4.30.2005
Robots and global warming
Robots 'confirm' global warming
From the article:
From the article:
- Scientists using deep-sea diving robots have found the heat exchange between Earth and space is seriously out of balance - a "smoking gun" discovery that allegedly validates forecasts of global warming.
The NASA scientists believe the findings confirm that computer models of climate change are on target and global temperatures will rise 0.6C this century, even if greenhouse gases were capped tomorrow.
And if carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping emissions continue to grow, as expected, things could spin "out of our control" as ocean levels rise.
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Robotic stroke rehabilitation
Robotic Arm Could Help Stroke Survivors Regain Range Of Motion
From the article:
From the article:
- A robotic arm that can be worn at home is being developed to help stroke survivors regain the ability to reach and grasp objects and perform basic tasks such as feed themselves.
- Recent research suggests that stroke survivors can recover significant use of their arms by performing repetitive motor function exercises over a period of time. This labor intensive physical therapy is expensive, however, claiming up to 4 percent of the national health budget, according to the National Institutes of Health. Moreover, health insurers may limit or deny coverage before stroke survivors achieve best results, He said.
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4.29.2005
Next grand challenge
Carnegie Mellon Robot Will Run Time Trials to Prove It's Got What It Takes to Enter $2 Million Desert Race
From the article:
From the article:
- On May 5, Carnegie Mellon University's H1ghlander robot will demonstrate that it has the skills to compete in the 2005 Grand Challenge, a driverless rumble through 175 miles of hostile desert terrain, including mountains, gullies and dry lakebeds, for a $2 million prize.
The DARPA-sponsored, winner-take-all race will take place on Oct. 8, 2005, but the contestants must prove their worthiness long before that date. H1ghlander, developed by Carnegie Mellon's Red Team, will be tested by DARPA evaluators in Pittsburgh at the site of the former LTV Steelworks in Hazelwood, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on May 5. One hundred-eighteen teams are hosting similar evaluations, but only 40 will advance to the next level of competition.
H1ghlander is entered in the competition under the auspices of Red Team Too, led collaboratively by Kevin Peterson and Red Whittaker. Machines are on their own in the Grand Challenge. They must be able to sense and drive autonomously by computing where and how to drive. H1ghlander does it with seven Intel Pentium-M's and a 64-bit Itanium-2 computer housed inside its body. They process terrain models, plan routes and direct H1ghlander's driving to avoid hazards. H1ghlander maps terrain with seven laser range scanners, four stereo cameras and two radar sensors. Some of these are mounted on a gimbal, which operates like an animal's neck to stabilize and point the sensors. The gimbal is a collaborative development with Red Team sponsors HD Systems, Philips and KVH.
H1ghlander will use these combined technologies to run four skill events on May 5 to advance or be eliminated from the race. Race officials will evaluate H1ghlander's performance in three timed 200-meter runs that will test its ability to navigate among waypoints, stay within course boundaries and avoid randomly placed obstacles. A 1,000-meter freestyle run will maneuver an underpass, steer through hairpin curves and follow trails and roads.
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Robots in teams
Now, robots turn team players
From the article:
From the web site:
See also Robotic police
From the article:
- "the robots have been developed to enable them to work in groups or packs using distributed intelligence, with their actions in co-ordination to the response of other robots, much like the way social insects such ants or bees collaborating during nest-building or foraging.
Researchers have said that the robots to be presented at the RoboBusiness robotics conference in Cambridge and Massachusetts, this May, would be applicable for a variety of military and civilian applications, and can evolve problem solving strategies in a much more significant manner compared to scenarios where each robot acts independently."
From the web site:
- Our first GRUNT implementation, pictured below, is a custom built, 300-lb., 4-foot long, 4-wheel, skid-steer, electric platform that can turn in place 720 degrees in one second and achieve speeds of 30 km/hr. It is fully equipped with computing, navigation and anomaly detection sensors necessary to be part of a collaborative security mission.
See also Robotic police
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Japan and robots
A note from a faithful reader:
- You're probably aware of the huge train accident that happened in Japan on Monday.
Of course this accident would have not happened if robots were driving the train. I don't know if you are aware of this, but there have been a number of problems recently with drivers overshooting station platforms for various reasons, so I suspect that this accident will help to motivate the removal of human train drivers and speed the introduction of robot / software drivers (on a side thought, you can consider an AI routine driving a train / truck / plane etc a natural extension of the term "device driver").
But robots aside, the whole thing would never have happened if Japanese society wasn't already robotic. What I mean is that Japanese society put such a premium on getting the train to run on time that the human driving the train felt compelled to put punctuality ahead of public safety. Thus, I believe that Japan is well on its way to becoming a Robotic Nation not just because of cultural exposure to robots (e.g. Gundams, Aibo) or technological prowess, but because society is already conditioned to accept robotic behavior as the norm.
So, if I were to give Japan a "Robotic Nation Score", I'd say it would be something like 75%. When all of the trains are run by robots, I'll have to increase that score.
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4.28.2005
Robot band
Captured by robots, he learns to live with 'em, takes them on the road
From the article:
See also: Mingling With Metal Men
From the article:
- Captured! By Robots is unique in that it is the only band on the planet led by an antisocial male, JBOT, and four robots (yes, real robots) - guitarist GTRBOT666, drummers AUTOMATOM and DRUMBOT0110 and a tambourine-smacking mechanical ape named Ape Which Hath No Name.
See also: Mingling With Metal Men
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4.26.2005
Open Robotics Peripheral Platform
The Open Robotics Peripheral Platform is an effort to standardize robotics platforms and help people to share their innovations in an open way. According to the site, ORPP provides "a versatile platform for many different robotic applications. Until now the basic platforms for robots have been either toys with little practical application or expensive, overly customized components. The goal of this project is to provide modular components that are easily outfitted with various hardware and software features in the same manner as the modern-day personal computer. Any novice computer technician could control, outfit, and maintain a O.R.P.P."
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4.25.2005
What can change in 25 years?
I gave a presentation on robots this weekend, and in the presentation I used one of my favorite slides. The point of the slide is to say, "look at how much can change in just 25 years."
The slide has on it two images. Here is image #1:
Here is image #2:
The first image is from the game Pacman, released in 1980. At the time it was considered to be an innovative video game.
The second image is Half-Life 2, released just a few months ago. It too is considered to be an innovative video game.
These two games are separated by only 25 years, yet they look like they are from completely different planets. One is a flat, pixelated, handful-of-colors-on-a-mostly-black-screen game. The other is a photo-realistic real-time romp through an artifical world of incredible depth and detail. The two games cannot be compared. It would be like comparing a backhoe to a spoon.
Here is another example -- from a book called How It Works - The Computer. This is a typical image from the 1979 edition:
This disk drive, which is as big as a washing machine, has a removable disc pack made up of six 14-inch discs. The disc pack holds 7.25 megabytes. Today we can buy 400 gigabyte drives for $300 that, very nearly, fit in your pocket. An iPod does fit in your pocket and holds 40 GB.
Here is another example - an article called The Birth of the Notebook.
The point is, we have seen amazing change in the last 25 years. We can expect the same levels of innovation, if not more, in the next 25 years. Imagine what video games, disc drives and laptops will look like by then.
I imagine we will be beginning to see the first installations of Vertebrane. and video games will be becoming completely immersive environments. I also imagine that the robots that we are interacting with in 25 years will blow Roomba away, in the same way that Half Life 2 blows Pacman away. See Robotic Nation for details.
The slide has on it two images. Here is image #1:
Here is image #2:
The first image is from the game Pacman, released in 1980. At the time it was considered to be an innovative video game.
The second image is Half-Life 2, released just a few months ago. It too is considered to be an innovative video game.
These two games are separated by only 25 years, yet they look like they are from completely different planets. One is a flat, pixelated, handful-of-colors-on-a-mostly-black-screen game. The other is a photo-realistic real-time romp through an artifical world of incredible depth and detail. The two games cannot be compared. It would be like comparing a backhoe to a spoon.
Here is another example -- from a book called How It Works - The Computer. This is a typical image from the 1979 edition:
This disk drive, which is as big as a washing machine, has a removable disc pack made up of six 14-inch discs. The disc pack holds 7.25 megabytes. Today we can buy 400 gigabyte drives for $300 that, very nearly, fit in your pocket. An iPod does fit in your pocket and holds 40 GB.
Here is another example - an article called The Birth of the Notebook.
The point is, we have seen amazing change in the last 25 years. We can expect the same levels of innovation, if not more, in the next 25 years. Imagine what video games, disc drives and laptops will look like by then.
I imagine we will be beginning to see the first installations of Vertebrane. and video games will be becoming completely immersive environments. I also imagine that the robots that we are interacting with in 25 years will blow Roomba away, in the same way that Half Life 2 blows Pacman away. See Robotic Nation for details.
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4.24.2005
Cameras in cabs
CAMERAS IN TAXIS: Surveillance equipment likely in cabs
From the article:
What this means is that, in time, there will be cameras everywhere and nothing will happen with anonymity anymore. A situation like the OJ case, where Nicole and friend are murdered and no one knows who did it, will be impossible in 20 years.
See also
From the article:
- Yvette Moore, administrator of the Taxicab Authority, which authored the rule, said she hoped that concerns would die down after surveillance proved itself as a subtle deterrent to violence against cabdrivers.
"Cabdrivers deserve the occupational protections that exist technologically today," she said. "Success will be the healer."
What this means is that, in time, there will be cameras everywhere and nothing will happen with anonymity anymore. A situation like the OJ case, where Nicole and friend are murdered and no one knows who did it, will be impossible in 20 years.
See also
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More robot teachers
Face-making robot debuts in Shenzhen (with a nice photo)
From the article:
From the article:
- The 35 centimeter-high robot has been given a friendly, cartoon-style design with a unique nose, wrinkles, big ears and golden hair.
Its mouth moves while speaking, and it makes appropriate facial expressions and head, neck, arm and leg movements.
The invention is aimed at helping rudimentary knowledge development and character cultivation in preschool children, supported by a dedicated website.
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Robot plays golf
Robot plays golf
From the article:
From the article:
- A JAPANESE COMPANY has developed a robot which can play golf... it has a camera which compares the position of a ball on a green, and can also find the hole. The robot can also hit the ball towards the hole.
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Robot Chairs
Robot Technology Creates Easy Chair
From the article:
That's a lot of technology for a chair...
From the article:
- The shape is contemporary and the fabric is cheery and modern. But imbedded within are sensors, motors, sounds, lights and computer and wireless technology that keep track of the senior's habits and react when something happens out of the ordinary.
For example, 12 sensors in the chair identify vital signs, sleep patterns and the person's normal level of activity.
If the senior stays in one position too long, any of the 14 motors located throughout the chair will gently rouse the elder to shift position.
That's a lot of technology for a chair...
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4.21.2005
Robot dentist
Robotic dentist's drill
From the article:
From the article:
- A robotic dentist's drill is to be tested on humans in Europe and the US. It could represent the first step towards automated dental procedures, reports New Scientist.
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Red light cameras
Smile. You're on candid cop camera.
From the article:
From the article:
- Even with their impact on safety still up for debate, the ticketing shutterbugs can be attractive "revenue generators" for local governments and the private companies that make, sell, and maintain them. And though constitutionally sound, the cameras raise privacy concerns among Americans who are already wary of the government riding shotgun.
"The opposition to red-light cameras isn't that they're not useful, but the problem is they're too useful," says Neil Richards, a constitutional law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "This is part of a trend where [lawmakers] are seeing there's a political advantage to not living in a police state."
From Garland, Tex., to New York City, the number of cameras is still on the rise, with some 140 communities seeing 40 percent more of them in the past two years. In many places, they're a popular way to reduce certain kinds of accidents - mostly side-impact or T-bone collisions - and discourage red-light runners, particularly on packed urban crossroads. More than 300,000 red-light violations were issued in New York in 2003, and traffic deaths dropped in the city from 701 in 1990 to 344 13 years later.
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Tracking cars
Satellites to track cars in 80p a mile toll
From the article:
From the article:
- New details have been revealed of plans to charge London motorists up to 80p a mile to drive on city roads. Hi-tech satellite tracking systems are expected to be introduced in 2015 and will mean significant investment in the transport network. However, trials of a separate system of an electronic tag and beacon system are to take place in Southwark this year.
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4.19.2005
Holographic Storage starts at 300 GB per disc
InPhase To Demo Holographic Storage
From the article:
From the article:
- Holographic storage has been in development for years, although InPhase announced its product, the Tapestry HSD5000 media, this past January. At the time, the company said a 200-GB drive, the HDS-200R, would ship this year with a 20-Mbyte transfer rate. For now, the technology is write-once, or WORM.
Based upon a statement released this week, however, InPhase has increased the capacity to 300 Gbytes. Access times are less than 200 milliseconds. The drives will be shipped to customers in 2006, the company said.
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Tracking robot
4.18.2005
A robot replaces people in the shuttle
NASA studying options for landing unmanned shuttle
From the article:
From the article:
- NASA engineers are studying options for returning a space shuttle from orbit and landing with no one aboard if astronauts took refuge on the international space station... The potential changes would allow the flight team on the ground to land an unmanned shuttle completely by remote command.
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Robot sex dolls
Robot sex dolls
This was inevitable. From the article:
This was inevitable. From the article:
- "They are almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing, but I am still developing improvements and I will only be happy when what I have is better than the real thing."
The dolls sold under the Andy brand name are on offer for £4,000 each for the basic model, with extra charges for adaptations like extra large breasts.
Underneath the silicon skin, developed for use in medical surgery, is an electronic heart that beats faster during sex.
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Software Company and Trading Web Site Build 'Auto-Trading Robot'
Software Company and Trading Web Site Build 'Auto-Trading Robot':
From the article:
From the article:
- On April 18, Advanced Trading Research and Collective2.com announced a new joint service that sounds like either a dream or a nightmare: Robotic Trading - no humans required.
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Robotic needle
Arutz Sheva - Israel National News:
From thje artilce:
From thje artilce:
- Researchers from Haifa's Technion have developed a miniature robot that navigates a flexible needle in the human body.
The new needle will allow a surgeon to bypass obstacles in the needle's path while moving toward its objective within the body.
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A system straight out of Manna
Big brother will watch you in the office
From the article:
If you want to see where systems like this lead us, read the book Manna.
From the article:
- HITACHI is demonstrating a system which means that if you're in the office you'll be able to run, but you may not be able to hide.
According to a report in the Nikkei Business Daily, the system will use chair based sensors, wireless enabled name tags, while the whole tracking system will be controlled from a single PC.
This is how it's supposed to work. When you get up from your chair, your wireless name tag is activated, and beams your location every half a minute. The wireless signal uses a base station within the office to forward info about your location to the PC.
The person operating the PC can tell exactly where you are, and presumably "questions will be asked" if you spend too much time in the loo, or if your name goes off the radar because you've headed outside for a crafty cigarette.
If you want to see where systems like this lead us, read the book Manna.
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4.17.2005
Much, much faster transistors
Illinois researchers create world's fastest transistor ... again
From the article:
Intel Researchers Build World's Fastest Silicon Transistors
From that article:
Either way, what you can see is that microprocessors have a lot of room for speed improvements. One problem with faster chips will be heat generation, so research is intensifying in this area:
Researchers propose center to develop future chip-cooling technologies
From the article:
From the article:
- Their latest device, with a frequency of 509 gigahertz, is 57 gigahertz faster than their previous record holder and could find use in applications such as high-speed communications products, consumer electronics and electronic combat systems.
- Our ultimate goal is to make a terahertz transistor
Intel Researchers Build World's Fastest Silicon Transistors
From that article:
- These transistors -- featuring structures just 20 nanometers (nm) in size -- will allow Intel to build microprocessors containing a billion transistors, running at speeds approaching 20 gigahertz and operating at less than one volt in approximately 2007.
Either way, what you can see is that microprocessors have a lot of room for speed improvements. One problem with faster chips will be heat generation, so research is intensifying in this area:
Researchers propose center to develop future chip-cooling technologies
From the article:
- Researchers at Purdue University are collaborating with several other universities in proposing a new center to design technologies that will be needed in coming decades to cool advanced computer chips.
"The bottom line is that we've all got to begin working on this problem now, or the computer industry is going to hit a brick wall in about 15 years," said Suresh Garimella, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. "Future computer chips will generate as much as 10 times more heat than today's computer chips, which means we are going to need new cooling technologies."
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'Minority Report' interface created for US military
'Minority Report' interface created for US militaryFrom the article:
- A computer interface inspired by the futuristic system portrayed in the movie Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, could soon help real military personnel deal with information overload.
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4.16.2005
Nano robot
China Builds Nano-operated Robot
From the article:
From the article:
- Researchers at the Shenyang Automation Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, operate via a special microscope and computer screen the nano robot's hand, which is multi-million times smaller than a pinhead. The artificial hand can move atoms like people play chess or write on a tiny area that is as small as one-twentieth of the cross-section of a hair.
Experts say that the nano-bot's precision tops the world, and has provided a foundation for future robots that could enter the human body to manipulate cells.
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Bomb squad robot
Update: Anthony SWAT Situation
This article is interesting for this one quote:
This article is interesting for this one quote:
- "The robot has the ability to break windows, knock down doors and it was making contact with the outside of the home and the suspect finally gave up,"
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4.15.2005
Robot airplanes fly 24x7
Robot plane to 'airlift' cellphone signals
From the article:
From the article:
- "We're shooting for satellite replacement at a lower cost," said Leigh Coleman, president of Sanswire parent GlobeTel Communications Corp, "We believe this will change the way you communicate."
When finished, the 245-foot-long, robot-piloted, solar-powered airship will resemble a double-tailed whale.
Flying above the jet stream but lower than a satellite — and one-tenth the cost at $25 million to $30 million — the Stratellite also would render land-based cellphone towers obsolete, its makers say.
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Autonomous robot spacecraft
DART to rendezvous with Pentagon satellite
From the article:
From the article:
- NASA robotic spacecraft equipped with navigational computers and sensors was launched into orbit Friday to rendezvous with a Pentagon satellite without the help of astronauts or human controllers. If the $110 million mission is successful, it could lay the groundwork for future projects like robotic delivery of cargo to space shuttles and automated docking and repair between spacecraft in orbit.
- DART was designed to catch up with the Pentagon satellite flying 472 miles above Earth. The satellite was launched in 1999 and carries special reflectors for use in guidance systems similar to the one aboard DART.
During the 24-hour mission, DART will attempt several automated tasks, including maneuvering around the satellite, making close approaches and moving away.
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4.14.2005
Self-steering tractor add-on
Trimble - AgGPS EZ-Steer
From the article:
From the article:
- The EZ-Steer system uses GPS guidance from the AgGPS EZ-Guide Plus lightbar and turns the steering wheel automatically, greatly reducing driver fatigue and allowing you to better oversee the implement or spray booms to improve the job quality.
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Climbing Robot for construction
Climbing Robot Builds Planes
From the article:
From the article:
- A climbing robot has been developed that can autonomously work to construct airplanes and ships, according to its creators.
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4.13.2005
Home robots you can buy
The ZMP Nuvo was announced last year and is now available, although the price is steep:This got me thinking -- what other real "home robots" can you actually buy today? I'm not talking about toys -- I am talking about useful products that you can buy today for the home. Here is my list:All four have videos if you poke around in each site -- they are pretty interestingWhat other "real" robots are out there for the home? If you can think of others, add them in the comments or mail them in.
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Robot companions in Japan
Japan's hi-tech carers
From the article:
From the article:
- "When I come back from being out for the day and the house is dark, I feel alone and sad," says Akino. "Conversation makes me happy. Sometimes I just feel like chatting."
To help combat the loneliness of longevity - and in true Japanese style - the country has turned to technology for guidance.
Akino has been introduced to Primo Puel, an interactive doll that talks, giggles and even asks for cuddles.
It provides her with much of the company she longs for, especially in the evening.
Originally designed to be a substitute boyfriend for young single girls in the workforce, the doll has become an unexpected hit with elderly people across Japan.
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Laptop-controlled mine system
Laptop-controlled mine system headed for Iraq
From the article:
From the article:
- U.S. troops in Iraq will soon be able to lace their defensive perimeters with a high-tech, multi-pronged version of one of the most effective weapons in their enemy's playbook: the remote-controlled bomb.
By June, soldiers in the Army's Stryker Brigade, which operates mainly in and around the northern city of Mosul, will be able to pick out an individual anti-personnel munition from a minefield of hundreds and explode it by pushing a computer's touch screen from many yards away.
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4.12.2005
Robots and NASA
Why robots will take over just about every job in the economy:
3 alternate visions for NASA's future
From the article:
3 alternate visions for NASA's future
From the article:
- 'Sending people into space is very old-fashioned, sort of a hangover from the Cold War era,' says physicist Robert Park of the American Physical Society, a longtime critic of the cost of manned space missions. 'Robots can do just about everything in space better and cheaper.'
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Robots in the Middle East
Hizbollah Flies Drone Over Northern Israel
From the article:
From the article:
- "In response to repeated and continuous enemy violations of Lebanese airspace, the surveillance plane Mersad 1 carried out a reconnaissance mission in the skies of occupied northern Palestine, flying over several Zionist colonies," a Hizbollah statement said.
- "A short while ago, a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) flown by the Hizbollah terrorist organization flew over western Galilee in Israeli territory," an Israeli military spokeswoman said in Jerusalem.
Witnesses said Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre and a nearby Palestinian refugee camp just after Hizbollah announced the flight.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which monitors the border between Israel and Lebanon, said it was checking the report. "There have been a few violations by drones and jets today," a UNIFIL spokesman said.
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4.11.2005
Robots on the subway
NYC Subway Gets Computer Facelift
From the article:
From the article:
- L-line trains will run without conductors, except in emergencies, coasting along at preordained speeds and stopping automatically at stations, a lone train operator in the front car watching the controls. San Francisco has had this technology for years, and Paris has one such line.
- Nabile Ghaly, NYC Transit's chief signal engineer, said the new system lets traffic controllers know exactly where each train is at all times, and it tightly controls train speed. With it, trains can run more closely together -- and therefore more frequently -- and with fewer accidents, transit officials say.
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Robot helicopters
Robot choppers on the horizon
From the article:
From the article:
- ROBOT helicopters could be buzzing over Australia's broadacre paddocks and rural fires in the near future with a Brisbane aerospace company developing a low-cost model similar to surveillance craft used by the military... The company recently unveiled its i-Copter at the Australian International Airshow in Victoria where it was "pleasantly surprised" by the response from the defence, security, agricultural and communications sectors.
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Robots will replace child camel jockeys in UAE
Robots will replace child camel jockeys in UAE
From the article:
From the article:
- The United Arab Emirates is to mount robot jockeys on racing camels later this year after a ban on using children in the region's popular sport.
- "Unlike the human jockey, the robot is cheaper to maintain and would not have to undergo the same physical hardship that humans would," he said.
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One robot doing the work of two
Single Robot Packs and Palletizes
From the article:
From the article:
- When a customer with floor space constraints required packing and palletizing, Schneider Packaging found a solution by combining the two activities. Typically, one machine does the case packing and another does the palletizing and each one has a robot. Since a single robot could handle the production rates, integrating functions proved to be the right solution.
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Using ultrasound to trigger the senses
Sony aims to beam sights, sounds into brain
From the article:
From the article:
- If you think video games are engrossing now, just wait: PlayStation maker Sony Corp. has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain.
The technique could one day be used to create video games in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf.
The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce "sensory experiences" such as smells, sounds and images.
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4.10.2005
Wet bio-transistors
Robots grading tests
This is another one covered last year in Robots grading essay questions and getting renewed attention now:
Essays marked by computer program
From the article:
Essays marked by computer program
From the article:
- Computers are being used to mark American university students' essays in a project which could radically alter the teaching role of academics.
Qualrus, a program developed at the University of Missouri, offers instant feedback on even complex subjects.
- Managing a baseball team with a robot
- Robots interviewing job applicants
- Robots and the right brain
- Robotic Education
- Robots and teachers
- Robots grading essay questions
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Robots building houses
This topic was covered last year in the post Robots and the construction industry, but Discover magazine has just published a new article on the process that provides more details:The whole-house machine
From the article:
- With a soft whir, the contour crafter’s head lays down inch-high extrusions of viscous concrete, one atop another, as a pie-shaped trowel smooths the surface. The head moves at 5 inches per second, which would create a 2,000-square-foot house in 24 hours.
- Normally it is good for automation to lower the price of things. In the housing market, however, falling house prices can create some very uncomfortable problems. If house prices fall and home owners are underwater in their mortgages, they are trapped. Everyone has always assumed that home prices will increase in value from year to year, and the leverage that a mortgage provides works well when prices are rising. But if robots and other technologies cause housing prices to fall 25% to 50%, the leverage of a mortgage works the other way and can bankrupt a family very easily. A large number of defaults could ripple through the economy in unexpected ways. It will be very interesting to see what happens as robots begin a rapid infiltration into the construction industry.
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Managing a baseball team with a robot
The robot as manager; it does not compute
The article is discussing the idea that a computer could manage a baseball team. From the article:
Need to directly connect with the plater's emotions to motivate them? The traditional way is a screaming manager. Instead, slap a headset on each player as in Manna. Have the computer manager whisper in the players' ears using words and phrases that have been found -- through extensive psychological testing -- to cause the greatest degree of human motivation in high-performance athletes.
The majority of humans will be managed by robots much sooner than we think. See Manna for details.
The article is discussing the idea that a computer could manage a baseball team. From the article:
- If you loaded all sorts of data into Cyb's memory bank and kept it updated to the minute, he could compute the best possible lineup every day.
He could take into account not only a hitter's past against a pitcher, but also break it down to include variables such as home or road, day or night, grass or artificial turf.
Taking it a big step further, Cyb could then manage the game.
For every pitch, he could come up with the best odds on when to bunt and when to swing away, when to change pitchers and who to bring in, where to position the fielders and every other aspect a programmer could imagine.
Need to directly connect with the plater's emotions to motivate them? The traditional way is a screaming manager. Instead, slap a headset on each player as in Manna. Have the computer manager whisper in the players' ears using words and phrases that have been found -- through extensive psychological testing -- to cause the greatest degree of human motivation in high-performance athletes.
The majority of humans will be managed by robots much sooner than we think. See Manna for details.
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Invasion of the Robo-DJs
Invasion of the Robo-DJs
From the article:
From the article:
- The latest recipe for success in broadcast radio? Dump a thousand or so random songs into a playlist. Hit shuffle. Then, more often than not, kill the live DJ and replace him with a computer.
- The rules guiding a Jack-formatted station are simple: Unlike a typical radio station, which regularly plays 300 or 400 hits of a particular genre, programmers on Jack stations select 700 to 1,000 songs of completely different genres. Then, they sequence them to create what radio programmers call "train wrecks" -- Billy Idol will follow Bob Marley, Elvis after Guns N' Roses, and so on. And Jack stations often (but not always) use a smart-alecky recorded voice, rather than a live DJ, to make short quips between songs.
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4.08.2005
A tiny robot swarm
A tiny robot swarm - fiction no longer
From the article:
From the article:
- The cartoon superheroes were frustrated. They confronted a menacing robot that quickly repaired any damage they inflicted. It was made up of a swarm of microscopic robots - so-called nanobots - that could change its function and shape at will. Suddenly the swarm became fluid and flowed away.
That cartoon scenario may seem entertaining. But the reality is startling. Engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration want to pull off a similar trick. They are testing a robot that they hope to shrink to nanobot size and eventually form what NASA calls "autonomous nanotechnology swarms" (ANTS). The researchers aim to give ANTS enough artificial intelligence to make smart decisions as well as know intuitively when and how to walk and swarm.
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Killer robots on the S. Korean border
Robot to Take Over Border Guard MissionFrom the article:
- "The gist of this project is to transform the current guard and observation mission on fronts conducted by soldiers into one by a robot system,"
- One option is to upgrade the Aegis Robot (intelligence surveillance and combat robot) that was deployed to Iraq last October, ministry officials said. The robot is equipped with a temperature and image sensor that detects and tracks a suspected target. It also has an auto-firing capability. Currently, two robots are being operated in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, where some 3,500 South Korean troops are stationed for the reconstruction mission.
From the article:
- Gun-wielding robots could be patrolling the world’s most heavily fortified border by 2011 under a plan by South Korea’s Defence Ministry to bolster its frontier with the North.
The ministry said Friday it will complete a feasibility study by the end of the year on building surveillance robots to be deployed along the demilitarized zone dividing the Korean Peninsula.
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4.07.2005
Robot suit to help walk, lift on horizon
Robot suit to help walk, lift on horizon
From the article:
From the article:
- The most fully developed prototype, HAL 3, is a motor-driven metal "exoskeleton" that straps on the legs to power-assist leg movements.
Sankai says he has had many requests for the devices from people with brain and spinal injuries, leading him to plan to include a medical rehabilitation in the programming.
The first commercial suits likely will cost between $14,000 and $19,000.
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4.06.2005
Robot news roundup
There's lots of stuff going on in the world of robots today:
- Robot appointed chief of Hakata police station for a day - It is so interesting to watch this kind of stuff. It's like we don't realize what is happening, so right now it is "cute" to name a robot chief-for-a-day. In 25 years or so, there will be no more human cops -- All cops will be robots. See The future of robotic police.
- Underwater Bot Roams the Seas - new autonomous robots are exploring the oceans.
- Robotic garage gets OK - a robot is able to park cars in a parking garage.
- Land Walker - a gigantic homebrew contraption that sort of looks like a walking robot. It's big enough to carry around an adult in a little driver's pod. Has a nice video with it. Probably the most interesting part is that something this big can be homebrewed.
- Proof and Beauty - talks about the increasing role of computers in proving mathematical theorems. Not so long ago, only humans could prove mathematical theorems.
- Engineers study whether plasmonics, 'light on a wire,' is circuitry wave of future - talks about a new technology that may help speed up computers.
- Navy Meets Urgent USCENTCOM Robotics Requirements - talks about the robots being used in Iraq to detect and defuse bombs placed by insurgents.
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Robots interviewing job applicants
According to this article in the Washington Post, we are already at the point where robots are making a significant number of hiring decisions in the U.S. economy:
Employers Relying On Personality Tests To Screen Applicants
From the article:
Of course, we can also expect to see a book in the next six months entitled: "How to get a perfect score on a personality test."
Employers Relying On Personality Tests To Screen Applicants
From the article:
- "Even before the candidates had stepped through the door for the group interview, their fate had been largely determined by a computer. They had taken a 50-minute online test that asked them to rate to what degree they agreed or disagreed with statements such as, 'It's maddening when the court lets guilty criminals go free,' 'You don't worry about making a good impression' and 'You could describe yourself as 'tidy'.'
A score in the 'green' range for customer service gave an applicant an 83 percent chance of getting hired, 'yellow' a 16 percent chance and 'red' a 1 percent chance.
Over the past few years, personality assessment tests have moved from the realm of experiment to standard practice at many of the nation's largest companies, including the Albertson's grocery chain and retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Target. A recent survey found that about 30 percent of all companies use personality tests in hiring. To many companies, the tests are as important, if not more important, than an applicant's education, experience and recommendations. "
Of course, we can also expect to see a book in the next six months entitled: "How to get a perfect score on a personality test."
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4.05.2005
Hundreds of robotic airplanes
U.S. Drones Crowd Iraq's Skies to Fight Insurgents
From the article:
From the article:
- In the skies over Iraq, the number of remotely piloted aircraft... has shot up to more than 700 now from just a handful four years ago, military officials say.
- Never before has the American military used so many remotely piloted aircraft in such diverse missions, and many officers call them the wave of the future. At a command hub spread among a half dozen dimly lit trailers at this air base just off the Las Vegas Strip, the future is now. Small teams of remote-control warriors nudge joysticks to fly armed Predator aircraft 7,500 miles away. Once the Predators take off in Iraq or Afghanistan for missions, the air crews here take over.
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4.04.2005
Moore's law and 1 Terabyte hard disks
PCWorld.com - Hitachi Eyes 1TB Desktop Drives
From the article:
From the article:
- Hitachi sees drives based on the new method with areal densities of around 230 gigabits per square inch in 2007, Best says. Such a density would enable the 1TB, 3.5-inch drive and 20GB, 1-inch drive, he says.
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4.01.2005
Pilots on the way out
Apparently pilots will be a vanishing breed within 5 years:
Robotic aircraft kill enemies without endangering pilots
From the article:
Robotic aircraft kill enemies without endangering pilots
From the article:
- Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) will make today’s piloted planes seem like flying bricks by comparison, with advantages too long to list here. For starters though, no pilot means a lighter, smaller, and cheaper aircraft. Large canopies, pilot displays, and environmental control systems will disappear.
“The UCAV offers new design freedoms that can be exploited to produce a smaller, simpler aircraft, about half the size of a conventional fighter aircraft,” according to the Federation of American Scientists. It would weigh only about one-third to one-fourth as much as a manned plane. Costs will also be slashed. Boeing’s X-45 UCAV will probably be a third the price of the forthcoming manned F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
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Humanoid robots
Robots reveal their human side
From the article:
Archives
From the article:
- The robots at the 2005 World Expo have something to prove: that they can be human too.
More than 100 robots have been put to work at the high-tech trade fair in Japan, performing tasks ranging from greeting visitors, tidying up, providing security and entertaining the crowds.
But it is the machines with the ability to mimic human characteristics that have captured the imagination of visitors.
"Humanoids are really exciting," Richard Walker of the Shadow Robot Company told the New Scientist magazine.
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