The Science Of Robosapien
By RobonetiX
At a glance, Robosapien looks great versus the old school box
on wheels with clear dome head. ‘Ooh,’ you say, looks
kinda
like a muscled storm trooper and the fart button now that’s
a
hoot. We nod in polite agreement, but behind your back, we
snicker at your total lack of appreciation of the advanced
robotic theory involved.
Robosapien is a modern day turning point in the evolution of
robotics and is the first-ever robot based on the science of
applied biomorphic robotics. (That’s what you should have
been
telling friends and family all this time rather than pointing
out amusing cat-chasing ability.) Biomorphic robotics stems
from Mark Tilden’s innovative new concepts in BEAM technology.
A New Philosophy for Robot Kind BEAM is an acronym for Biology,
Electronics, Aesthetics and Mechanics. Dr. Mark W. Tilden
founded this relatively new branch of robotic sciences in 1989,
based on the premise that behavioral-rich robots need not be the
wickedly complex projects reserved only for well-funded labs and
cartoon villains.
Put another way, traditional approaches to creating robots have
started with creating a sophisticated brain to maneuver the
mechanics of the body. Though not discounting the incredible
engineering feats of robots built this way, most notably the
Sony Qrio and Honda Asimo, Mark Tilden strongly contends that
this is the wrong approach to take.
It’s like trying to emulate a human when modern technology
and
research can’t realistically copy a bug from your garden.“[It’s] an evolutionary dead end,” says Tilden.
BEAM robotics
is about taking the bottom-up approach, to start from mastering
the simple bug and moving up from there.
Rather than attempt to create a centralized robo-brain to
process every variable input and spit out a decision (much,
much harder than you may think), why not use a system known as"subsumption architecture.’’ Subsumption architecture
is a
clever technique where the actions of a robot are managed in
layers, each layer controlling one facet of the robot’s
operation.
For example, a low-level layer could be ‘Walk Forward,’ which
the robot will happily do until it bumps into something. At
this point, the slightly higher level ‘Lift Leg Higher’ kicks
in, overriding the ‘Walk Forward’ layer until the robot
successfully climbs over the obstacle, at which point ‘Lift
Leg
Higher’ stops, and the low-level ‘Walk Forward’ takes
over
again. *
Egocentric Bugs
So Tilden began building robot bugs on this principle, and more
selfish creatures they could not have been.
Why’s that? Well Tilden decided that Asimov’s famous
Three Laws
of Robotics:
1. No hurt human.
2. Listen to human unless told ‘Do hurt human’.
3. Try to live with that.
were antiquated notions that left no room for a good practical
joke at parties.
So one dark and stormy night he penned Tilden’s Three Laws
of
Robotics:
1. A robot must protect its existence at all costs.
2. A robot must obtain and maintain access to a power source.
3. A robot must continually search for better power sources.
informally known as*:
1. Protect thy butt.
2. Feed thy butt.
3. Move thy butt to better real estate.
1. He justified this robotic declaration of self-interest as
the only way robots can start evolving the way humans may have
came from guppies looking for a good time by leaving the ocean.
From Bugs to Sapiens
Needing to find a lighter-minded group of people from his
government and NASA days, Tilden decided to go and join a toy
company. Who better than one audacious enough to self proclaim
themselves, Wow Wee! It was a great match, and they gleefully
began working on toy dinosaurs and bugs based on Tilden’s
now
renowned expertise.
Then came the master project that one could fairly say would
change the landscape of robotics altogether. FartDude, later
named Robosapien after initial market testing, was to be the
culmination of Tilden’s work, finally bringing to bear a
humanoid (sapien-like, if you will) robot capable of an
impressive list of moves and rude sounds.
In Robosapien, you see the basics of BEAM philosophy and
technological research. It follows the B as a biomorphic
rendition of humans, E for the fact you can’t throw it in
a
bathtub, A because it’s stylin the latest magazine covers,
and
one heck of a lot of M going into the robo dancing capability.
That’s Mr. Sapien
Like no robot ever before, the Robosapien is affordable to the
unwashed masses. The Robosapien is a crowning accomplishment
when it comes to mobility, power consumption, programmability,
and maybe most importantly: hackability.
Each arm has full 360 motion ability allowed by the, ahem,
biomorphic shoulder joints and flexible elbows. Ending in three
articulated fingers, Robosapien is capable of picking up,
gripping, and throwing objects. The genuine full walking motion
(most robots don’t genuinely walk outside a lab) is made
possible design of the large feet and well placed sensors.
And do you know how much power it usually takes to run a robot
Fuggedabowdit. Regular robots are dishonorable little
battery-eaters always hungry for more, more, more! And who’s
going to pay for these batteries, hmmm’ Well Robosapien brings
no shame to itself when consuming power, essentially due to the
astounding mechanical physics. It runs a full 6 to 10 hours on
just one set of batteries. In fact, if you move Robosapien’s
arm you’ll actually generate power for it! Hey man, that’s
shrewd.
For those of you who want a robot that will fetch you a frosty
one from the kitchen, you lazy bums will just have to wait
until later versions. But you can program your Robosapien to do
some pretty cools things in the meantime, like wander around
taking swings at things, guarding your bedroom while you sleep,
and a hilarious game of ‘pull my finger’. Try teaching
your dog
that trick smart guy.
So what’s so hot about the hackability, and is that even
a word
you ask? You’ve got some nerve. Tilden went through some
serious, serious effort to be sure that robot enthusiasts could
take apart the robot, as he would have done as a child, and
tinker with modifications. Everything’s color-coded in there
to
make things easy for those of us without PhDs, and by all
accounts, there’s plenty of additional room and power to
accommodate whatever Frankenstein thing you can think up. There
are entire books written on the subject should you wish to
learn, so go forth and hack away. If it’s a good one, send
it
in and we’ll publish for all too either mock or applaud.
And Another Thing
So the next time you look at your Robosapien give a respectful
nod to the world’s first-ever robot based on the science
of
applied biomorphic robotics. Then go chase a cat with it.
* Graciously lifted from Dr. Tilden’s excellent ‘Junkbots,
Bugbots & Bots on Wheels’ book.
About the Author: This article was created by RobonetiX with
support from Mr. Sapien himself. Please feel free to reproduce
this article. All reproductions of this article must provide an
html link pointing to http://stores.ebay.com/Robonetix-Store
Source: http://www.isnare.com
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