But I wonder if this was ever predicted in Popular Science magazine?
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Remember the four legged robotic pack animal "BigDog"? Now a two legged version called "PetMan" is almost ready to carry your stuff.
Robots are watching you go to the bathroom… if you keep your robots in the bathroom.
Bathroom-bot doesn't like what it sees: But it's not about what Bathroom-bot likes.
Courtesy thewhitestdogaliveI do. That is, I keep robots in my bathroom. I have a modified Teddy Ruxpin with a webcam erupting from its mouth perched on the edge of my sink, pointed toward the toilet. That might sound a little weird, but it makes sense if you think about it. See, if I’m ever wondering whether or not I am currently using the toilet, I can log onto the internet, and check out that webcam. If I don’t appear to be on the toilet, I must be at work, or some other place with a computer, like a public library. But if I’m wondering if I am currently using the toilet, and discover that I am unable to access my webcam via the internet, I must actually be using the toilet, where there is no computer.
Easy! It’s a simple way of keeping on top of what’s happening in my life.
Buuuuut… It turns out that the many wireless, web-enabled devices you surely have in your homes can turn against you with the help of hackers. This includes your TiVo, your parents’ fancy security system, your child’s robot, and my Ruxpin toilet-watcher. Scary, right? Your little robo-helpers periodically send out packets of information to your wireless network, and if someone were in the neighborhood looking for that sort of thing, they could find out what sort of device was sending signals, and take control of it.
A group of researchers at the University of Washington actually tested out several fairly common wireless gadgets, and found that it wasn’t so difficult to take them over. The damage they were able to do was limited by the fact that most wireless devices don’t really do all that much. Having the TiVo go crazy isn’t so bad, but someone else using your nanny-cam is a little disturbing. Toy robots like this little dude, which can be controlled wirelessly to roll around and take live video and audio are potentially troublesome. (On the other hand, that little robot can also play digital music, so friendlier hackers could use it to follow you around and regale you with song.) And there’s no telling who might know when I’m using my bathroom.
The solutions are, of course:
-Take the cameras out of your bathroom (Not going to happen)
-Don’t buy any wireless toys that are stronger than you are (We’ll see)
-Don’t buy any wireless toys (Well, sure, like a toaster. But I want more than that)
-Buy wireless things with fancier security (I don’t even know how that would work. I just thought I should put it on the list)
-Try turning that junk off some time (Fine. Whatever.)
Surgery robot?: I think this is the surgical robot we will see.
Courtesy The da Vinci® S™ Surgical SystemI'm not exactly sure what this will entail, but the Science Museum of Minnesota's internal newsletter states:
DA VINCI SURGICAL ROBOT HERE SEPTEMBER 30
Regions Hospital invites you to operate the da Vinci surgical system. On Wednesday, September 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the robot will be on display in the museum's Human Body Gallery. Practice your surgical moves and learn how futuristic robotic-aided surgery is helping people.
So if you wanna do some play future surgery, come on down.
Honda Unveils Robo-Unicycle
Last week Japan's Honda Motor Company unveiled a new invention, the U3-X personal mobility device, pictured in the short video here. As one might expect from the folks who brought you ASIMO, a humanoid robot that can even recognize faces, the U3-X looks a lot like something you might see in a futeristic Sci-fi movie.
Instead of pedaling, this battery operated unicycle moves in whichever direction you lean, sort of like a Segway Personal Transporter (and in my opinion, just as awkward). To me it looks like it might be a little precarious, but Honda claims that the U3-X is easy to use. They hope that this invention will be useful to commuters and the elderly. They claim that it's small size, light weight (less than 22 pounds), and easy-to-use design make it an ideal transportation device for people who live in crowded cities.
Sound like fun? Well, unfortunately the invention is still so new that you can't even buy one. For now you're stuck with a regular old unicycle.
You can read more about the U3-X and see a longer video on National Geographic News.
A new robot developed by Boston Dynamics can leap over obstacles such as fences and walls as tall as 25 feet. Its developers say the jumping robot's military application could help reduce troop casualties in urban warfare settings. Newly released video of the Precision Urban Hopper doing its thing can be seen here.
This is not BEAR: It's how I think of BEAR.
Courtesy JGordonHave we never talked about the uncanny valley on Science Buzz? I searched for the term, and got nothing. (Although… I’m beginning to suspect that my computer doesn’t accept voice commands. “Computer, display LOLcats,” gets me nothing, and I know that there are LOLcats out there.)
So… the uncanny valley. It has to do with robots, and human-simulation thingys. It’s like… like… well, here’s an example:
Think about factory assembly line robots—big arms, repetitive movements… it doesn’t do much for you, does it? They’re just boring ol’ machines.
Now think about R2D2, Star Wars’ trashcan robot. Beep beep, whistle! Cute, huh? He rolls around, and does sassy things we can’t understand, and we know he’s a robot, and he’s pretty likeable.
Now think about Johny 5 from Short Circuit. He can talk, he’s got a face, and expressive eye-flaps. And we still kind of like him, despite the attitude. (Great, you can read fast. Clean my kitchen before I have you recycled, robot.)
Now think abut C3PO, Star Wars’ deeply uncomfortable, shuffle-gaited robot. He’s pretty much human shaped, he speaks human (with an accent too…), and he’s clearly grappling with some of the same personal identity issues we real humans deal with. And… he’s just a little bit creepy, isn’t he? He’s like us, but not like us… How do we deal with this goldbot?*
And then there’s the “Simroid,” the Japanese robotic monstrosity used for dentist training. See the Simroid:
Clearly Lady Simroid has discovered what it means to be human, and she is, appropriately, horrified. And it doesn’t help that her existence is limited to sitting in a chair and having dental students see what hurts.
But, see, robots like the Simroid, in their appearance and limited behavior, are quite like humans. And it’s weird! They make us uncomfortable. So like us, but they’re absolutely missing the piece that makes a person a person. Brrrr
And then, moving on, we have healthy, living humans. Or maybe Blade Runner replicants. And they aren’t so weird any more. We’re back up to something we’re comfortable with.
It’s the Simroid point on this scale where the familiarity/comfort level takes a huge dive. That’s the uncanny valley.
(Another way to think about it might be cartoons. Stick figures. Disney’s Aladdin. Toy Story. The Polar Express movie adaptation. Pirates of the Caribbean. Which of these are you least likely to see on a poster in a kid’s bedroom? Well, maybe stick figures, but do you see what I’m getting at?)
See the dip in the graph?: That's the uncanny valley. It's full of zombies and simroids.
Courtesy Smurrayinchester
There are different theories as to why objects in the uncanny valley creep us out so much. The remind us of dead things. (Like zombies!) They are similar enough to us that, on a biological level, we perceive them as a threat (because a genetically similar creature is more likely to pass diseases to us, I guess), and so we feel revulsion towards them. Or they’re no longer like robots, but when we judge them on the human scale, they come up disturbingly lacking. Basically, they’re weird.
So, when you’re building your humanoid, you have to decide early on where you’re going to shoot for on the uncanny valley scale. If you aim too high, you may end up dooming your creation to the same hate we have for ventriloquists’ dummies. (In my opinion, you should probably set your expectations somewhere around R2D2, unless you’re making a baby. And even then…)
Enter the military-funded “Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot,” or BEAR. BEAR was designed to be able to rescue wounded people in combat areas, and to do heavy, potentially dangerous tasks. It’s basically some big treads and a torso with arms, and each new version is a little stronger, and more nimble and damage resistant. And the newest versions have bizarre teddy bear heads, apparently because that’s the sort of thing that’s reassuring to an injured soldier.
So where does this fall on the uncanny scale? We like teddy bears. But teddy bears are usually soft and fuzzy, not six-foot-tall human-torsoed robots, able to dead lift 500 pounds. Also, their dark lifeless eyes aren’t usually set in hard, urban camo faces. For me, at least, a face like that seems to promise physical dismemberment with utter, robotic detachment (pun intended, I guess?).
Am I alone? Am I relating too much (but not enough) to the BEAR? How do y’all feel? Anything else in the uncanny valley that you feel deserves a shout out for its creepiness? Let’s have it.
*I’m aware that R2D2 and C3PO are supposed to be spelled out phonetically. I won’t be doing that. Ever.
Once again robots do something I’ve been doing for years and everybody gets excited.
Robots are stealing our jobs: Even when our job is to eat bugs.
Courtesy manbartlettYeah, hooray, robots can walk. I’ve been walking for, like, most of my life. A robot can make sad faces. Whatever. That’s practically my specialty. A robot can simulate excruciating pain and horror. So? Nuts to “simulate”—I live it.
Great. It’s all great. Robots are programmed and built to do all sorts of inane stuff, and people love it. But I’ve been able to do this stuff forever, and nobody’s giving me high-fives and kisses. Cool, a robot can remember your name. I can usually so that. A robot can remember your credit card number. I can for sure do that. Give me a chance people, and you’ll see how much better than a robot I am.
But no. Robot development rumbles onward, and, once again, robots are taking a brave new step where I’ve stepped years ago: they fuel themselves by eating bugs.
Some artsy science people in London have designed self-sustaining robotic furniture. The robots digest organic matter (bugs) in “microbial fuel cells,” creating enough power to run a clock (I can do that) or light up lamp (I could probably do that), and eat more bugs (done). Microbial fuel cells, by the way, are sort of like batteries that run on decomposing matter. Chemicals in the fuel cell (I think) pretty much steal the electrons being produced by bacteria as they break down organic fuel. I can’t do this, but, then again, no one is asking me to. MFCs seem like pretty interesting technology, actually. More about them here, if you’re interested.
The designers have made working models of a fly-attracting lamp that works like a pitcher plant to capture its victims, a wall-mounted clock with a sticky conveyor belt, and a table that attracts mice onto its surface and into a trap door, where (I guess) they are digested to death. (I can’t help it… it’s like the Pit of Carkoon! Argh. I’m always going to be this way.)
It’s all pretty neat, although the small mammal attracting and digesting table might be a little much. That one seems like a case of somebody getting a little too arty or a little too sciencey for their own good. I mean, I could lure and eat a mouse, and hold your food for you, but would you want me to?
Typical sand crab
Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsDid you know it takes two-and-a-half times more energy for us humans to walk on sand than on a hard surface? We can reduce that expenditure (to one-and-a-half times the effort) by running but the fact remains getting across sand is not easy for us. It's a different story for some of our animal friends. Some creatures, such as the ghost crab (Ocypode cordimana), can move effortlessly across a heap of sand like they're skating on ice. Others, such as the sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi), can swim through sand like they're swimming through water. Read here about how scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta (along with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern) have been studying such creatures to help design robots that will be able to move effortlessly through sand and other complex terrains.
Mecha-hobby will lift, bend and sit-up you into robo-oblivion
The Willow Ptarmigan Award in its natural habitat: The original W.P.A.o.M. was given to Anchorage native Troy Smoltz for taping a clock radio to his forehead. The award was then taken back after Smoltz took a bath while wearing his new invention.
Courtesy National Park ServicePopular Science’s website is featuring another clever engineering dude with time on his greasy hands. You’ll remember last year’s “Beaver State Award of Mega”—this is pretty much the same thing.
Carlos Owens of Wasilla, Alaska, has built himself an 18-foot-tall mecha suit.
For those of you not in the know (out of the know, if you will), I suppose “mecha” is just a prefix for anything made to be mechanical. But as far as popular culture is concerned, “mecha” is a prefix for anything vaguely Japanese and robotic. (And popular culture is the arbiter of anything worthwhile knowing.) In this case, it’s the latter definition that applies; Owens’ 18-foot-tall suit is vaguely Japanese and robotic.
According to the article, the suit mimics its pilot’s movement though a system of cables attached to hydraulic cylinders, and it can “raise its arms, bend its knees, and even do a sit-up.”
Oh, um… awesome. Except, why wasn’t “fight a laser-sword space battle” on that list of features? Or “rip a dragon in half”? Or, you know, “walk”? Because I can do a sit-up (singular) and I can walk, and, even wearing a watch, I could hardly be considered mecha.
Anyway, it’s still pretty neat. Check it out. And, for consistency’s sake, Carlos Owens will be receiving the Willow Ptarmigan Award Of Mecha. Look for it in the mail, Mr. Owens.
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