though, especially when it comes to ones that posses some sort of artificial intelligence (AI).
First of all though I wanted to answer one of questions you asked about robots having human appearance.
Naturally I will not be able to give a perfect answer to that since humanoidal struture of robots may be accidental as much as its said to be there on purpose but...
I would lean towards opinion which states that human look/construction of robots is connected with two main things.
First of all range of functionality humanoidal shape seems to posses. If we look at ourselves we can notice that with our manual capabilities we have quite a potential to perform various tasks. This may be a reason for attempts of recreating it in case of robotic constructions.
Which is for practical reasons.
I mean, yes, one could argue that robot with even more hands and fancier shape can perform even more tasks but we are not quite at required technological state to play around with such things which clearly would be way more advanced.
Now humanoidal form is fairly simple yet still offers a lot when it comes to performing various tasks. So I would say that our scientists are just starting with something well...doble for now and later on they will perhaps move on to more advanced structures.
Second reason for human appearence I would dare to propose is simplier. It is familiarity.
Perhaps working with something that at least remotely resembles us makes it easier to adapt for some people. (Quite sure in some, including me, it causes the opposite reaction though).
I guess intention may just be to make something which seems cold and emotionless being recieved with warmed feelings.
Right, leaving those matters behind for a while I would like to present my opinion about robots.
And according to it they should be..
Totally obliterated.
I dont mean just normal robots here of course. But at least those which are meant to posses Artificial Intelligence.
In my eyes such things are way too dangerous too play around with and I dont really trust humans to be carefull enough with developing technology like this.
Perhaps Im too extreme in my views, watched Terminator a bit too much, I dont know...but I never liked idea of thinking machines.
That would be more or less all I had in mind. Rest I will save for future comments!
Like s4585 said 'people like to play a God'. They are trying to make robots look like people and act like people but without many imperfections humans have. With developing technique who know's, maybe one day robots will live nest to us, like in the movies?
ReplyDelete