CMNS 253 - Robot Technology: Companionship and Assistance

Brief History

Existing Robots


	BRIEF HISTORY

The word “robot” comes from the Czech word “robota”, which means slave-like labor (“Robot Sapiens”, 2001). One of the first notions of robots to appear in popular culture was in Czech author Karel Capek’s 1920s play Rosum’s Universal Robots, in which robots are created in order to help people perform simple, repetitive tasks (“Robot sapiens”, 2001).

The Westinghouse Electric Corporation built some of the earliest robots: a mechanical man “Electro” and an accompanying robot dog were built for the New York World Fair in 1939 (“Robot sapiens”, 2001). The first “real” robots, however, would not be developed until the 1950s and 1960s with the invention of transistors and integrated circuits (“Robot sapiens”, 2001). One such true robot came out of the Stanford Research Institute in the late 1960s, a model known as “Shakey” (“Robot sapiens”, 2001).


	Existing Robots

Since the days of “Shakey”, mankind has remained obsessed with the development of artificial life and the potential for cyber-companions. Some of the most current robot technologies include:

The Beam Insect	This creation from the Los Alamos National Laboratory is a solar powered insect which can “learn” complex behaviours including walking and household chores such as dusting (“Research”, 2002). View Picture
Cog	This robot was created in MIT’s Artificial Intelligence lab. It has a humanoid torso. It can interact with its surroundings and people, and has camera eyes to track people and establish eye contact (“Research”, 2002). View Picture
Kismet	Another product of MIT, only this time it comes out of the Technology Media lab. This robot has a humanoid face, through which it can express its “moods”. It is also learning how to recognize human emotions (“Research”, 2001). View Picture
Sony SDR-4X	A humanoid robot designed to be a chat and entertainment partner which can sing and dance (“Sony develops small biped entertainment robot”, 2002). View Picture
Honda ASIMO	A humanoid robot designed to “cooperate with human beings, by doing what a person cannot do and by cultivating a new dimension in mobility to ultimately benefit society (Honda, Humanoid Robot Concept, 2002). View Picture
Sony AIBO	This robot dog retails for more than $1000 U.S. dollars. It can “understand” 50 words and emotions and therefore can interact with its owners (Kakuchi, 2002). According to Toshitada Doi, president of Sony’s digital creatures laboratory, it was primarily designed to be “a friend for those older people in our society” (McAuliffe, 2001). View Picture
Paro	A furry white seal robot, designed for companionship (Kakuchi, 2002).
Teddy	This robot is used in the high-tech retirement home Sincere Kourien in Kourien, Japan. There is one of these robots in each room; all the teddy bears are networked to a central computer. This robot has a voice recognition interface; it can monitor patient response times to questions and how long it takes patients to do tasks. If there are any unexpected changes in the patients, it will alert staff (Lytle, 2002).
Care-o-bot	This robot was developed by Germany’s Frauenhofer Institute. It was designed to help people who are unsteady on their feet (“Robot sapiens”, 2001).
Banryu	This dragon-shaped robot is designed “to serve as a device that ‘watches’ over the home while the owner is out of the house” (The Techie Home: House-Sitting Robot Stands Guard, 2002). View Picture
ER1	The ER1 is a do-it-yourself robot kit which is marketed towards people interested in having a robot which meets their exact needs. The basic kit, which retails for $500 U.S., includes a chasis to which a laptop computer must be added. In addition to the visual and aural abilities which are included, accessories such as infrared vision can be purchased to further enhance the robot. View Picture 1 View Picture 2


	CURRENT USES

Robots can offer numerous benefits to society other than their typical applications in the manufacturing sector. Robots could potentially be used for military purposes instead of sacrificing human lives (“Robot sapiens”, 2001). Robots are also appropriate for use in dangerous situations such as in the defusing of bombs and in the clean up of toxic and/or radioactive waste sites (“Robot sapiens”, 2001). Other practical uses are found in NASA space exploration and in space station maintenance and repair (“Robot sapiens”, 2001).

In Japan, robots are already widely in use, delivering hospital food trays to patients and reminding seniors to take their medicine and keep their appointments (“Robot sapiens”, 2001). The Japanese government is looking towards the use of robots as a potential way to care for its rapidly aging population.