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Interactive robots bring the Jetson Era a step closer
December 11, 1996
Web posted at: 1:20 a.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Dick Wilson
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Wouldn't you love to have a personal robot to carry out simple, everyday tasks? The idea is at least as old as the animated TV show "The Jetsons." While it is still in the future, science is catching up with George Jetson.
Scientists at the Boston company IS Robotics are now modifying their latest creation, a robot with a temper. If you invade his personal space, the robot can be programmed to shout at you. But with a few adjustments to his computer program by his human inventors, he turns more easygoing.
"We're trying to develop technology that will allow machines to interact with people in a more intuitive way, more like the way you and I interact," said Colin Angle, one the two MIT engineering graduates, still in his 20s, who founded IS Robotics.
The company's robot expertise has captured major interest from the U.S. military, for whom a specialized tank was designed. It looks like a big toy tank for a child, but its purpose is much more serious: detecting land mines that could blow a person's leg off.
Company co-founder Helen Greiner demonstrated the mine-sweeping ability of the tank-like robot. It's remote controlled, but she says it can also make some of its own decisions about where to go.
"They have embedded intelligence. Real time, with many sensors. They can make appropriate responses to a changing environment," she said.
Mines are also a deadly threat underwater, and another robot to handle them is in development too. The aptly-named Ariel robot is designed to detect mines in groups by moving in swarms, using a crab-like walk.
"I envision a world where robots are commonplace. They'll start out taking over tasks that are dangerous for humans, such a mine counter-measures and forward observing for the military, and going in to nuclear power plants. Then they will become part of everyday life," Greiner said.
While they could be useful for dangerous tasks, they may only be accepted in the day-to-day grind if they can fake humanity. Angle says such a feat is possible -- that they can actually be programmed to mimic six universally recognized human emotions every person on Earth can recognize, including surprise, happiness, anger, and boredom.
With such capabilities, the robots' creators say there are all sorts of potential uses for these devices, from exploring the surface of Mars to replacing salespeople in a computer store.
Related story:
- Tiny robots learn to be social - September 26, 1995
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