Robots and Cognitive Learning Updates:

"Hi Robot"
The Engineer (11/05/04); Excell, Jon
Birmingham University's Intelligent Robotics lab has received 1 million euros for a four-year research project focusing on the development of intelligent robots that can comprehend natural speech and interact more effectively with people. Lab director Dr. Jeremy Wyatt notes that the vision of a robot in every household will not come to pass until machines can interact with humans and meet their expectations about acceptable behavior, and his researchers hope to achieve this by better understanding the mechanics of object recognition. This initiative will begin by attaching a vision system to a mobile platform to monitor an arm on a separate table and report back its observations using natural language. Wyatt explains that robots' capabilities are often overestimated by people, possibly because they are wowed by technically sophisticated robots such as Sony and Honda's biped machines. These robots use an enormous amount of computational muscle to perform an action that is simple for humans, while leaving little room for more abstract cognitive processes. Wyatt expects increasingly intelligent niche appliances rather than domestic humanoid robots. "Your hoovering robot might still be a flat disc on the floor but it will be able to recognize certain types of objects and figure out when the house is empty--stuff will appear, but not in the way that science fiction sometimes predicts," he forecasts. The Birmingham project is part of the European Commission's Cognitive Systems for Cognitive Assistants program, which is expected to be allocated about 8 million euros over the next five years.
Click Here to View Full Article

------------------------------------------------------------

"Duke Robot Climbs to Victory in Madrid"
Duke University News & Communications (11/04/04)
Wallter, an autonomous wall-climbing machine designed and built by Duke University researchers, successfully completed a vertical course to win first prize at the seventh annual International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robotics held in Madrid in late September. Pratt School undergraduate Kevin Parker reports that Wallter was the only entry that successfully executed all five of the competition's required tasks--starting on a metal wall and climbing as high as possible, climbing after the addition of randomly positioned obstacles, going over a barrier across the wall, starting from the floor and then ascending, and halting after crossing the finish line. The wheeled robot hugged the wall and initiated its climb using a "tornado in a cup," a device developed by Vortex that harnesses air currents in a cylinder to exert suction on a flat surface. Project faculty advisor and Vortex VP Jason Janet says the device functions through the simultaneous swirling of a spiral and a toroidal vortex that keep the vehicle attached to the wall without hindering free movement. Wallter was made autonomous with the addition of infrared and ultrasonic sensors and a microcontroller that used custom-written software to navigate according to sensor input. Magnets were later added to the vehicle to take advantage of the metal wall at the competition, which also required an adjustment to the software. Janet notes that the Vortex technology used in Wallter was developed with a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Microsystems Technology Office, and says that Duke will partner with Carnegie Mellon University to design an autonomous land vehicle to participate in DARPA's Grand Challenge. The university is also focused on the development of underwater robot vehicles.
Click Here to View Full Article

-------------------------------------------------------------

"My Baby Bot"
Herald Sun (AU) (11/03/04); Familari, Peter
NEC's Junichi Osada and a team of designers have spent the last 14 years developing a small robot that is able to perform a range of human responses, such as responding to a human voice with a smile or sigh, conversing, and delivering personal messages. Osada says PaPeRo, which also is able to turn off the television when he falls asleep, is talented. "We've programmed PaPeRo to take photographs, tell us about tomorrow's weather, provide updates on the stock market, and connect to the Internet," says Osada. More than $10 million has been spent developing PaPeRo, an acronym for partner-type personal robot, which includes IT and audio-video technology, makes use of visual and voice-recognition electronics, and has cameras for eyes and a network of sensors to determine distances. PaPeRo represents the electronic helper of the future that will serve as a housekeeper, security guard, and child companion. Observers say such human-computer interaction is on the rise, and some maintain that it is already here. Rather then expecting a machine to resemble Star Wars' R2D2, household automation comes in the form of a powerful, handheld computer that uses sophisticated software to control devices in the home, office, and the car.
Click Here to View Full Article

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Sci Fi No More, Robots Gearing Up for Life Outside the Lab"
EE Times (11/01/04) No. 1345, P. 6; Merritt, Rick
The recent RoboNexus International Conference served as a showcase for commercial robot technologies as well as a platform where experts detailed the challenges that must be overcome for robots to move into the commercial market. MIT researcher and iRobot CTO Rodney Brooks delivered a keynote address in which he said that robots will not revolutionize targeted fields such as manufacturing and health care until their navigation, recognition, and manual dexterity are improved. To be more dexterous, robots need hands with a greater degree of freedom of motion, the adroitness to handle objects of varying weight, and tactile, moisture, and temperature sensors; meanwhile, computer vision must be refined to compensate for shadows, recognize people despite changes brought on by age, and perform other tasks comparable to human vision systems--as well as work in inexpensive cameras and DSPs. Brooks explained that homeowners cannot afford the technology robots currently use to build internal maps of their surroundings, and lower-cost alternatives such as sonar, ultrasound, and RFID are being investigated by iRobot and other companies. By surmounting these obstacles, Brooks said that "we can create an economic tsunami that would rival what happened with semiconductors and computers in Silicon Valley." IRobot Chairwoman Helen Grenier buoyed optimism among RoboNexus attendees by noting that iRobot has sold 1 million Roomba robot vacuum cleaners since their debut two years ago, adding that military market expansion has overtaken consumer markets. Among the products spotlighted at the conference was Element Products' Scribbler, a programmable robotic car that draws, and Kawada Industries' HRP-3, a dust- and water-resistant humanoid robot that can walk on rough and slippery outdoor surfaces. Both machines' usability is challenged by the high cost of sensors.
Click Here to View Full Article