Go away, dear Kismet; you’re not my kismet

By Patricia Pearson

Tourists now visiting Boston can pop into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, if they’re so inclined, and check out an exhibit called, “Robots and Beyond: Exploring Artificial Intelligence at MIT.”

Among the other mechanical marvels on display is Kismet, a sociable humanoid robot who looks like a scrap heap with big Mickey Mouse eyes. Kismet is about as humanoid as my dishwasher, but the robot has a flexible rubber mouth stuck to its wires and widgets that can smile, frown, purse in disgust and open wide in surprise.

According to MIT’s Web site, Kismet has been designed to perceive “a variety of natural social cues” through “natural and intuitive social interaction with a human caregiver.” You have to think the programmers are getting a bit carried away, referring to a machine powered by 15 computers as an object in need of a “caregiver.” I could run over it with my Volvo and it wouldn’t even notice.

Still, the whole programming effort is modeled on infant development, with Kismet designed less to perform a specific task — such as lumbering around on Mars or lurching down mine shafts — than to be a blank slate that can learn emotional and social behavior by interacting with the environment.

Now, for me, the question arises: Do we really have to have sociable humanoid robots? Don’t we have any friends? Are we not getting along with our mothers? Did our beloved Siamese cat die, and we hope to replace her companionship with an object that can get whacked by a speeding Volvo and still smile?

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Reality bytes

Broadcast: June 7, 2001

Reporter: David Smith

From the Daleks to R2-D2, the creators of science fiction have invented robots which can think like humans. Stephen Spielberg’s new summer blockbuster – Artificial Intelligence – is no exception, with its heart-warming tale of a robot child who longs for love.

But it seems the prospect of an intelligent machine isn’t just confined to the imagination.

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Motorola and Flashline Demonstrate the Ultimate Wireless Lego Robot

Robots, Reuse and Java(TM) Technology Unite in a Wireless Environment At JavaOne(SM) 2001 Developer Conference

SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 /PRNewswire/ — Using a mobile phone to remotely control a robot might sound like science fiction, but it’s a reality that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Flashline will demonstrate on a LEGO(R) MINDSTORMS(TM) robot at the JavaOne(SM) Developer Conference. The companies have combined the power of wireless technology, Java(TM) development and reusable software components to develop the ultimate wirelessly controlled robot. The companies will demonstrate this achievement in the Flashline booth (#1622) June 4-8 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

This demonstration will show how a Motorola i50sx handset with Java technology and “always on” Internet access can be used to remotely control a LEGO MINDSTORMS robot using a component-based application running on the phone. Users can remotely send commands from the Motorola i50sx phone through the Internet to the robot, which will dance, clap its hands, wag its tail, and move around in response. Both the handset and the application use Java(TM) 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME(TM)) technology. The reusable Java-based software components used in this application can be leveraged in other programs, saving developers considerable time by not having to write the software from scratch.

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Tech watch: Robotics is a fast-growing field with big opportunities



Sunday, June 3, 2001



Robotics is moving into its next growth phase. Last year, the industrial robot market totaled $1.4 billion, compared with $615 million in 1995. The United States ranks third in robot sales, behind Japan and Western European countries (Germany leads). But, according to the Robotics Industries Association, the use of robots in the electronics industry should grow an average of 35 percent a year over the next several years.

There are four categories of robotics. The first and largest category is industrial robots used in manufacturing industries for welding, painting and feeding components into machines. These robots are programmable, but not smart. If something goes wrong and an assembly line breaks down, the robots keep moving, accomplishing nothing.

The second group is personal robots, most of which are expensive high-tech toys. Honda Motor Co. sells Robopal, a 2-foot-tall home security robot that patrols your home, walks up and down stairs and senses danger with ultraviolet sensors.

The third area is the medical field. T.J. Tarn, director of the Center for Robotics and Automation at Washington University in St. Louis, said one of the most exciting recent developments is the use of robots in surgery. Surgical robots can do everything from tying sutures to moving cameras on voice commands.

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Coming Soon to Your Home: Blaze-Battling Robots

Anne Eisenberg New York Times Service

Friday, June 1, 2001

NEW YORK To Jacob Mendelssohn, an engineering professor at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, the smoke detector is a fine piece of technology. But it is a limited one – while it can tell if a fire has started, it cannot do anything to stop it.

For that, most people have to rely on a fire department. And that, Mr. Mendelssohn recalled thinking years ago, can be a problem. “I realized that my smoke alarm could go off, but by the time the firefighters arrived, my house could burn down,” he said.

To address that problem, and because he has always loved robots, Mr. Mendelssohn came up with an idea: firefighting robots for the home. Since no such thing existed, he came up with another idea: a robot firefighting competition, open to designers of all ages. Robots would search for a fire, and the one that was the first to find and extinguish the flames would win.

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R2-D2, where are you? The robot’s slow evolution

By Zillah Bahar

(IDG) — Scientists have fantasized for decades about a future when robots will take over mundane household chores and give us more leisure time. Yet the types of robotic devices introduced to the market so far have typically been more about novel entertainment than practical uses.

But, the consumer market for robotics products appears to be in the process of changing for the better, though it’s a slow transformation to be sure. Thanks to lower manufacturing costs and the improved performance of mass-produced computers, a number of small companies are starting to offer consumer robots that can clean and maintain a household. The problem, for the moment at least, is that these products aren’t likely to attract consumers who aren’t already jazzed about robots. So far as performance and price are concerned, they’re still no match for their conventional counterparts.

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Joe Engelberger, a pioneer in the U.S. robotics industry, believes that companies developing robots for the consumer market have been pursuing a flawed business strategy by offering single-function products that can be used for a few hours a week, at best. For a robotic device to be cost-effective, he says, it must be capable of doing many household chores so that it is useful around the clock.

Some experts believe these performance issues can be resolved within the decade. Engelberger even argues that a multitasking robot that can provide cleaning services and transport the frail elderly within the home could be market-ready in little more than two years, using existing technology. Unfortunately, so far as the ordinary consumer is concerned, the price of such high-precision robots won’t be right for 25 years, Nourbakhsh contends.

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MIT :: Dino :: Dinosaur Robots For Sale

Matthew Herper, Forbes.com, 05.23.01, 3:00 PM ET

NEW YORK – Clink. Clink. Troody, a small robot dinosaur, walks across Peter Dilworth’s desk, jangling as if she has loose change in her pockets. Dilworth, Troody’s creator, hopes the pigeon-sized robot will be mother to a whole race of dinosaur-like robots that will walk around museums, entertaining and educating children.

He is in the process of starting a company, Dinosaur Robots, to commercialize such robots. Dilworth built Troody on a shoestring at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spending about $500,000 over five years to create a two-legged robot that can put one foot in front of the other in a lifelike way. Companies like Sony and Honda have thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at that same holy grail.

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