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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CALENDAR
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| 2001.10.25 |
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BBC Two's Robot War series returns
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| 2001.10.26-28 |
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Critter Crunch, Denver, CO
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| 2001.11.4-11 |
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BattleBots, San Francisco, CA
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| 2001.11.17 |
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CIRC Autonomous Sumo Robot Competition, Peoria, IL
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| 2001.11.17 |
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Texas BEST competition, College Station, TX
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| 2001.11.22-24 |
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22nd All Japan MicroMouse Contest, Yokohama, Japan
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ABOUT NETSURFER
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IN THE NEWS
LEGO's Left Turn
Hackers took to LEGO's Mindstorms Robotics Invention System
like catnip, and within weeks of its release, fan sites,
applications, a new programming language, and a whole new operating system for the
hardware started blossoming. LEGO mostly kept its cool and many user enhancements
even made it into Mindstorms 2.0, but the new LegOS might have cut too close to home.
To sue or not to sue, LEGO pondered in the best Danish tradition. In the end, the
power of open systems won and the company declared itself in support of new extensions - just
keep off the LEGO Trademark, please.
Transatlantic Surgery
Robotic systems for surgery were introduced several years ago and have been gaining
acceptance. Working with tiny endoscopic video cameras and able to scale the surgeon's
motions down - and take care of any caffeine jitters, the primary benefit has
been minimal invasiveness and so faster patient recovery. But if you're not touching
the patient anyway, how far away can he be? The delay in video signal and commands
travelling between the two sites turns out to be the limiting step.
This fall, two surgeons in New York made history by remotely removing the gallbladder
from a patient in France. The operation cost about a million dollars.
How much was the malpractice insurance premium?
ROBOTS & SEP 11
Search and Rescue
Robotic systems and their handlers contributed their share to the rescue and
recovery efforts in the aftermath of September 11. A variety of search robots,
all "backpackable", arrived at WTC ground zero the very next morning.
Tethered or wireless, typically tracked and equipped with
color video, heat sensors, and/or two-way audio, these searched buildings and
voids in the rubble field. Particularly interesting strategies include
shapeshifters (been through a crack lately?) and marsupials (the mothership
and scout approach). Although many of these robots are still experimental, they were
able to find several victims. In a separate effort, an autonomous helicopter
was dispatched to map the field site where the fourth plane crashed.
DNA Analysis
One of the tragic consequences of the massive WTC rubble field
is the difficulty in finding physical remains of the victims.
Without the closure of tangible evidence, many families are
unprepared to declare a loved one officially dead.
The sheer number of victims has overwhelmed government crime labs
performing DNA analysis for identification. A number of biotech companies
are pitching in to help, reprogramming their robotic systems to
handle the influx. These systems, ranging from large, highly optimized
single machines to benchtop setups with an arm and modular components,
provide soup-to-nuts coverage: sample preparation, chemical analysis, and
DNA sequence reports on CDs.
Bomb Detection
The shock of the WTC attack heightened tension in airports worldwide.
Collateral jitters made every forgotten bag and box a potent threat.
Bomb disposal robots were called out in a number of incidents, fortunately
all false alarms. A full line of operator-controlled hazardous duty robots is now available
to every law-enforcement agency. The human-sized Andros line combines manipulators, lights,
camera, audio, and a sophisticated control system for easy operations under various
conditions.
The Inuktun Mobile Disrupter is a small (35lb), tank-like device armed with a water jet
to remotely disarm packages.
Spy Planes
We know the drill: reconnaissance, take out their air defense system, bomb them
to the stone age, and clean up with ground troops. But those first steps are
still pretty risky. Technology comes to the rescue with unmanned air vehicles
(UAV). Both the low-flying and noisy Predator and the high-altitude Global Hawk
got to strut their stuff in the Afghan theatre. Though a couple of Predators
were lost, the potential of UAVs was demonstrated. Of course, all that's needed
is to mount a few laser-guided missiles or bombs on these to turn them from
spies to killers. War gets another step removed from the good old days
of hand-to-hand combat.
Flying on Autopilot
Spy planes work, and radio-controlled kit planes swarm in the park on
sunny days. Many commercial airliners also have autopilot
and autolander systems that guide them to and land them at airports.
In the debate over the merits of reinforced cockpit doors and
air marshals, aviation experts have suggested that these
systems can be used to foil hijacking attempts. It takes little thought to
identify the fallacy in this idea. ("Give us back control of the plane or
Granny gets it!")
In less confrontational situations however, these autoflight systems
have promise. Used in conjunction with GPS-based systems for
air traffic management, future versions will help deal with the
increasing congestion in the skies.
Agent-Based Analysis
Fingerpointing about the "massive intelligence failure" started shortly after
the Twin Towers fell: we have too much data and not enough intelligence.
The folks working on CoABS (control of agent-based systems) will have us know
that their software will enable us to deal with the avalanche of data, mining
the depths of computer/telecomm networks, routing information to each other,
and doing tag-team problem solving. Network-based computing and agent software
are vital fields for long term research, but this looks like yet another project
leveraging the panacea bandwagon for more funding.
BITS & PIECES
Nanomuscles
All the spinning, vibrating, moving parts in our favorite electronic toy use electric motors
made up of coils and magnets and miscellaneous moving parts. What if we can replace everything with a
single wire and some small metal plates? Nickel-titanium "memory wire" that remembers and
returns to its original shape has been around for almost half a century, and has been a curiosity
of limited applications. But now the folks at Nanomuscle Technology have overcome
the engineering problems to make small, general use memory wire motors a reality.
The cost advantages, and the potential for further miniaturization, are enormous.
Toy company Hasbro has these in their 2002 plans, but the Pentagon isn't far behind.
SEE ME, HEAR ME
Bluetoothed Robots
In the battle of wireless protocols, the much-haralded, sorry, much-heralded Bluetooth
continues to lose mindshare to WiFi. Now Japan's Murata Manufacturing is incorporating
its sensor and Bluetooth technologies into a foot-high version of Sony's humanoid robot Morph.
Supporters of Bluetooth tout its low power consumption, frequency hopping, and two-way
communications in rescue robots. (No mention is made, though, of any distance limitations.)
Is the first rescue by the robot intended to be Bluetooth itself?
MAN vs MACHINE
Kramnik and the Deep Fritz
In May 1997, IBM's Deep Blue struck a blow for machines by defeating world chess champion
Garry Kasparov over 6 games. It was clear in retrospect that Kasparov, in his hubris, had
accepted match conditions heavily favoring his mechanical opponent. Questions about the
computer's changing style of play popped up.
In the best Journal of Irreproducible Results tradition, IBM refused to share the
match logs and dismantled Deep Blue shortly thereafter.
This summer, Brain Games announced a sequel to the Kasparov-Deep Blue match that would rectify
the unfair 1997 conditions. Current world champion Vladimir Kramnik will play an 8 game match
against Deep Fritz, a Dutch/German program,
in Bahrain for a million dollar purse in early 2002. Pundits currently favor Kramnik.
TECHNOTOYS
AIBO: The Next Generation
AIBO, at US$2,500 a pop and looking like a Star Wars Imperial Storm Trooper,
garnered a select but loyal following. Now, just in time for
Christmas, Sony has introduced Latte and Macaron, white and black puppy
versions designed in the "Hello Kitty" style. With infantile features
and priced at a third of the original, it is definitely improving
its mass appeal.
For the sugar-averse, there is the new ERS-220. Communicating with
a throaty growl and pulsating LED eyes, this takes
the techno/heavy metal/punk styling to the max.
In either case software will allow you to start from puppyhood;
or go for the full grown "Pal" version to avoid the paper training phase.
And NeCoRo the Cat
The war between cats and dogs continue into the robotic realm. Not to be
outdone, Omron has also released a new version of NeCoRo, its robot cat
for about US$1,500.
Since it's a cat, NeCoRo doesn't obey commands or do tricks. In contrast
to the cartoon-like puppies, it looks like a real cat.
It also has plush fur, a
contented purr, and a wide variety of different sounds and behaviors to reflect
the subtleties of a real cat.
IN THE ARTS
Emotive Engineering
What happens when a chair is in the way of a moving machine? Instead
of a pile of toothpicks, Arthur Ganson's machine, an elegant walking clock of
delicate parts, picks up the chair, raises it to the sky and puts it
down behind itself in a graceful, spiraling arc. 23 scraps of paper float in a sensual
dream over a forest of gears and rods. Another machine rhythmically bathes its
body with scoops of viscous black oil. This is the soul of mechanical devices, elemental
and voluptuous, the antithesis of Rube Goldberg machinations. The online videos
don't do them justice - check out the long term installation at MIT.
R2D2's Story
Not a diehard Star Wars fan but curious about this cheerful cross between
an oversized canister vacuum cleaner and Swiss Army knife? The Star Wars
databank has R2D2's detailed life story as part of a rich history and ecology of all
the droids that appear in the epic series. From homeworld and manufacturer to
weapons and political affiliation, no detail is too small. At a different level,
there are behind the scenes details about the construction and filming challenges.
Progress in miniaturization and cybernetics shows over time: initially actor
Kenny Baker sat inside and handled the scenes, subsequent episodes were mostly
filmed using a remote-controlled unit.
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STAR TURN
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Bane of O'Donoghue
What can be mounted on a Volkswagen Beetle and shoots
color-coded fruit candy? (Orange at the joggers and grape at the
little old ladies!) Watch out, here comes the
Bane of O'Donoghue,
a mechatronic class project
at the Swinburne University from Down Under.
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BOOKS 'N' STUFF
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Robo sapiens: Evolution of a New Species
by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio
MIT Press
ISBN: 0262133822
Robo sapiens is a coffee table book on a tour through the international
zoo of research robots. Although there are tech specs and pictures about
each robot, the text focuses on the development environment and in-depth
interviews with the creators. The result is an insightful snapshot of the robotic
equivalent of Krakatoa post-eruption:
a pioneering mass of the hopping, slithering, grasping contraptions
testing out and adapting to new niches.
LEGO MINDSTORMS: Robotics Invention System 2.0
Call it accessibility or call it instant gratification, there is no
getting around the fun and learning quotient packaged in the LEGO
Mindstorms robotics kit. The basic system provides everything you
need to build a wide variety of computer controlled robots without
being a master carpenter or mechanic or electronics tech.
For the more ambitious, you can add
a remote control and sensors,
vision,
catch-slam-dunk-spike abilities the envy of the NFL/NBA,
or maybe just some garden variety
creature features. Oh, and by the way, in version 2.0, the IRQ battle is over with USB support.
Stiquito: Advanced Experiments With a Simple and Inexpensive Robot
by James M. Conrad, Jonathan W. Mills
IEEE Computer Society
ISBN: 0818674083
Getting a little closer to the metal, the Stiquito is a small 6-legged robot
based on nitinol (muscle) wires. The 300+ page book about these robots
includes a starter kit
and good instructions that you can practise on with some manual dexterity
but a minimum of skills.
The description of sophisticated Stiquito-based projects will inspire you
to more ambitious attempts on your own.
I, Robot
by Isaac Asimov
Bantam Books
ISBN: 0553294385
To call this the seminal work in robotic fiction would neglect
the delightful invention running
through this collection of short stories. Though the writing style
and pervasive optimism (and some of the technical descriptions)
date this back to the middle of the last century,
the parade of crazy robots, scheming robots, religious robots
captivate us precisely because of Asimov's
understanding of the human condition.
Whether you are an Asimov fan of long standing, a robot guru, or
just looking for a Christmas present, this book is an oldie-goldie good read.
Ghost in the Shell
by Mamoru Oshii (Director)
A computer program develops self awareness. Cybernetically-enhanced humans serve
the nefarious aims of governments and organizations.
With the next stage of evolution in full bloom, Major Kusanagi, a hybrid between
the Terminator and a Playboy centerfold in the best anime cyberbabe
tradition, seeks her nemesis "The Puppet Master".
Though inevitably tepid compared to its manga original, "Ghost" rises
above the traditional anime with its pyrotechnics and
like the best futurist classics, raises provocative questions about the
interplay of human life, values, and technology.
This visual masterpiece is also widely recognized as a key
influence on the better known sci-fi hit
The Matrix.
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