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The Robots are Coming

Posted by michael on from the metal-man dept.

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com's new 'Linux-powered Robots Quick Reference Guide' offers an interesting glimpse into of some Linux-powered robots currently available or near production, and provides an extensive reading list with further information on Linux in robotics. According to a fascinating article at TechNewsWorld, Linux is poised to play a centrol role in an emerging industry that many expect to overtake the PC industry in size: robotics. Japan is currently driving robot innovation, according to the article, impelled by a looming labor shortage. Consumer robots like the Sony Aibo and Honda Asimo make headlines, but ubiquitous, cheap, and practical utility robots are what most Japanese robot makers are focused on, and 'carmaker Honda believes that robots will become its most important business,' according to the TechNewsWorld article. Watch out -- the Linux-powered robots are on the march!"

29 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. We prefer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..the term "Electronic-American", you insensitive carbon-based clods!

  2. Linux-powered robots? by paul248 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally, a solution to our needless dependence on batteries!

  3. yeesh... by wrinkledshirt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Japan is currently driving robot innovation, according to the article, impelled by a looming labor shortage.

    Ugh. I get as excited about robots and Linux as much as anybody, but the semi-marxist in me gets a little freaked out by things like this.

    How long before innovation that can take the role of a worker in a labor-shortage environment ends up being used to replace real people in a labor-glutted environment?

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    Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...

    1. Re:yeesh... by OtakuHawk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      but you have to remember, there will always be people needed to FIX the robots when they break down. and OTHER robots capable of doing this job won't be around for a long time.

    2. Re:yeesh... by JanneM · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A good question.

      But, don't forget that the "robotics revolution" is really a pretty long-term thing, and long-term, demographics show that population - especially the work-age population - is or will be trending downwards in more and more countries. For most industrialized countries, "labour glut" is simply not happening thirty to fifty years down the line.

      What is happening (and has really been happening for a long time already) is that automation tends to remove the jobs that are the most brainless, dangerous or repetitive, at the same time creating new (but fewer) jobs "higher up" in the organization - as somebody already said, you need people to design, deploy and manage the automation systems. It does mean that education and training is becoming steadily more important, however. We are already long gone fron the days when someone could attend just grammar school, then start a job and learn in place. Twenty or thirty years down the line, having a high school diploma only will likely be similarily useless.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    3. Re:yeesh... by JJahn · · Score: 4, Informative
      Well...right now is when robots will replace people. For example, I work as a web developer at an investment casting company. We extensively use robotics throughout our process, and I would say we are probably the most automated investment caster in the world.

      Where the robots excel are at the jobs that finding reliable people for is almost impossible. Its hard to find people who will take factory positions and do a good job at it. Keep in mind though, that the more robots there are, the more high-paying programming, troubleshooting, etc. jobs that are made to support them.

      Oh, and its really cool to watch robots dip molds or pour molten steel ;)

    4. Re:yeesh... by Imperator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh, but I'd love to live in a world where robots did all the work. Where I showed up to work one day a week to code the robots a bit, and spent the rest of my time in leisure pursuits. The only problem is that won't happen. We constantly want more. If we were happy with our current standard of living we could steadily reduce the workweek for decades to come. But instead Americans are working ever longer and harder.

      No, right now we have solved the problem of scarcity at a level Marx never dreamed of. If we wanted to, we could eliminate (not just reduce) poverty, homelessness, and hunger in America. It would take a massive shift in values, but it would not be technically or economically difficult. If we aren't doing these things now, why should we think that robotics (or any other technological improvements) will change that? No, we'll just keep working our asses off so we can get shiny new cell phones every six months.

      But all that will probably be denounced as socialism by some knee-jerk American. As far as I'm concerned, the advanced societies of this century are the ones being built in Western Europe. They are not perfect, but they are trying new things and consciously trying to leverage the economic and political successes of the last 55 years into better societies. America is falling behind, and that worries me.

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      Gates' Law: Every 18 months, the speed of software halves.
    5. Re:yeesh... by Simonetta · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Japan's 'impending labor shortage' is nothing more than plain old-fashioned bushito bullshit. The world's population is exploding, which means that there is no labor shortage in real terms. When they say 'impending labor shortage' the Japanese mean not enough of 'our people' to do all the work that needs to be done.

      This is an indicator of the overwhelming but subliminal racism that permeates Asian culture. It never occurs to the Japanese that there actually could real decent intelligent civilized human beings outside of Japan that could be encouraged to move to Japan, do the work, and eventually become Japanese citizens and even, over time, actually even become Japanese.

      Contrast that frame of mind with the Americans. The Americans talk endlessly about the levels of racism, both overt and subliminal, between the various groups of people who move there and live there. But after a few generations of being part of American culture, everybody is accepted as part of the 'salad bowl' of American society.

      This could never happen in Japan. There are families of Korean background who have lived in Japan since the Tokugawa era (1600's) and they are still marched down to the local police station every year to be registered as 'gaijin' (foreigners). The Japanese even practice racism against their own people. They created a social sub-class called 'buraku-min' which get treated a second-class citizens even though there is no disconcernable difference between these people and the mainstream.

      It's all just accepted as the way that things are, have always been, and should always be. But do they actually have a real labor shortage in a world that doubles in population every twenty years?

      No way.

  4. Perhaps... by Azureflare · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Perhaps our social labor structure needs some redesigning? Perhaps not everyone needs to work nearly as hard as we are?

    I think the developments in robotics are going to force us to seriously reconsider our philosophy about life. If robots can do what we do now, better, what are we here for?

    Personally, I'll welcome the day when robots can do all our work for us, and I can go and relax on the beach all day long.

    1. Re:Perhaps... by wrinkledshirt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Personally, I'll welcome the day when robots can do all our work for us, and I can go and relax on the beach all day long.

      But how are you going to be able to purchase the necessary commodities of life? Food/shelter/clothing and all that?

      It's not like the people who have these robots are going to donate the fruits of their labour for free.

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      Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...

    2. Re:Perhaps... by Azureflare · · Score: 5, Insightful
      True... That would be really horrible if the corporations used the robots for all the work and then charged for the fruits of those labors. If those corporations in charge of the use of the robots decide to do such a thing (which is likely, given the fact that they want profits more than anything), there are going to be a lot of poor in the world...

      I think now is a time when ethics and morals are really, really important in our capitalistic society. Without them, we are at the mercy of those who can develop such systems.

    3. Re:Perhaps... by Neop2Lemus · · Score: 3, Funny
      Simple! The robots will be collectively owned!

      Its nay-sayers like you who keep us back from this wonderful utopia of endless beaches and relaxation. Sometimes I wonder if you're with us or the robots.

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      Needle Nardle Noo
    4. Re:Perhaps... by JanneM · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But the companies will be paying taxes on their income, right? As will the people that do have a job (and those jobs are likely very highly paid; if they didn't need very qualified people for them, they would have automated as well, right?). So the government will still have quite a lot of income.

      What would be needed is a social coverage system that does make allowances for having perhaps 50%-80% unemployment; in essence, "unemployment" would need to cease to be an abberration at all, and become the norm. In effect, you'd have everybody - having work or not - on a basic income (that may be purely monetary, or in a hybrid form) that gives you a basic but decent standard of living.

      Now, I'm sure free-market people are busting a vein right now, but consider the alternative: having more than half the population with no money, no work, and no prospects of ever getting either? Can you spell "riots", "looting", "crime wave" and "insurgency"? I knew you could!

      This is all of course contingent on the assumption of the parent posters that new work opportunities aren't opening up in sufficient numbers.

      Also, there is a world of options in between our current 40h+ work week and "relax on the beach all day long". You have quite different amount of work being done in different parts of the world already; in Europe, we generally work quite a bit less than in the US for instance; valuing the extra hours of off time more than the added income. You could imagine a future where the normal work week could be an average of 10 hours or so (maybe as 20 hours per week for half the year).

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      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    5. Re:Perhaps... by canajin56 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Lets just hope they realize that robots don't buy the products.

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      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
  5. Take this to the bank by paiute · · Score: 4, Funny

    There is no reason for any individual to have a robot in his home.

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    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  6. OT, but still... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Japan is currently driving robot innovation, according to the article, impelled by a looming labor shortage..."

    Excuse me?? Japan, with a labor shortage? This is the same Japan w/ the huge unemployment rate, runaway deflation, and enormous national deficit, right? Or, is this some other Japan I haven't heard about yet?

    Looming labor shortage, my ass - robotic workers can't form unions, don't need health insurance, don't go on strike, don't quit, don't disobey orders, yada yada yada.

    Corporate Japan's fascination with robotic workers has nothing to do with a 'looming labor shortage', and everything to do with eliminating the blue-collar worker to increase the white-collar's income.

    Bastards.

    1. Re:OT, but still... by Rasta+Prefect · · Score: 4, Informative
      Excuse me?? Japan, with a labor shortage? This is the same Japan w/ the huge unemployment rate, runaway deflation, and enormous national deficit, right? Or, is this some other Japan I haven't heard about yet?

      This is the Japan with an extremely low birthrate and a population aging faster than any other in the first world. This is the Japan that not too many years down the road is going to have one retired worker for every productive one. This is the Japan where labor just costs too damn much to be able to justify doing manufacturing there.

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      Why?
  7. You already have several robots in your home by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Interesting
    There is no reason for any individual to have a robot in his home.


    You already have several robots in your home, more than likely:
    • You have a robot for cleaning your dishes
    • You have a robot for cleaning your clothes
    • You have a robot for drying your clothes
    • You have a robot for maintaining the temperature of your house


    In addition, there are folks like me who have robots for preparing their coffee in the morning. Some have robots for baking bread, and for making ice cream.

    Most people make the mistake of thinking ROBOT = anthropomorphic device but that is not true.

    Now, if you want to say "There is no reason for any individual to have an anthropromorphic robot in their home" you are correct, today

    But as my mother, who was born in the 1920's once said to me, "When I was your age, if somebody had told me I would have a computer in the home, I would not have believed them - simply because I could not have seen any use for one." This, as she was playing cards on her computer.

    Be careful, or you may find yourself up there with the "there is a market for 6 computers in the world", or the (non-quote) "640K is enough for anybody".

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    www.eFax.com are spammers
    1. Re:You already have several robots in your home by paiute · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think there is a world market for maybe five robots. I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that robotics is a fad that won't last out the year.

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      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  8. Robots are Coming? by twoslice · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds like Data and Tasha Yar are at it again...

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    From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
  9. Processing power will determine usefullness by t0qer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Humanoid robots use a lot of processing power, every little shift in weight, wind, all has to be compensated for with carefully calculated counter-movements. A robot lying down or sitting would not use as much CPU.

    It's why you see the Asimo moving so slowly. Even if faster motors were put into it, and it was rated for a higher top speed, those calculations for balance would have to be done more often.

    This is before we even get into random terrain navigation. The robot has to know how to recognize different sorts of terrain (carpet, cement, gravel, dirt) and adjust its stride accordingly.

    On top of all that we have the "interacion" layer. Facial recognition, speech and vocabulary. Now we have the perfect robot.

    It's 2003, we can barely get the Asimo to walk up some stairs or do a few preprogrammed tricks. Our current limitations are CPU, storage, and battery life.

    I think CPU, storage, and battery life will increase, as we create more powerful lower wattage components. Batteries themselves look as though they may be a dead end technology, so robots might be powered by methane fuel cells or some alternative power source we haven't discovered yet.

    I think we have another 20 years before we see robots good enough for general use for labor, and maybe another 20 after before we can no longer tell the difference between what is robot, and what is human.

  10. when governments no longer need citizens... by LionKimbro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There is a saying:

    "What happens when goverments no longer need citizens?"

    It applies just as much to the network of corporations as it does to the network of governments.

  11. Robonurse, come here sweet thing .... by RealProgrammer · · Score: 3, Funny
    Meanwhile, Mitsubishi is targeting the medical market. The company has developed a robot designed to perform many functions that a human nurse can perform.

    Hmm, but I bet they don't look as nice in white stockings.

    I wonder how long before they develop a blow-up version.

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    sigs, as if you care.
  12. "We, the Electonric People" by ciaran_o_riordan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ah, now I get it. Diebold didn't fake any election results, the machines were just exercising their right to vote. That's okay then.

    So are the thoughts of Electronic Americans covered by the DMCA?

    --
    Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
  13. Re:What I am surprised by NOT seeing yet by MarkJensen · · Score: 4, Informative

    In fact, McDonalds did a very specific test of robotics in their food lines. It was a Fanuc A-510 that had its cast components replaced so it had a stainless steel body (for wash-down purposes). It also had the regular grease replaced with non-toxic grease. It was edible, but NOT tasty! :P You can see archive.orgs cache of a page that mentions the A-510's successor, the A-520i, here. Needless to say, it never made it past the initial study.

    Also, to be technical, there is a difference between the term "robot" and what is called "hard automation". I have seen people claim that a dishwasher is a robot. It is not. A robot is programmable and multi-functional. A dishwasher has a single purpose (two if you count torturing the cat). The same is applied to factory automation that is driven by automated equipmet runnign off of cams or pneumatic/hydraulic cylinders. Those are "hard automation" devices, as they perform a single function until they are mechanically altered.

  14. Industrial Robots by MarkJensen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Of industrial robots, I know that KUKA uses Windows 95, and now Windows XP in their robot controllers.

    At one time ABB also used windows in what they called the "top hat", which was little more than an industrial Win 95 laptop supported above the controller. I am not sure if their new products have changed.

    The third major player is Fanuc. I worked for these guys for a little over 4 years. They use thier own OS.

    Working with the Windows-based robots has had some issues (BSOD, etc.), and I think it would be nice to have some of these running Linux. All the Win portion is used for is/was the GUI, anyway, so the real path execution is handled separately. Perhaps some of the industry heavies are considering Linux already...

  15. Linux on NASA Robots by goatbar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think it was about 1997 that a bunch of us at NASA started replacing VxWorks systems on robots such as the Marsokhod and Nomad with Linux systems. Much more pleasant to develope Linux based systems. Then there was the time we were forced to cope with a WinNT box on Nomad when it went to Chile. Bad memories.

  16. More Photos of Robots by rpiquepa · · Score: 4, Informative

    In addition to the Linux Devices guide, Paul Baron spent some time shooting 61 pictures during the 2003 International Robot Exposition in Tokyo about two weeks ago. (Warning: navigation is somewhat difficult; the screen is getting refresh when you just want to scroll). Here is a link to a shorter selection. And for more information about Linux-based robots, you can take a peek at a former overview, "Real-Time Linux Robots Are Coming."

  17. They do by bluGill · · Score: 4, Informative

    Back when I worked at McDonalds (I quit in 1995) we already had a robot to fill the fry baskets, we just took a basket off the machine, and put it in the fryer. Nearly all McDonalds have this machine now.

    This machine is actualy a spinoff from the fully robotic fryer. McDonalds had a fryer delivered that you poured froozen frys in one end, and out the other came fully cooked frys. That machine was too expensive for most stores to justify purchasing, (at current wages anyway...) but the figgured they could make the basket filler a seperate machine for a reasonable price and save come labor there. Eventially all stores will have the full robot, but not until prices come down a little more.

    The fryer will come before the robotic grill, because while either can be done, the fryer is much more dangerious. More serious burns result from accidewnts involving the fryer than the grill. However McDonalds can't figgure out how to make money putting the robotic fryer in each resteraunt. (higher prices won't sell in thie buisness)