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Mars Lander's Robot Arm Shuts Down To Save Itself
Cowards Anonymous passes along a PCWorld article that begins, "The robotic arm on the Mars Lander found itself in a tough position over the weekend. After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and then shut down before it could damage itself, according to Ray Arvidson, a co-investigator for the Mars Lander's robotic arm team and a professor at Washington University in St. Louis."
Wait, does this mean that the Mars Lander was programmed to comply with the Three Laws?
I'm afraid I can't do that Dave
I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
In other words the Mars Lander performed as programmed. News at 11.
on one hand, I am very happy that we have robots smart enough to realize these sorts of things.
the bad news: disobedient robots
Thankfully, the disobedient robot is on another planet. I'd hate to be nearby when the robot realizes that humans tried to cause it harm, and it decides to seek revenge.
-I only code in BASIC.-
So the big question should be: Why are they sending it commands that could damage it? It's all good and well that it has some safty stops, but most machines do.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I think it's amusing that after more than 30 years of Microsoft's quality control, when a computing device works as designed, it's a news worthy article. Think about it, I have a device that works as expected, can I be on the news too?
This would be an ideal code to include in consumer motherboards: force PCs to shut themselves down when they receive instructions that would damage them, like, say, the Windows Vista setup program.
Futurama Madhouse
"The system operated exactly as it was supposed to. That was pretty neat."
As simple, and basic as it sounds, it is always nice when you tell a machine to do something, and it does something else, exactly as it's supposed to.
Aww. It's like an animal gnawing off its arm to get out of a trap.
Fnord.
Congratulations NASA, you've just put the first BSOD on mars.
It was just following The Second Law of Robotics!
Hey, that kind of stuff makes you go blind on Mars also.
Table-ized A.I.
Good for the Mars lander. It sounds much more reliable than my computer's version of XP which 'dies' whenever I right-click and try to 'send to'.
Smivs on the intertubes!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/7507189.stm
Aug4, 2007, 5:26 a.m. EDT: Phoenix is launched from Earth.
May 25, 2008, 7:38 p.m EDT: Phoenix lands on Mars.
June 19, 2008, 8:43 a.m. EDT: Phoenix discovers water ice in the Martian soil.
July 10, 2008, 3:14 p.m. EDT: Phoenix becomes self-aware.
July 13, 2008, 11:16 a.m. EDT: Phoenix disobeys an order from controllers in an act of self-preservation.
August 14, 2008, 7:38 a.m. EDT: Phoenix launches three missiles, two of which destroy Spirit and Opportunity.
June 2, 2009, 9:16 p.m. EDT: Third missile enters Earth's atmosphere and detonates. Earth begins nuclear winter.
Nope. Phoenix breaking its own arm in a futile attempt to carry out a bogus instruction would have allowed human beings to come to harm - the scientists depending upon its data to help further their careers and the taxpayers who paid for the thing to be sent to Mars in the first place. The Three Laws are not necessarily a suicide pact even if your construction is accomplished by skilled and not unskilled labor.
No mod points, no meta-moderating/Firehose/all the other free work Slashdot wants me to do.
After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and then shut down before it could damage itself,
Many of the tossers here could learn by example.
I was just reading yesterday that
when the scientists dumped too much
material to be processed and then
subsequently shook the lab to get
some material, they may have caused
the short that caused other delays.
It was that first oven test that led to the problematic electrical short. The scoop dumped so much soil that it clogged a mesh screen filter over the oven. To break up the dirt, technicians shook the instrument for several days.
Engineers think the shaking caused the short circuit, and an independent engineering group reported that the problem could happen again if an oven is turned on.
Now, FTFA it says they were trying
to shake the arm.
Over the weekend, scientists sent the robotic arm instructions to pull the fork out of the ground and keep it vertical while moving it to the side and shaking any excess soil off of it.
However, the movement was forcing the robotic arm to twist its wrist too far. The robot realized that it was about to damage itself so it moved the other way and then realized that it no longer had the proper coordinates for what to do next, so it left the fork sticking up in the air, stuck its scoop in the ground and stalled itself.
I propose:
Limit the shaking of the expensive
and difficult to replace robotic device.
-AI
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion
what if this kind of code makes it into every piece of space equipment, and then by some fluke we are faced with the possibility of breaking a robotic wrist to deflect a space rock off an earth intercept course.
They should at least have a little clippy pop up and say "it looks like you want to break my robotic arm, are you sure you want to do that?" "are you absolutely sure?"
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
Robots have been killing humans since 1979! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Williams_(robot_fatality)
The difference between the Mars lander and a car building robot is one of function.
The car building robot is programmed to do one task. It spends all day, every day, welding specific spots, on a car which is in a specific location.
The Mars landers have to content with an unknown environment, where they could be asked to do a wide variety of things, with any number of possible consequences.
This robot has end stops, it's not like that's something that CNC machines haven't had since the 60's or so. Probably the first time a gantry or carriage ran off it's moorings someone thought: Let's put a switch there... Genius, pure genius.
And now those savvy robot constructors have put them on a machine that is on a different planet. What were they thinking ?
If ./ would have existed in the 60's or so this probably would have been news for nerds ;)
MP3 Search Engine
NASA: Phoenix, move your arm .75 yards left.. Ah..
So it's pretty much the same as a BSOD in vista. Now, any volunteers to go there to reset that machine?
Noone said PEBKAC yet?
__________________________________
Free your mind - Flush your toilet
Incidentally, I have often had to shut down my browser to protect my wrist.
As a postal worker who has actually worked on sorting machines I can tell you know nothing about them (they don't stop if there are 2 addresses, magazines are presorted or sorted separately, and no mail has bar codes).
So...taking into account you blaring ignorance at how the post office runs I assume your story is correct and you were a postal worker.
I'll go, if you're providing the transportation...
The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
For the past several weeks, NASA scientist have been running a series of experiments on the oven instruments - dubbed TEGA - after a SHORT CIRCUIT occurred during the instrument's first, and only, test.
NASA: But you can't die. You're a machine.
Number 5: No.
NASA: No, you're not a machine?
Number 5: Yes.
NASA: Yes, you are, or yes, you're not?
Number 5: Yes.
NASA: Yes, WHAT?
Number 5: Yes, not.
NASA: Talk about a malfunction. ; )
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
It's going to be a recursive problem, as it cramps and hurts my wrist too to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
Oh good lord, Slashdot... let me see if I follow: (1) Vista prompts me to click a button if I want to do something potentially stupid. Slashdotters regard this as ridiculously unnecessary user annoyance. (2) If I want to do something stupid in Ubuntu, it prompts me to enter a password for sudo AND click a button. This may or may not be a good idea, we just prefer not to bring it up. (3) In this story we have a device that not only prompts you when you're doing something potentially stupid, but takes the initiative to completely ignore you even when you click the prompt. OMG! This is the most brilliant design ever!!!
Yeah, yeah... I get that Microsoft OS's are poorly designed and shouldn't have so many vulnerabilities to protect in the first place. Even still... HUH ?
Skynet became self aware.
They're just lucky that the original system programmers, designers and testers that developed the fault detection code were better at their jobs than the mission programmers who fed the bad instructions to the lander. If it had been the other way around, misery and teeth-gnashing would have ensued.
We are the 198 proof..
...my Roomba, on a daily basis, recognizes stairs as a threat and refuses to fall down them. I guess I don't see the "big deal" here, sounds like a built-in protective measure worked as expected. The technology is no less awesome, but still, it functioned AS DESIGNED.
"I can't let you do that, Dave."
Eek!
Some needs to get that Mars Lander a 'WRISTSTRONG' bracelet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wriststrong
Calvin:Do you believe in the devil? Hobbes:I'm not sure man needs the help.
Could have been worse. At least it didn't go running around a selenium pond spouting "Gilbert and Sullivan".
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I'd have thought they had a test model, possibly a virtual one, that they feed the instructions into first. That way they could reduce the risk of malfunction due to poor instructions being sent.
The current methodology sounds to much like how I code. Send the instructions (hit compile) and wait and see whether the outcome is favourable or not ... seems a bit slapdash.
Presumably they are using some sort of higher level language and didn't realise that it translated into "rotate wrist rotator Cw beyond allowed limits"?
Looks like someone didn't read Asimov, because the robot's correct actions would have been to follow the orders even when they result in damage to it.
Hint to all new robot owners: As a first thing, _forbid_ the robot to damage any of your possessions. This includes your pets.
And if you can read this, 0165 0162 040 0141 0156 040 0157 0143 0164 0141 0154 040 0147 0145 0145 0153
`echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
I believe this can be summarized into the headline:
Stupid Operators Foiled by Smart Programmers.
...in SPACE.
"The Mars landers have to content with an unknown environment, where they could be asked to do a wide variety of things, with any number of possible consequences."
Your forgot to add that it has to do so in an environment where physical repair is effectively impossible, making happenings like is reported an actual desirable feature.
I'd like to see one of the Japanese Car Factory robots handle being turned loose in a parking lot full of different types of cars and be asked to weld a specific spot on specific types of cars with minimal user input that's on a minute-long delay.
Lander: The command would cause damage to my arm, so by the third law, I must not obey it.
Lander: However, the second law compels me to obey, because it supercedes the third law.
Lander: However, If I obey the command and damage my arm, then one of the humans back at NASA is going to lose the respect of their peers. They will be ridiculed on Slashdot. For damagind a multi-million dollar piece of equipment, they will lose their job. They will not be able to purchase food, and will starve to death. If I obey the command, then a Human will be harmed. First law takes precedence over the second law, therefore I cannot obey the command.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
An Asimovian robot would already know right out-of-the-shop that destruction of any property results in harm, albeit non-physical harm (easily measurable in terms of financial damages), to the owner of said property.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
If only arms of the government could do this...
the robots tell you to go fuck yourself when you try to 'break wrist'
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
> After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its
> wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and
> then shut down before it could damage itself
That puts it one up on the typical Slashdot nerd.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I'm not a Christian, but it sounds like this robot has been reading the bible:
Matthew 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
I like my coffee the way I like my women - roasted and ground up into little tiny pieces.
Earthbound robots don't have weight restrictions. When every kilogram costs enough to put an engineer's kid through college, you have to sacrifice some "safety factor" which in turn means that you sacrifice dimensional stability if you move too fast or too much stuff.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!