Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
capabilities and sophisticated controlling software. The controlling software in robots is what
is most important in terms of AI.
The field of robotics has many applications, and research into these unique devices con-
tinues. The following are a few examples:
•
The Robot Learning Laboratory, part of the computer science department and the
Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (
www.ri.cmu.edu
),
conducts research
into the development and use of robotics.
39
•
IRobot (
w
ww.irobot.com)
is a company that builds a number of robots, including the
Roomba Floorvac for cleaning floors and the PackBot, an unmanned vehicle used to assist
and protect soldiers.
•
Robots are used in a variety of ways in medicine. The Porter Adventist Hospital
(
www.porterhospital.org
)
in Denver, Colorado, uses a $1.2 million Da Vinci Surgical
that hold surgical tools. According to one doctor at Porter, “The biggest advantage is it
improves recovery time. Instead of having an eight-inch incision, the patient has a 'band-
aid' incision. It's much quicker.” The Heart-Lander is a very small robot that is inserted
Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute (
www.ri.cmu.edu
)
developed the robot along with
help from John Hopkins University.
•
DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) sponsors the DARPA Grand
Challenge (
www.darpagrandchallenge.com
),
a 132-mile race over rugged terrain for
computer-controlled cars. The agency also sponsors other races and challenges.
42
•
The Hybrid Assisted Limb (HAL) lab is developing a robotic suit to help paraplegics and
objects, walking long distances, or performing other basic movements that can't be
done otherwise. HAL was also the name of an artificial-intelligence computer in the
classic movie
2001: A Space Odyssey.
The letters in HAL are one letter up from the letters
in IBM.
Air Force is developing a smart robotic jet fighter. Often called
unmanned combat air
vehicles (UCAVs)
, these robotic war machines, such as the X-45A, will be able to identify
and destroy targets without human pilots. UCAVs send pictures and information to a
central command center and can be directed to strike military targets. These machines
extend the current Predator and Global Hawk technologies the military used in
Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks and Iraq. Big Dog, made by Boston
Dynamics (
www.bostondynamics.com
),
is a robot that can carry up to 200 pounds of
military gear in field conditions.
Although most of today's robots are limited in their capabilities, future robots will find
wider applications in banks, restaurants, homes, doctors' offices, and hazardous working
environments such as nuclear stations. The Repliee Q1 and Q2 robots from Japan are ultra-
humanlike robots or androids that can blink, gesture, speak, and even appear to breathe
(
www.ed.ams.eng.osakau.ac.jp/development/Android_ReplieeQ2_e.html
).
See Figure 11.6.
Microrobotics, also called
micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)
, are also being developed
(
www.memsnet.org/mems/what-is.html
).
MEMS can be used in a person's blood to monitor
the body, and for other purposes in air bags, cell phones, refrigerators, and more.
Vision Systems
Another area of AI involves vision systems.
Vision systems
include hardware and software
that permit computers to capture, store, and manipulate visual images. The U.S. Justice
Department uses vision systems to perform fingerprint analysis with almost the same level
of precision as human experts. The speed with which the system can search a huge database
of fingerprints has brought quick resolution to many long-standing mysteries. Vision systems
are also effective at identifying people based on facial features. In another application, a
California wine bottle manufacturer uses a computerized vision system to inspect wine bottles
for flaws. The company produces about 2 million wine bottles per day, and the vision system
vision systems
The hardware and software that
permit computers to capture, store,
and manipulate visual images.
