Evolving the Wireless Robot

An anonymous reader writes "This article is one of the first to discuss wireless robotics from an integrated approach. It explains the ins and outs of wireless robots: their components, their shortcomings, and how they can interact in a competitive or cooperative team within professional environments. Learn how smarter robots can relieve us of the most tedious -- and dangerous -- tasks."

Comments

Tedious Tasks

[Archangel Michael]

Like reading Slashdot articles on SCO vs IBM? Slashdot Dupes?

For all tasks

[Faust7]

Learn how smarter robots can relieve us of the most tedious -- and dangerous -- tasks.

I tell you, if I had a wireless robot, I would never have to use my hand again. Hands. I meant plural. For typing.

ok, if they want my money here's how:

[newsdee]

Make me miniature RF-controlled mechas, controlled by a PC, so that I can have a real-life table-top equivalent to Battlechess and Carnage Hearts (PS1). Of course, they should repair themselves, I don't want to have to clean up and glue them together after every match. :-)

If they're under $100, I'll buy more than one. Under $50, I'll buy a lot. Under $10, I'll buy tons. :-)

Ok time to stop dreaming. :-)

Been around for years

[Wyatt Earp]

There have been wireless robots for decades in the form of missiles.

Sure the first generation cruise missiles and guided missiles were dumb, pointed in a direction or steered by a wire but ever since Sidewinder they've gotten pretty danged smart.

DARPA and the DoD came very close to a roaming missile in the Tacit Rainbow program in the 1980s and theres been work on missiles which carrier smaller missiles.

I understand that this piece is focused on ground robots but alot of what the writer is talking about has already been done with missiles.

Air to Air and Surface to Air seem to be the most advanced when it comes to fuzzy logic and self-guidence in a variety of situations.

Re:Been around for years

[Wyatt Earp]

Actually the first generation of cruise missiles were the Nazi V-1 and it's American, British and Soviet offshoots which were quite dumb.

Then we had things like Snark, Navaho and Regulus which had star trackers and spark-plug guidence systems but which were also dumb.

The AGM-86 series of GLCM. SLCM and ALCM were smarter, but they are not autonomous but they do have some logic built in when you get to the BGM 109 Tomahawk TASM.

The Tomahawk is about the third or fourth generation of cruise missile the US has produced.

The first Nazi anti-ship missiles were wire guided as are the TOW series of American missiles, the Sagger Russian missiles and the HOT European weapons.

I have never read such crap in my life

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Check out this stuff:

Defeat the defects...here are some ways you can overcome the pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Vibration. Many robots vibrate due to their fast motors. Vibration can cause a robot to move from its designated location and not perform its task successfully. Solution: Test the robot for stability and reliability and change parts when necessary.

Since when is vibration a big problem? Printers, scanners and all sorts of other devices have vibrating motors and can still work accurately at over 1000dpi. They can also be damn quiet.

Pitfall 2: Overload. A robot can overload when it underutilizes tasks with respect to its speed. Solution: Change the design to properly balance out the tasks and the speeds needed to perform those tasks.

Uh!?? You have to be a moron to make a robot that can't handle underutilization. Come on! Is this article a spoof?

Pitfall 3: Development. Using C and C++ to program your robot might cause problems with arrays and pointers. Solution: Use Ada to help you apply software-engineering principles and better track the progress in each life cycle stage, from concept to deployment. (See "Using Ada-Based Robotics to Teach Computer Science" in Resources.)

Use Ada? This isn't for real. Here's news for you: your OS was probably written in C and does it blow up all the time. Even XP is stable these days and it has millions of lines of C. What in heaven's name are you talking about?

Pitfall 4: Security. Hackers can exploit a robot's vulnerabilities and turn it into a weapon or completely disable it. Solution: Install safeguards to counter these vulnerabilities.

You must be one of those overpaid consultants. We're under threat from terrorism. Hey! Easy! Just install safeguards doh!

Pitfall 5: User Expectations. Users sometimes unrealistically expect that robots can make decisions. Solution: Educate users on what robots can do (learning tasks and motions) and cannot do (reasoning and making decisions).

Er? Is this a robotics problem? Sounds like a marketing problem to me.

Pitfall 6: Viruses. PCs that are wirelessly communicating with robots might contain viruses. Solution: Install anti-virus programs and present security awareness programs for programmers and users.

See 4 above.

Pitfall 7: Dimensions. The mouse can only provide two-dimensional positioning for a three-dimensional robot. Solution: Use a program that lets you create and view a three-dimensional robot or a game of robots in progress.

And a keyboard lets you type only at a certain speed. Solution: invent a faster input method. Wow! Can I get paid to write articles like this.

Pitfall 8: Batteries. Battery power can wear off and slow down, for example, the speed of the arm and the agility of its fingers. It can cause the fingers to accidentally drop an egg, creating a mess on the floor. Solution: Implement power management software that can sound an alert when the robot reaches a low power level; redesign the robot to lengthen the battery life; or switch to better-grade batteries.

Batteries can run out? You don't say. And the way to deal with it is do design the robot so the battery lasts longer? Wow! Never thought of that one!

Pitfall 9: Analog to Digital Conversion. When using wireless technology for robot communication, human agents and external objects are impacted by the technological limitations in converting analog inputs into digital outputs. For instance, the conversion process can distort soft sounds in voice recognition (analog "hear" converted to digital "held"). Solution: Take advantage of conversions not significantly affected by technological limitations.

Now you're really making stuff up. I'm not even going to comment. I think a 5 year old wrote this

the most tedious -- and dangerous -- tasks

[darth_MALL]

Like starring in a movie with Steve Gutenberg?

This tells me nothing

[bih]

This article was full of fluff and contained little or no real information:

Pitfall 4: Security. Hackers can exploit a robot's vulnerabilities and turn it into a weapon or completely disable it. Solution: Install safeguards to counter these vulnerabilities.
Pitfall 6: Viruses. PCs that are wirelessly communicating with robots might contain viruses. Solution: Install anti-virus programs and present security awareness programs for programmers and users.

The article could easily have been written by an undergrad just finishing an introductory course in artificial intelligence or robotics. I'm a bit dissapointed that it was posted on Slashdot at all.

Article Text

[stratjakt]

Hi, this site is all about robots, REAL robotS. This site is awesome. My name is Robert and I can't stop thinking about robots. These guys are cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

Facts:

1. robots are mammals.

2. robots fight ALL the time.

3. The purpose of the robot is to flip out and kill people.

Testimonial:

robots can kill anyone they want! robots cut off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it. These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out ALL the time. I heard that there was this robot who was eating at a diner. And when some dude dropped a spoon the robot killed the whole town. My friend Mark said that he saw a robot totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window.

And that's what I call REAL Ultimate Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't believe that robots have REAL Ultimate Power you better get a life right now or they will chop your head off!!! It's an easy choice, if you ask me.

robots are sooooooooooo sweet that I want to crap my pants. I can't believe it sometimes, but I feel it inside my heart. These guys are totally awesome and that's a fact. robots are fast, smooth, cool, strong, powerful, and sweet. I can't wait to start yoga next year. I love robots with all of my body (including my pee pee).

Q and A:.

Q: Why is everyone so obsessed about robots?

A: robots are the ultimate paradox. On the one hand they don't give a crap, but on the other hand, robots are very careful and precise.

Q: I heard that robots are always cruel or mean. What's their problem?

A: Whoever told you that is a total liar. Just like other mammals, robots can be mean OR totally awesome.

Q: What do robots do when they're not cutting off heads or flipping out?

A: Most of their free time is spent flying, but sometime they stab. (Ask Mark if you don't believe me.)

It's close enough to the article text - trust me.

Yeah sound's easy

[Stonent1]

Pitfall 4: Security. Hackers can exploit a robot's vulnerabilities and turn it into a weapon or completely disable it. Solution: Install safeguards to counter these vulnerabilities.

If it were truly that easy, there would be no hackers. It sounds like a movie solution.
"The bad guy is hacking us!"
"Enable safeguards!"
"He's backing out sir! It's working!"