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Survivor Buddy, a Friendly Robot Rescuer

Posted by timothy on from the how-about-a-robotic-shovel dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "The St. Petersburg Times, Florida, reports that a well-known robot designer, Robin Murphy, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), 'plans to add a heart to robot rescuers.' As says USF, the goal is to develop 'a robot that will be a companion to a person who may be trapped after a car crash or in building ruins following an earthquake, or someone pinned down by sniper fire.' As said Murphy, 'robots can provide not only a sense of being a 'buddy' by playing soothing music or providing other entertainment, the robot also can be the audio and video link between survivor and family.' Murphy will develop this robot with some money coming from Microsoft. But read more for additional references and a picture of Murphy with her robot rescuers."

9 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Nice Concept, Small Audience by joocemann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While this is an interesting concept it will most definitely fail at this time. Situations that would necessitate this kind of robot are so uncommon. Furthermoroe, the chance that any rescuing authority would purchase such a robot AHEAD of time is so unlikely. Great idea, but if this buys bread and butter, consider a night job.

    1. Re:Nice Concept, Small Audience by dotancohen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't want a link to my family while I'm dying, thank you. It will be hard enough for them to cope with the knowledge that I died. Imagine them trying to cope with the fact that I am dying and there is nothing they can do about it but hear me scream. No, thanks.

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  2. Please hold, your life is important to us ... by geophile · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "robots can provide not only a sense of being a 'buddy' by playing soothing music or providing other entertainment."

    Yes, if I'm pinned in a car wreck and bleeding to death, I would like nothing more than to listen to muzak and hear a recorded voice urging me to be patient.

  3. Uncanny vally by mdmkolbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think this robot could easily be a victim of the uncanny valley. If it were too friendly, it would come across as making light of a serious situation and would potentially feel patronizing.

    I mean seriously, if I'm trapped under a building, I'm really not going to be in the mood for emotionally bonding with a robot.

    To avoid the uncanny valley, the robot needs to be be friendly but not like a dog or person. Instead it should be like a friendly car or other reliable tool that we feel safe using.

    1. Re:Uncanny vally by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I mean seriously, if I'm trapped under a building, I'm really not going to be in the mood for emotionally bonding with a robot. Perhaps a child would.
      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
  4. Roomba. iPod. Duct tape. by jpellino · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We're done here.

    Erm, they *do* have Mantovani on iTMS, right?

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  5. More than just an iPod by ezratrumpet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What's coming will be much, much more important than the article indicates. A robot could take structural measurements that would help rescuers tunnel to the victims, possibly conduct remote engineering (e.g. deploy an airbag as a temporary shoring device), deliver food/water to the hungry/thirsty, monitor vital signs, and even act as a remote defibrulator (sp?).

    This intervention will be bigger and bigger as nanotechnology improves and evolves into self-constructing robots that can crawl through virtually any crevice.

    Privacy issues related to this are a whole other story.

  6. Sirius Cybernetics marketing department at work? by Steve1952 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From wikipedia:

    "Other examples of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's record with sentient technology include an armada of neurotic elevators, hyperactive ships' computers and perhaps most famously of all, Marvin the Paranoid Android. Marvin is a prototype for the GPP feature, and his depression and "terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side" are due to unresolved flaws in his programming. Ironically, the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as "your plastic pal who's fun to be with".

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy electronic guidebook defined the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes" with "a footnote to the effect that the editors would welcome applications from anyone interested in taking over the part of robotics correspondent." The story notes that a version of the Encyclopaedia Galactica that "had the good fortune to fall through a time warp from a thousand years in the future" defined the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."

  7. A more useful robot by Simonetta · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A more useful robot would be one that kills the sniper, or snakes its way out of the rubble (who said that the robot must be humanoid?) in order to lead rescuers to your exact location.

      But (duh) people who live in places where snipers are a problem, or places where buildings don't have to be constructed to 100-year earthquake codes, tend not to have the disposable income to spend on personal robots.

      Is a vibrator a 'personal robot'? Maybe, if it tells you that it loves you.

      Is this Slashdot story a joke? Did I miss April First again? I thought that it was May, maybe I'm just ahead of my time.