High Tech and Daily Life - Robots

Around the turn of the twenty-first century, the first practical, automated robots went on sale for the consumer market. Far from the convenient marvels depicted on futuristic television shows, these robots could perform only simple tasks such as vacuuming. As of October 2004, five models of robotic vacuum cleaners were on the market. Most of these vacuum cleaners use various sensors to feel their way around the room, picking up dirt as they go. The Electrolux Trilobite, for instance, shoots out ultrasonic signals like a bat to detect and avoid obstacles in its way as it goes back and forth across the room for forty-five minutes, sucking up dirt and recording where it has been. In "Run for Your Lives, Dust Bunnies!" (Popular Science, October 2004), Jonathon Keats found the performance of most of the robot vacuum cleaners lacking, with the exception of the Trilobite.

Another robotic device available in 2004 was the Robomower by Friendly Robotics. True to its name, the Robomower automatically zigzags back and forth over a lawn, cutting the grass as it goes. Sensors are imbedded in bumpers that surround the entire mower, and if it bangs into something bigger than a large piece of bark, it backs off. A low voltage guide wire set up by the user around the perimeter of the yard lets the mower know if it is crossing the boundaries of the lawn, in which case it turns around.

Programmable Robots

Yet another type of robot that made its debut in 2005 was the PC-Bot by White Box Robotics. In "Plug-and-Play Robots" (Scientific American, April 2004), W. Wayt Gibbs remarked that the knee-high robots "look like R2-D2 droids that have been redesigned by Cadillac." These PC-Bots are built from everyday computer components and accessories. Each one has a digital camera, speakers, slots for peripheral components such as a disc drive, and sensors mounted on the outside. A standard hard drive, microprocessor, a drive motor, and a stabilizer are contained within the chassis. The whole thing is mounted on wheels. The innovation behind the PC-Bots, however, does not lie in its components, but rather in the fact that the machine is fully programmable. Face and object recognition software, for instance, can be placed on a PC-Bot, which allow it to recognize various people and objects in its environment and then act on that information, according to Gibbs. One variation of the PCBot that White Box Electronics sold was the 912 HMV. This robot was designed to roam around the owner's house when the owner is out of town. If the robot spots a strange figure or detects a loud noise, it can e-mail or send a page to the owner.

Humanoid Robots

Several large companies and academic labs around the world have been experimenting with complex humanoid robots as well. The most famous of these is probably Honda's ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovation Mobility) robot. Researchers at Honda have been working on the ASIMO design since 1986. As of late 2004 the robot could recognize up to ten faces, run at a clip of three kilometers an hour, respond to a handshake, and even climb stairs, according to the Honda Web site (http://asimo.honda.com). Honda's goal was to create a robot that could be controlled remotely by a handicapped person to complete basic chores around the house such as retrieving the mail, doing the dishes, or moving items from one place to another.

Another group of robot scientists at Purdue University and Japan's Advanced Institute of Science and Technology were working on ways to design robots that had the agility and precision of humans. According to Natalie Goel in "Will New Robots Kick Honda's ASIMO?" (PC Magazine, December 8, 2004), Purdue scientists were placing sensors on human bodies (the same used to create human animation in video games and movies) and then recording precisely how people performed simple tasks in three dimensions. They planned to use these computer analyses of human movement to design robots that moved more like humans. However, given the current cost to produce and maintain humanoid robots, the immediate future of robots will likely resemble the PC-Bot more than the ASIMO.