Robots Are All the Rage--Again

Robots are all the rage--again. For whatever reasons, robotics has recently moved from the lab to the headlines, with new tools and programs poping up like C3PO's sensor.

Maybe it has something to do with robotics industry associations in North America and Japan projecting that the global robotics market will expand over the next five years in both the service and personal robotics fields. Or maybe it is because they're just downright fun.

In any event, the College of Computing and College of Engineering at Georgia Tech recently announced its Robotics and Intelligent Machines center--coined "RIM@Georgia Tech"---an interdisciplinary research center that draws on the strengths and knowledge of robotics experts from both colleges. Leveraging the strengths of the College of Computing and the College of Engineering, and with support from the Georgia Tech Research Institute and the Office of Research, "RIM@Georgia Tech will serve as the flagship for Georgia Tech’s robotics efforts, coordinating the university’s capabilities in this field under one roof and facilitating the transfer of research results to the industry," said Henrik Christensen, director of the new research center. RIM@Georgia Tech will focus on personal and everyday robotics, as well as the future of automation, and both undergraduate and doctoral degree programs are being planned.

Then there's the Microsoft Robotics Studio, a just-announced Windows-based environment for creating robotics applications across a variety of hardware. The Microsoft Robotics Studio is a scalable, extensible runtime architecture that spans a variety of hardware and devices. The programming interface can be used to address robots using 8-bit or 16-bit processors as well as 32-bit systems with multicore processors and devices from touch sensors to laser distance finding devices. The Microsoft Robotics Studio programming model can be applied for a variety of robot hardware platforms, enabling users to transfer their learning skills across platforms. Third parties can also extend the functionality of the platform by providing additional libraries and services. Both remote (PC-based) and autonomous (robot-based) execution scenarios can be developed using a selection of programming languages, including those in Visual Studio and Visual Studio Express languages (Visual C# and Visual Basic.NET), JScript, and Microsoft IronPython 1.0 Beta 1, and third-party languages that conform to its services-based architecture.

Not to be outdone, Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute--to my way of thinking, the granddaddy of all robotic centers--is creating its new Center for Innovative Robotics, a resource that will help make robotics accessible to a broader range of individuals and businesses.

"Innovation in robotics is difficult today because the software development costs are so high," Illah Nourbakhsh, associate professor of robotics and director of the new center. "People who have ideas for a new robot, or a new use for an existing robot, too often abandon the effort because they lack the specialized knowledge necessary for making hardware, software and sensors work together."

If software development for robotics becomes less daunting, Nourbakhsh added, more inventors and businesses may be willing to test their ideas and perhaps create innovative new robots or applications for robots. It's not enough to just swap software for controlling robots, Nourbakhsh said. Hardware solutions and sometimes even video showing robot behavior can be means to successfully sharing insights into robotics. The center, established with financial support from the Microsoft Robotics Group will utilize Microsoft's Robotics Studio.

Showing that's it stays on top of things, robot wise, CMU's Robot Hall of Fame wil hold its annual ceremony today (6/21/06) by inducting:

• Gort of "The Day the Earth Stood Still"
• Maria of the classic silent film "Metropolis"
• David of "Artificial Intelligence: AI,"
• Sony's four-legged AIBO
• The industrial robot known as SCARA.

Participants in the ceremony include emcee Anthony Daniels, who played the robot C-3PO in all six Star Wars movies.

Finally, it worth mentioning that CMDragons'06, CMU's robot soccer team, won this year's RoboCup 2006 World Championship (small robot league category) in Bremen, Germany. The team's five robots, cube-shaped machines with 7-inch sides, outscored opponents by a combined 53-3 margin in the six games played at the international competition. The small robot league is one of six leagues that compete in the games.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 11:06 AM  Permalink