Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
There is considerably more engineering skill in developing biped ro-
bots that can box. An interesting feature of some robot Boxing competi-
tions is that the robots are designed to be insensitive to light, so that the
flash bulbs let off by the media (and, deliberately, by the competition or-
ganisers) do not affect the performance of the robot's vision systems. Cer-
tain restrictions are placed on the robots in order to ensure gentlemanly
conduct, the robot equivalent of the Marquis of Queensbury Rules. For
example, the use of a weapon to damage the opposing robot or the Box-
ing ring is strictly forbidden, so no knives or high-speed spinning blades
are allowed.
There is, of course, a referee, who counts a robot out of the contest if
it falls out of the ring or onto the canvas for longer than ten seconds. But
the rules are not entirely unsympathetic to the robots—one concession
being that a human assistant may pick a robot up if it falls down or gets
knocked over by its opponent, though if that happens three times in the
same round the robot loses the contest.
The Robot Chauffeur
Everyone with a car should have his or her own chauffeur, eliminating
the tedium of driving, the frustration of sitting in traffic while being
able to do nothing useful and the possibility of driver error that can lead
to serious and even fatal accidents. Some car manufacturers are already
working towards the day when every car will come with its own chauffeur
as an optional extra, for example Volkswagen's Klaus, a three-legged test
driver robot, that is capable of negotiating a VW Caravelle safely around
a test course.
Klaus is an almost humanoid driver, but with four arms: two to steer
with, one to change gear and one to turn the ignition key. And Klaus
has three legs, one for each pedal. This robot is one of the achievements
of VW's Autonomous Driving project, developed in collaboration with
the Technical University in Braunschweig and three German companies:
Bosch, Kasprich Ibeo and Witt.
Volkswagen has succeeded in teaching Klaus how to drive, using a
complex control and sensor system to identify the car's immediate sur-
roundings and to compute the desired direction of travel. Three laser
scanners are attached to the front of the car and one to the rear, which
together with a stereo camera and a radar device help Klaus to stay on the
