Robotic slaves

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Permalink Reply by Flimmer Skjerm on November 2, 2008 at 3:54am

What you are referring to here is very interesting. A lot of things have happened with robotics and cybernetics - especially the last four years. You can see it in the consumer market, just as well on on hobby basis. Take a look at the new set of servos you can get for the different robot types, look at the electronic gyroscopes that are available for just a few dollars, look at how the communication and programming solutions for the robots are getting more and more standardized.

I believe it was Bill Gates that said something about the robotic industri would be bigger than the car industri within a decade (it may pay off to check if my memory is correct), and even if that might be a bit too optimistic - I still do believe it will become a huge demand for robots in all sizes and shapes.

What I find most exciting is the way that autonomous robots seems to be on the rise. Normal programmable robots can not be described as particulary exotic any more. I have a couple of Robonovas and a Plen robot here myself, and more and more people are aquiring these units to test out cybernetic theory. I do personally find hexabots more interesting - especially because of their mobility, but I am digressing.

But look at some of the new intelligent cars that are popping up, look at Sankais exoskeleton HAL-5, look at the solutions from Toyota - ranging from robot fish to more traditional servants. My prediction is that we will see a rush of new robotic products within the next couple of years. The reason is pretty simple; The technology and competence needed to produce more sophistical solutions are here now. It is just a matter of finding business areas and target these - which is what is happening now. I can give a lot of examples of actual products that are available now or that will become available in the very near future, but the trend is obvious.

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Permalink Reply by llama man on November 3, 2008 at 3:46am

And then we will be in our element. The age of robotics.

Thanks for the reply.

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Permalink Reply by Bits Byte on November 2, 2008 at 9:25am

Awhile back I was asked to give a presentation to a few grades in my high school about microcontrollers. I told them that with technology rising at such a fast rate it's in their best interests to learn programming. Microcontrollers and, more broadly, robots are becoming more common in everyday life by the day. It's been theorized by many people that humanoids will someday serve every individual, and everyday that's looking more likely.

So to my buddies in the electronics and robotics engineering fields, get ready to bust your asses off learning about new techniques. It happened with computers, now it's happening with robots.

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Permalink Reply by Flimmer Skjerm on November 2, 2008 at 1:30pm

I agree, but I would like to point out that the real challenge lies in the programming part. If you ever have tried to assemble one of the smalle hobbyrobots like the manoi, THX or the Plen and Robonovas I have, you quickly discover they are not particulary advanced. A hobbyrobot consist mainly of a small motherboard that receives signals, and then you can plug up to 21 servos up to these. The standarized software makes you able to remove control them - but this is not what I would call "robotics" per se.

However, if you look at Asimo or some of the patents the oil industry are using with subsea drilling then we are talking about much more complex solutions. These solutions needs to be atonomous and it puts a lot more demand on knowlegde within the fields of A.I. and sensor technology in general.

But I am not dissing hobby robots at all - they are a very good staring point and may help people see the potential that exists. And even if Star Wars hardly can be described as particulary realistic sci-fi, I do not believe we have to wait too long till we see something reminiscent of R2D2 and C3PO walking around.

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Permalink Reply by Bits Byte on November 4, 2008 at 3:51am

I'm working with robots currently, completely on my own. I don't use hobbyist robot kits. My current project is Lennon JR and is being designed to play the piano from a separate platform. I've designed this robot from the base up along with all of the electronics and hardware. I'm programming it on an AVR which is a higher end form of a PIC. I run a full project site for it at robot.bloomserv.com.

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Permalink Reply by llama man on November 4, 2008 at 4:06am

And you seem to have a habit of mentioning it in pretty much every discussion you join.

llamaman

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Permalink Reply by Bits Byte on November 7, 2008 at 7:51pm

I usually have a point behind it though. Though it's not all I work on it's still my largest project to date. Since it's an educational experience I've learned a lot from it and I keep finding places in discussions where it fits in. If people don't like it I'll never bring it up again.

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