The Robots Are Coming
When we think of robots, most of us have that old vision of a machine that looks like a human being. When asked, most people will say that there are a few of them around, but they are mostly in laboratories around the world. The truth is that robots are everywhere and they can look like many different things. Actually if we look on Wikipedia for the definition of a robot we see, it defined as, “A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. “ This definition leaves the door open to many different devices and even software. If you have a piece of software that takes your everyday photos and enhances them to give you the best possible picture, many would call this a robotic program of sorts. Most robots are combinations of software and hardware. If we look at automobile factories we see that robots have replaced workers in many different areas, especially on the assembly line. These machines perform the same tasks over and over, day in and day out in the types of jobs that are very stressful to humans. Humans do not like to repeat the same task all day long. We are strange creatures and need some variety in our lives to stay on an even mental keel. Tiny robots are now traveling on Mars. They got there because they were loaded into a robotic rocket that had no one on board and was traveling using a sort of artificial intelligence and commands from earth. Yes we are spreading our robots out into space and this is just the beginning. Our automobiles are becoming robots. They are becoming robots that are built by robots. I am sure that many of us have noticed that there are now cars that can parallel park themselves, detect rain and turn on the wipers and even turn the lights off after we have stopped the car for a few minutes. Add to this the ability to know when to turn on traction control and various other safety and suspension devices and you can see why I believe that our vehicles are becoming robots.
Da Vinci's Robot There is nothing more fascinating however than a machine that has the shape of a man or woman and through time people have been trying to build mechanical people. Leonardo Da Vinci constructed a robot that was made from a suit of armor. The robot can make several human like motions. It can sit up, move its arms and neck and it has an anatomically correct jaw. He also built a robot lion that was reconstructed. The device walked across the floor and when it got to the end of its journey, its chest opened up to reveal a bouquet of flowers. It was driven by a powerful spring. Today we take the incredible robot toys that are available for granted. Some are capable of doing a hundred different things and you can get one of the better ones for about $200. Things are a lot different from when I was a kid and a toy robot was something you wound up that walked across the floor. In those days people would watch it and say things like, “wow what will they think of next?”. If they only knew at the time, boy would they have been surprised. Isaac Asimov was a famous science fiction writer and he devised the Three Laws of Robotics, which have become the bible for creating robots, they are:
Honda ASIMO
Honda E0 Many different companies are creating humanoid robots. There are also many being created in laboratories all over the world. Honda had produced an incredible robot that walks, talks and performs. It can even climb stairs. The robot is named ASIMO. It was created in 2005. It can run at speeds up to 4.3 miles per hour and walk at normal speeds. Creation of a human like robot began at Honda in 1986 with E0. Honda states that the name ASIMO stands for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility". I think it is derived from Asimov, the name of the great science fiction writer. You have to admit that the names are very similar.
Robonaut NASA has been experimenting with robots. They would like them to perform repairs in space, where it is very dangerous for astronauts to go. NASA has developed a robot in a joint venture with DARPA. It is a humanoid robot and it is claimed that it can function as an equivalent to humans during extra-vehicular activity, which are space walks. There are different versions of the robot. NASA had mounted one of their robots on a Segway and this allows it to get around. I think that we all know that NASA would have to be one of the leaders in robotics because of all the robotic spacecraft that they send out into space. The strange part of all this is that NASA doesn't always use the newest chips and such. The reason for this is that they would rather use tried and true parts, because they feel that this adds longevity and reliability to their missions. The Disney company is responsible for creating a robot type known as Audio-Animatronics. It is not an android type robot, because everything it does is prerecorded. It does not process data, or make any decisions. These types of robots can look quite human and are featured by Disney. The Disney Lincoln Audio-Animatronic is extremely popular and features a life like Lincoln. It was at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and a year later it appeared at Disneyland. When you go into a hall to observe Lincoln, he slowly stands and gives an oratory from his famous speeches. The face of Lincoln was created from his death mask, which was made in 1860. It is going to be a great century for robots. People born today just might live long enough to be around when android type robots become so plentiful and real, that they will not be discernible from humans. I am sure that this will raise the old debate again about how do we tell if something is alive. It is going to be a great time to live, as long as we don't let the machines operate without the Three Laws of Robotics, but I am sure that the military won't let those laws stand in their way. We already have robotic planes that are killing people, is the next step robotic soldiers? |
Try Our New Discussion Board
