"Humanity was dealt a decisive blow by a poker-playing 
    artificial intelligence program called Polaris during 
    the Man-Machine Poker Competition in Las Vegas."

   "Poker champs fought the AI system to a draw, then won in the 
    first two of four rounds (each round had Polaris playing 500 
    hands against two humans, whose points were averaged.) But in 
    the final two rounds of the match, Polaris beat both human 
    teams, two wins out of four, with one loss and one draw."

This is old news (i.e. it's from 7 July 2008).

EETimes.com::AI beats human poker champions

[20 August 2008, top]

   "When the military says 'robot' they mean everything from 
    self-driving trucks up to what you would conventionally 
    think of as a robot. You would more accurately call them 
    autonomous systems rather than robots."

[Side-bar] The area code for WU in St. Louis is 314.

WUStL.edu::Military use of robots increases

[14 August 2008, top]

   "Researchers in Leipzig have demonstrated software designed 
    for robots that allows them to 'learn' to move through 
    trial and error."

What if we assume robots will have unlimited real-time computing capabilities?

BBC.co.uk::Robots learn to move themselves

Der was speaking about robots, but what about humans?

   "One of the tools that shows the greatest immediate promise 
    is the computer, when it can be harnessed for direct on-line 
    assistance, integrated with new concepts and methods."

From Doug Engelbart circa 1962...

Bootstrap.org::Augmenting Human Intellect (1962)

[09 August 2008, top]

Joe Dyer, president of iRobot Government and Industrial Robots, was quoted saying: "We always loved the design and the morphology. It's our design."

The power of morphology...

   "Negotiator will provide basic reconnaissance to a much 
    broader group of public safety professionals, including 
    police departments, fire departments and domestic security 
    experts. The iRobot Negotiator is highly mobile, able to 
    climb stairs and easy to operate." 

Dyer also stated: "There is growing support and demand for unmanned ground robots as people recognize the difference they make by offering life saving 'eyes on' benefits to teams in the field."

Blog.Wired.com::Revenge: iRobot Selling Former Foe's Machine

[07 August 2008, top]

   "Americans are more concerned than ever about the time they 
    spend working inside their homes and the dwindling amount 
    of time spent on leisure activities, according to iRobot 
    Corp.'s 'Balance at Home' survey. The national survey of 
    consumers, conducted by StrategyOne on behalf of iRobot, 
    indicates that Americans spend 40 percent of their in-home 
    waking hours tending to household chores such as vacuuming, 
    washing the floors and preparing meals."

This is difficult to believe... "One in three Americans go as far as to say there are days they would rather stay at work than go home and face their household tasks."

   "iRobot's survey found that women with children are the most 
    balance-starved of all. The average mother spends more of 
    her in-home waking hours completing household tasks than 
    she does enjoying activities, such as spending time with 
    her children and family or relaxing by herself. In fact, 
    moms report spending 50 percent of their at-home time tending 
    to the household and less than one-third of their time 
    engaging in leisure activities."

To date, iRobot has the following "home" robots: Roomba (vacuum cleaning), Scooba (floor washing), Dirt Dog (shop sweeping), Verro (pool cleaning), Looj (gutter cleaning), and ConnectR (virtual visiting).

iRobot.com::Home Robots

[04 August 2008, top]

Today, Robot 250 has become a "city-wide community art and technology" that is taking place during July of 2008.

The mission of Robot 250 is to "foster creativity, build a sense of community and raise the technical literacy of our entire region."

In a nutshell, Pittsburgh is robot country.

Robot250.org::Pittsburgh City-Wide Robotics Celebration

[18 July 2008, top]

Our dog, Ray, didn't pay any attention to our Roomba, but then Ray is not your typical dog.

Online.WSJ.com quoted Daphna Nachminovitch of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals saying: "There's no way to explain to them that this is not a threat."

Online.WSJ.com::When Dogs and Robots Collide, Somebody Needs a Talking To

[15 July 2008, top]

The modified robot is the "Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Unmanned Ground Vehicle, or CUGV for short."

   "The EOD community has been working with this robot for many, 
    many years. Now they've moved up (from iRobot Corporation's 
    PackBot 500) to a Talon, or 510 series. So the Department of 
    Defense decided to take the robots they're not using anymore 
    and design a detection suite so we can give the Soldier something 
    that can go downrange and detect instead of a Soldier having to 
    get in a Level A suit."

   "When they get into a Level A suit, they really only have 45 
    minutes to go downrange to do what they need to do, depending 
    on how they breathe. The robot will give you four hours downrange 
    to be able to do all of the site characterizations and sampling 
    that needs to happen."

Capt. Julia Dorans, 95th Chemical Company commander, said: "You send the robot in, and if that blows up, you just order another part instead of losing a Soldier."

Army.mil::Chemical robot ready for its in-theater debut

[14 July 2008, top]

The following is a quote from Colin Angle, co-founder and CEO of Bedford, MA-based iRobot Corporation.

   "When I think about how much we've accomplished, and I think about 
    have we achieved the goals of creating an industry of practical 
    robots, I could say, well, we've made a start. But there's so 
    much more to do, that I don't feel like I'm done. I don't feel 
    like I'm close."

iRobot went public on 9 November 2005 selling IRBT shares at $24. On 11 July 2008, iRobot (IRBT) closed $12.72. Colin Angle owns approximately 1.7 million IRBT shares and overall 48% of the IRBT shares are closely held.

MSNBC.com::Robot maker's fortune built on a simple idea

[11 July 2008, top]

   "An upgraded robot designed by General Electric Fanuc (GEF) 
    and programmed by Nuvation Research Corp. (San Jose, Calif.) 
    can beat most human air hockey players, its developers claim."

Humans do okay against 8-bit robots, but the 32-bit robots are tough to beat. Will a human stand a chance against 64-bit robots?

   "Good air hockey players can score against the robot if they 
    try really really hard. But its pretty obvious that the human 
    is the underdog--for one thing, the audience cheers whenever 
    the human makes a goal," quipped Michael Worry, president 
    and CEO of Nuvation. 

Note: the air hockey playing robots are programmed in C.

EETimes.com::Robots aim to top humans at air hockey

[10 July 2008, top]

   "Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in England and the 
    University of Ulm in Germany have developed a robotic dragonfly 
    to measure the current flows that go over and under the wings 
    at different flap cycles. The U.S. military wants to build tiny 
    flying robots equipped with cameras and sensors for surveillance. 

Initially these robots could be used for "surveillance," but longer term why could they be used to drop nanobombs?

I don't see any reason to worry short-term about flying robots.

   "Despite the potential advantages, small flying robots that 
    mimic dragonflies have not been successfully made, partially 
    because of the complexity surrounding the aerodynamics of the 
    dragonfly's four wings, and because of fabrications issues 
    involved with small flying machines. However, studying wing 
    motion and air forces reveals how dragonflies achieve their 
    agility, and may allow roboticists to eventually build robots 
    that use four wings.

Hmmm... longer-term we might be swatting robots instead of flies.

TechnologyReview.com::The Flight of Dragonfly Robots

[05 July 2008, top]

WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), a robot, falls in love with EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator).

The following was copied from the Wikipedia.

   "The film premiered at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, 
    California on June 23, 2008. WALL-E opened in wide release 
    in the United States and Canada on June 27, 2008 and grossed 
    $23.1 million its opening day. In its opening weekend, the 
    film grossed an estimated $62.5 million in 3,992 theaters, 
    ranking #1 at the box office."

Quote from the movie... the Ship's Computer say, "Caution: Rogue robots. Caution... "

Yuck! Pondering about "rogue robots" could cause a non-robot to suffer nightmares.

[30 June 2008, top]

   "David Levy, author of the book 'Love + Sex With Robots,' believes 
    humans could have loving relationships with robots in about 40 years. 
    Scientists are already building robots that seem life like, and 
    sexual robots should hit the market within the next five years, 
    Levy said during an international conference at the University 
    of Maastricht in Holland."

To an extent, we're lucky that our robotic technology is not further along because as a world society we're not prepared to share the planet with robots. But, this editorial comment does assume that our world society is going to get better at some point and time.

SMH.com.au::Coming Soon: Meet the Wife, She's a Robot

[30 June 2008, top]

   "The 1.5-meter long robots, which are made of aluminium, 
    are being designed to inspect and clean complicated 
    industrial pipe systems that are typically narrow and 
    inaccessible to humans."

If you think like a terrorist, these robotic snakes (as with all robots really) are downright scary.

PCWorld.IDG.com.au::Scandinavian scientists designing robotic snakes

[26 June 2008, top]

Broomfield, CO-based Frontline Aerospace has "built a prototype of a driverless aircraft designed to shuttle hundreds of pounds of supplies to soldiers in war zones."

Note: These aircraft are autonomous.

PCWorld.com.au::Flying Humvee' robot ships supplies to military troops

[24 June 2008, top]

Gizmodo.com::RFID Robotic Chair Follows You Around For Constant Seating

[20 June 2008, top]

   "iRobot announced a sole licensing agreement with UW TechTransfer 
    at the University of Washington to commercialize Autonomous 
    Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Seaglider technology previously supported 
    by the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation."

   [...]

   "Seagliders help civilian, academic and military personnel make 
    oceanographic measurements at a fraction of the cost of traditional 
    research vessels or moored instruments."

Burlington, MA-based iRobot is a publically traded company.

   "We have a strong track record for transferring new technology 
    from research initiatives into products that support military 
    missions."--Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman of iRobot

iRobot.com::iRobot Enters Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Market

[20 June 2008, top]

   "iRobot Corp. announced the Defense Advanced Research Projects 
    Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Office have awarded 
    the company a new multi-year, multi-million dollar R&D project 
    to develop Chemical Robots (ChemBots). The goal of this program is 
    to develop a soft, flexible, mobile robot that can identify and 
    maneuver through openings smaller than its actual structural 
    dimensions to perform Department of Defense (DoD) tasks within 
    complex and highly cluttered environments."

The iRobot press release stated the company will "lead a team composed of leading technical experts from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to incorporate advances in chemistry, materials science, actuator technologies, electronics, sensors and fabrication techniques into ChemBots engineering."

iRobot.com::iRobot to Create Revolutionary New Robot for DARPA

[17 June 2008, top]

   "Approximately 30 NASA engineers and programmers work to 
    write and test 1,000 to 1,500 lines of software code every 
    day that is sent to the Mars Lander."

Matthew Robinson is the "robotic arm flight software engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory" and he says that on a daily basis they have to "build 20 to 30 sequences, and each can have 50 lines of code in it." Just one defect in the software can cause the robot to fail.

ComputerWorld.com reports that NASA robot programmers are using "the C programming language to build their own software for a Linux operating system."

ComputerWorld.com::NASA: 'Extreme programming' controls Mars Lander robot

[16 June 2008, top]

Robotic arms are also being used on the International Space Station (ISS).

   "Astronauts aboard the ISS successfully flexed and folded a 
    fledgling robotic arm Monday to check the external reach of 
    the outpost's new Japanese lab." [Monday = 2008.06.09]

   "Discovery shuttle astronauts extended the six-jointed arm of 
    Japan's newly installed billion-dollar Kibo laboratory out to 
    its full 33-foot (10-meter) length before tucking it away for 
    future tests."

   "Kibo's main robotic arm weighs about 1,719 pounds (780 kg) 
    and can haul objects as massive as 15,432 pounds (7,000 kg)."

   "Kibo's robotic arm is built solely for manipulating experiments 
    on the laboratory's porch-like platform slated to be launched 
    aboard a NASA shuttle next year, Hoshide said. A smaller Japanese 
    robotic arm, to be used for finer actions, is also planned for 
    launch later."

Kibo's robotic arm is not the only robotic arm on the ISS.

   "The space station's 57-foot (17-meter) Canadarm2 robotic arm 
    can crawl from one spot to another outside the orbiting lab's 
    hull like an inchworm."

Canadarm2 is the primary component of the Mobile Servicing System (MSS). MSS is a robotic system and associated equipment on the ISS. The Wikipedia states--"MSS plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance: moving equipment and supplies around the station, supporting astronauts working in space, and servicing instruments and other payloads attached to the space station."

[14 June 2008, top]

   Using Robots To Learn About STEM

   Not STEM as in StemCells Inc., but STEM as in Science, 
   Technology, Engineering, Math...

   The following was copied from the Arizona.edu website. 

   "The LEGO Robotics Outreach Club at the University of Arizona 
    is a faculty and student run organization which promotes 
    Engineering, Science and Math Education using LEGOs as a 
    teaching tool. By developing exciting and interactive 
    curriculum that meets Arizona State Standards at all 
    grade levels, we are encouraging students to pursue 
    careers in science and technology."

   Go Robocats!

   UA LEGO Robotics Outreach

I learned about the UA LEGO Robotics Outreach Club via an email message from the Tucson chapter of the Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster.

[13 June 2008, top]

   We Need Robots

   Robotic arms are playing a critical role in today's space 
   exploration.  Robots are playing an increasing role in today's 
   military operations.  Robots are enabling scientists to obtain 
   data from places that to date were completely inaccessible.  
   In a nutshell:  Over the span of the next decade (or two 
   or three or four), robots we are going to become increasingly 
   dependent on "robots."  

   I keep reading about nursing shortages.... this is an area where 
   robots could come to the rescue IF our technology was future ahead.  
   The United States of America needs to invest more money into 
   robotics and this needs to happen now. 

   Yikes! I need to re-read Bill Joy's Why the Future Doesn't Need Us.

Note: On 11 June 2008, the Arizona Republic quoted my comment about robots helping allay the nursing shortage.

[12 June 2008, top]

   "Scientists are diligently working to understand how and 
    why the world's ice shelves are melting. While most of 
    the data they need (temperatures, wind speed, humidity, 
    radiation) can be obtained by satellite, it isn't as 
    accurate as good old-fashioned, on-site measurement 
    and static ground-based weather stations don't allow 
    scientists to collect info from as many locations as 
    they'd like."

   "Unfortunately, the locations in question are volatile ice 
    sheets, possibly cracking, shifting and filling with water
    --not exactly a safe environment for scientists."

   [...]

   "Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, 
    working with Pennsylvania State University, have 
    created specially designed robots called SnoMotes 
    to traverse potentially dangerous ice environments."

SnoMotes are autonomous robots and are not remote-controlled. They use cameras and sensors to navigate their environment.

GATech.edu:: Robots Go Where Scientists Fear to Tread

[11 June 2008, top]

   "Josh Bongard, a roboticist at the University of Vermont, 
    thinks the answer could be yes, and adds that we might 
    respond in kind. Emotional relations with robots are 
    definitely a prospect in the near future. You already 
    see it with children, who empathize with their toys. 
    Many of us have emotional relationships with our pets. 
    So why not robots as well?"

DiscoverMagazine.com::When Robots Live Among Us

[...More...] CS.UVM.edu::Josh Bongard is a Computer Science professor at the University of Vermont.

[10 June 2008, top]

According to an article in the Communications of the ACM, "robots could fill the jobs of 3.5 million people in graying Japan by 2025." Japan's workforce might decrease by 16% by 2030; therefore, robots will be needed to replace workers. The article went on to state: "Japan could save 2.1 trillion yen ($21 billion) of elderly insurance payments in 2025 by using robots that monitor the health of older people so they do not need to rely on human nursing care."

The Robot YottaFiler needs to keep a close watch on what's happening in Japan.

[09 June 2008, top]

Yotta- is a metric prefix that implies 10 raised to the 24th power (1024), which when written as a whole number is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. One YottaFiler equals one septillion. The symbol for Yotta- is 'Y'. The multiplicative inverse for Yotta- is yocto- (i.e. 'y'). My initial name for this blog was PetaFiler, but that term Googled too well. One YottaFiler is one million Petafilers.

M-W.com (Merriam-Webster Online) gives the following definitions for file: [transitive verb] "to arrange in order for preservation and reference" and [intransitive verb] "to place items in a file." A filer is one who files.

I used the Wikipedia to get the following "definition" for robot: "A robot is a mechanical or virtual, artificial agent." The term bot typically refers to software agents. Nanorobots are nano-sized robots and nanobots are very, very, very small bots.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Ray Kurzweil...

   "The future is biotech, nanotech, and, ultimately, robotics."

Robotics, in a nutshell, is the "science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application."

In this blog, we're going to file yotta-bits of information about robots, bots, robotics, nanorobots and nanobots.

[08 June 2008, top]