LEARNING OBJECTIVES

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ROBOTICS

• LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Explain what the word robot means and its origins
• Discuss some of the current uses of robots in
  society
• Explain some of the key problems involved in
  designing and building humanoid robots
• 4. Understand Asmovs laws of robotics and
  discuss the issue they raise for the future
  development of intelligent robot agents

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ROBOTICS
Humans have long dreamed about creating
mechanical slaves that effortlessly carry out our
daily tasks. Imagine being able to tell a robot
to mow the lawn, or paint the fence, or entertain
you, or drive you somewhere, or even teach you
about something. Will this be a reality?
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What is the definition of a 'robot'?
"A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator
designed to move material, parts, tools, or
specialized devices through various programmed
motions for the performance of a variety of
tasks" Robot Institute of America, 1979 A
dictionary definition An automatic device that
performs functions normally ascribed to humans or
a machine in the form of a human
The word 'robotics' refers to the study and use
of robots. The term was used by the Russian-born
American scientist and writer Isaac Asimov.
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According to Savage (1999, p. 127) a robot is a
device that is re-programmable and
multi-functional. To be a robot a device must
also have some degree of autonomy (the ability to
carry on tasks self-sufficiently). Therefore, a
dishwasher which carries out a single task cannot
be classified as a robot. Similarly, a remote
controlled vehicle has no autonomy so it also
cannot be classed as a robot. Could the following
be classed as robots? TV remote control A
security system Traffic lights Alarm clock
NO BECAUSE THEY ALL CARRY OUT A SINGLE FUNCTION
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HISTORY OF ROBOTICS
The word robot was created by Karel Capek, a
Czech play writer. The word meant forced labour
or serf. The use of the word Robot was
introduced into Karel Capeks play R.U.R.
(Rossum's Universal Robots) which opened in
Prague in January 1921.
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CURRENT ROBOTIC TECHNOLGIES
Industrial robots (which can be re-programmed)
are used extensively in factories to weld, paint,
lift and transport goods in place of humans. The
car manufacturing industry is a good example.
Robots weld and fit car components to new
vehicles. Large organisations and companies reap
many benefits from robotic technologies
because Robots are less expensive than paying
human workers over the long run and robots are
not prone to injure themselves.
However, we cannot yet state that industrial
robots have any intelligence. They just carry
out repetitive mechanical actions in place of
humans
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CURRENT ROBOTIC TECHNOLGIES
Robots are currently used for situations where
human safety is an issue.
Robots are used internationally by Police, Army,
Navy and Air force organisations. Robotic
technology is used to deal with hazardous
situations such as dealing with suspicious
packages, riots and for the collection of foreign
intelligence.
NASA scientists use robotic technologies (Mars
Explorer) to explore other planets.
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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES
Scientists must overcome some persistent barriers
if they are to create competent humanoid robots.

• Speech synthesis the ability to get a robotic
  device to communicate using language.

• Voice recognition the ability to get a robot to
  understand us. Two seconds of speech may contain
  as much as 100 000 bits of data so it is
  extremely challenging to create computers
  powerful enough to process this amount of data.

• Vision the ability to get a robot to react as
  humans do to the physical environment using
  sophisticated vision systems.

• Movement the ability to get a robot to move
  around in the physical environment as humans can.

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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES SPEECH SYNTHESIS
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of
sounds resembling human speech. It will end
our dependence on monitors and allow computers to
speak to us. At present speech synthesis is
being used to assist people who are
speech-impaired. Words can be typed into a
computer system and then the computer can be
instructed to say these words. Blind people can
use a special computer that can recognise letters
in a book, then read the book aloud. However,
more research and development is required to
construct pleasant, human-sounding voices.
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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES VOICE RECOGNITION
Computers are able to listen, as demonstrated by
Isolated Word Recognition (IWR). With IWR each
word is surrounded by a silence gap so that word
boundaries can be understood. Speakers train the
system by recording words and sentences. IWR
with a 1000 word vocabulary and 95 to 100
accuracy, running on personal computers is not
uncommon.
Interpreting continuous speech is considerably
more difficult because continuous speech is not
the same as a string of isolated words.
Boundaries between words are not easily defined.
Each persons voice is different. Background
noise causes great difficulties.
Humans, when interpreting speech, are able to
fill in the blanks, read body language, eliminate
background noise and appreciate the context.
Interpretation of continuous speech requires the
use of an immense knowledge base and immense
comparison operations. Alternatives to von
Neumann architecture are needed to provide the
required computer processing power.
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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES HUMAN VISION
POSITIVES Humans can distinguish and identify
different objects around us in the physical world
in just a fraction of a second.
NEGATIVES Humans cannot see outside the visible
spectrum below infra red or beyond ultra violet.
We cannot see forms of radiation, X-rays or
microwaves. We need microscopes and telescopes
to increase our visual ability. Humans need
sunglasses to protect our vision during the
bright daylight and artificial light to see in
the dark.
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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES VISION SYSTEMS
Scientific research into vision systems has
focused on three main areas

• Image input Television based sensors which can
  distinguish between visible or non-visible light
  break an image into rows and columns using
  numbers. Each pixel element can be described.
  Numbers are used to define an images brightness,
  contrast, colour, texture etc. Digital cameras
  are one example of an input technology. Computers
  are able to read, as demonstrated by the use of
  scanners with optical character recognition.

• Image manipulations Correcting brightness,
  contrast, gamma levels, noise reduction, colour,
  zooming, enhancing, rotating, etc. This area is
  progressing very rapidly.

• Image recognition Converting an images content
  into knowledge about the world. A computer is
  able to store an image of a scene but has
  difficulty interpreting the image. This is an
  extremely challenging area for artificial
  intelligence researchers. Understanding the
  meaning of the letters and words is a natural
  language processing problem.

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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES VISION SYSTEMS
The major problems which exist for vision systems
and image recognition are Interpreting what an
image means using pattern recognition
technologies. The vision system must recognise
what the pattern formed by the image
is. Determining the distance of an object (its
proximity) in the environment. Cameras fitted
with stereo technology have been used
successfully to work out distance and depth.
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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES MOVEMENT
The major difficulty creating robots which can
walk has been making them stable and able to move
in a variety of directions (motion planning).
Various terrains require different types of
mobility.

1. You can move up and down this is known as
   pitch.
2. You can move right to left this is known as
   yaw.
3. You can roll your arm in a circular motion this
   is known as roll.

This gives you 3 degrees of freedom pitch,
yaw and roll. Degrees of freedom define the
number of independent motions a robot can make
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Asimov's Laws of Robotics
In your opinion will our society need to create
special laws governing robotic technologies?

• Laws 1-3 were published in I, Robot, 1950
• Law 0 was added by Asimov later.
• 1. A robot may not injure a human being or,
  through inaction, allow a human being to come to
  harm.
• 2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by
  human beings, except where such orders would
  conflict with the First Law.
• 3. A robot must protect its own existence as
  long as such protection does not conflict with
  the First or Second Laws.
• 0. A robot may not injure humanity or, through
  inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

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The following sections of this presentation
involve watching several small movie clips and
visiting web sites so the use of headphones is
advised.
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EMULATING HUMAN ATTRIBUTES MOVEMENT
FUJITSU recently unveiled HOAP-2, a new humanoid
robot with movement abilities similar to
humans. Review HOAP-2 movies. HOAP-2 navigating
stairs HOAP-2 navigating a curve HOAP-2
navigating a slope
ASIMO is another humanoid robot created by HONDA
Click here to review a brochure about
ASIMO. Click here to go to the ASIMO educational
web site
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ROBOTICS
Robotics in the home Take a look at
Robosapien Review media coverage.
Hardware Movie
Emotions
Affective Intent
Expression Examples
Kismet is a socially intelligent robot created by
MITs Humanoid Robotics Group. Their aim is to
create humanoid robots that rely on humans for
knowledge, functioning and social interaction.
Why is this important? Go to the kismet site to
read about Kismets speech vision systems.
What makes Robosapien special? Is Robosapien
actually useful? Is Robosapien as intelligent as
they claim?
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HISTORY OF ROBOTICS
If you have time - go to the following site and
find out more about the history of
robots. http//www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/r
obotics/universal/
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Links
Artificial Intelligence - MIT KISMET http//www.ai
.mit.edu/projects/humanoid-robotics-group/kismet/
Kismet movies downloaded from http//www.ai.mit.
edu/projects/sociable/videos.html More about
kismet http//www.inel.gov/adaptiverobotics/humano
idrobotics/anthropopathic.shtml HOAP-2 http//www.
automation.fujitsu.com/en/products/products09.html
ASIMO http//asimo.honda.com/inside_asimo.asp Sp
eech recognition http//www.dalmed.u-net.com/home7
.html Robotics AI http//library.thinkquest.or
g/18242/robotics.shtml
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THE END