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Fast Navigating Guessing Robots

Posted by samzenpus on from the we-guess-that-you-are-weak-human dept.

holy_calamity writes "A new navigation technique for robots allows them to make predictions about what's around the corner based on where they've been already. It works well in repetitive environments like office buildings. If this were a Japanese project I'd say it'd be useful for robotic secretaries new on the job, but since it's an American one I suppose it'll be used for automated SWAT teams."

6 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. swat by mastershake_phd · · Score: 5, Funny

    but since it's an American one I suppose it'll be used for automated SWAT teams.

    Ya last corner terrorist, next corner must be terrorist, come out shooting.

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    Libertarian Leaning Political Discussion Forum.
    1. Re:swat by cp.tar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If it were possible to rate topics like individual posts, I'd be torn between Insightful, Flamebait and Troll.

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      Ignore this signature. By order.
  2. Quick decision maker by Centurix · · Score: 5, Funny

    [Enters maze] ... First corner, bushes, snow ... Second corner, bushes, snow ... Third corner, bushes, snow ... Fourth corner, bushes, snow, Jack Nicholson behind me with an axe
    +++NO CARRIER

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    Task Mangler
  3. stereotypes are all wrong by alphamugwump · · Score: 5, Funny

    If this were a Japanese project I'd say it'd be useful for robotic secretaries new on the job, but since it's an American one I suppose it'll be used for automated SWAT teams.

    More likely, you'd have a Japanese robot who is a waitress by day and a combat cyborg by night. And she happens to be a vampire from the future. And she wears a bunny suit. And she's also a suicidal paranoid schizophrenic.

    At least, that's what I've learned from watching anime. For God's sake, if you're going to troll, at least try to get your stereotypes right.

  4. But since it's *American*... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If this were a Japanese project I'd say it'd be useful for robotic secretaries new on the job, but since it's an American one I suppose it'll be used for automated SWAT teams. Or, as is more likely the case, it was a bunch of American college grads being bored one night and wondering if they could make a robot guess what their lab looked like. I'm not sure why the author had to take a cheap swipe at a nationality under the flimsy guise of a guess as to its functionality. I'm not even sure why the author had to guess at its use in the first place; this is a website for nerds, and frankly, something like this is plain and simply cool.

    Naaaaah, it has to be for automating our SWAT teams, because we're a bunch of killcrazy cowboys looking for new ways to blow things up. Um... yee-haw?
  5. Is this really profound? by Hammerself · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't know much about AI, but is the idea of making predictions based on previous data some kind of breakthrough? I'm assuming this is just an application of some firmly established concepts in AI. When confronted with a redundant or repetative data set, make predictions based on your experiences as to the nature of new elements in that set. I mean, aren't we paying these guys to tell machines how to recognize patterns? Is it news when they teach a machine to recognize patterns?

    I'd venture that the purpose of this post is to discuss Terminators, and Japanese robot secretaries, and to hail our coming robot overlords. This is just a guess based on a highly redundant data set I've been analyzing (rather than doing my work).