The Bewilderness

Robots in Afghanistan

Foxnews story on how Afghanistan is becoming a cockpit of development for robots and UAVs. The two examples described are BigDog, a prototype packhorse that can carry loads up to four miles per hour for troops, and K-MAX, a unmanned robotic helicopter programmed to carry heavy loads to soldiers inaccessible by road..

I, robot, am kawaii

Robots are big in Japan, and small in the West. The answer to demographic decline and incompatible immigration, we can expect a rapid take-up in many European countries within the next two decades.

In Japan, of course, robots are kawaii (cute). They are trusted to make sushi as well as cars, and to take care of the elderly. It has been said that the acceptance and even love of robots in Japan — compared with the West, where they are often portrayed negatively — is down to Shintoism and its lack of spiritual distinction between animate and inanimate objects.

We need to ensure that people think robots are kawaii, not terminators.

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Robot wars in 2045 - "death to the fleshy ones!"

A Singularity sceptic considers why robots will not kill us by 2045. He is a sceptic in the sense that anyone faced by the blue screen of death has some trouble visualizing robots going from Windows to the Cylons. Could you see a Centurion freezing or Hal having to reboot? No, of course not.

The expertise of the sceptic is questionable, playing Pong notwithstanding, but he does provide some guidance as to the killquests that the descendants of certain firms might or might not enjoy. I note that they can't quite get the patter right. Where is "Death to the Fleshy Ones"?:

Google: Obliteration of humanity thwarted when publisher decides not to digitize book titled, "How To Obliterate Humanity"; robots unfamiliar with the Dewey Decimal System....

Apple: Floating brain of Steve Jobs decides death lasers and brain scramblers "don't look cool," replaces killer robots with beautifully crafted titanium orbs that do nothing but emit a lovely amber glow; humanity, entranced, surrenders anyway.

Still, if this comes to pass, we just have to endure the Robot Wars.

Real robot wars

You know that some issues are beginning to rise up the agenda when they appear in the Telegraph. The announcement that the US government is researching autonomous robot systems with the decision making power to kill comes with a warning:

Prof Noel Sharkey fears increased research by countries including America, Russia, China and Israel will lead to the use of battlefield robots that can decide when to kill within 10 years.

He will also predict that it is only a matter of time before robots become a standard terrorist weapon, replacing suicide bombers....

Prof Sharkey, best known as a judge in the BBC television series Robot Wars, said: "There's a massive drive towards developing autonomous robots for more complex missions. We are rapidly moving towards robots that can make the decision to apply lethal force, when to apply it and who to apply it to. I think maybe we're talking about a 10-year time frame.

"If one country develops autonomous robots, it is clear that other countries will follow suit."

Let us hope that Britain's own military research in this area does not involve 'catch up'.

British UAVs in Afghanistan

Afghanistan remains the cockpit for testing new robotic weaponry. Given that less information circulates on British developments, it is good to note that they are now testing UAVs in Helmand. The RAF's 39 squadron, with army and Royal Navy personnel, are testing the Reaper and BAe's Herti (High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion) design. HERTI is one of the new fully autonomous unmanned air vehicles that can be controlled by one click.

Commenting on HERTI’s role in Afghanistan Wing Commander Mike Humphreys, Officer Commanding of the RAF’s UAV Battlelab, said: “Whilst the objectives and outputs from the exercise remain classified, the HERTI system has been successful in demonstrating its capability in an operational environment. Both the RAF and BAE Systems are satisfied with the progress and development of the project thus far and we look forward to building on this in the coming months”.

With its ability to take off, complete a full mission and land – all at the click of a computer mouse – HERTI has been designed to meet a wide variety of operational needs both cost effectively and with extremely high levels of reliability whilst removing the need for an operator or pilot to control the aircraft from the ground.

HERTI will also be available to the police, with all the dangers that entails. This government make no distinctionbetween military of civilian use, judges on utility, and the conversion into paramilitary forces has begun.

Animated Robotic RoboRaptors Roar

One way of developing robots is to model our own history, the history of natural selection. A group publishing at Robo-Community has constructed a series of robots based on dinosaur or human models. There is even a cool photograph of reptiles massed to attack.

If one follows the series of photographs, one can compare the construction of robots to earlier craft communities or even film modelling. First the concept is drafted, the materials prepared, the model constructed and the final robot tested to ensure that the project has achieved its objective. Is it me or is there a lineage with earlier animatronic models and animation?

That Ol' Time Robot Religion

An interesting article notes that robotics has improved over the last decade with an increase in speed and the introduction of effective machine vision systems. This has demonstrated the flexibility of robotics for a wider range of industries including food and pharmeceuticals where there are shortened cycle times. The greater adaptability of robots is coupled with a move towards more automation in British industry:

Tony Jones, managing director of systems integrator, TEC Manufacturing, believes the flood of manufacturing from Britain to low-cost economies is slowing and may be even reversing, with more UK companies turning to automation to reduce their costs.

The exodus of manufacturing from Britain was at its height two or three years ago and many people were predicting the total demise of manufacturing in Britain. Jones said: “We noted, however, that the most switched-on companies were not so enamoured with the idea of trying to co-ordinate operations halfway around the world.

“They had the same cost pressures as everyone else but preferred to invest in on-site automation to keep all their activities close together. Now, we are definitely seeing people bringing their manufacturing back to Britain and automating as they do so.”

This increase in business has encouraged TEC to become distributors for the Mitsubishi Electric range of robots, and Jones says that there is a level of interest in robotics solutions that has never been apparent in the UK before.

“Outside of volume automotive assembly and a few other key sectors, the robot population has been very low and there are three reasons for this,” said Jones. “Until recently, the cost of a robot was such that you could build a bespoke mechanical handling system for the same money. There was the chicken-and-egg lack for confidence in which potential users would not commit to robots because not enough other people had done so before them. The technocratic reason was that manufacturing lines did not previously need the flexibility offered by robots, but with short-run production now the norm, they are now often the best, if not only, solution.”

There is also another trend promoting automation: the increasing price on jobs caused by greater regulation. Perhaps we are seeing a vicious curve for New labour in manufacturing: increased robotic adaptability replacing low skilled labour.

They Still Haven't Invented the Positronic Brain

Technology Review has a seminal article that highlights a significant step for start-ups in robotics. They are beginning to attract the attention of venture capitalists.

After years of caution, venture capitalists are warming up to robotics companies such as iRobot, Zoom Systems, and InTouch Technologies.

Venture capitalists tend to be fairly conservative people -- despite their reputation for risk taking. Consequently, few robot-makers have received venture funding. In fact, it's possible that many VCs put robot business models on a par with time travel and jet-pack transportation.

With the announcement of a $115 million IPO by Burlington, MA-based iRobot, though, companies commercializing robot technology are beginning to attract VC attention. On his blog Feld Thoughts, venture capitalist Brad Feld admits to such hindsight: “iRobot will go down in my history as one of those companies I was too stupid to invest in...Robotic Vacuum Cleaner? C’mon."

This may herald a further advance in the commercialisation of robots in the domestic and healthcare sectors. Check out iRobot's autonomous hoover...