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The Year In Robot News

Posted by samzenpus on from the everything-that's-fit-to-print dept.

itwbennett writes "Who loves robots? You may love them more or less after seeing what 2010 gave us, robot-wise. It's not the rise of the machines yet, but that teddy bear creeped us out."

38 comments

  1. And in related news... by meglon · · Score: 3, Funny

    .... toasters have now been confirmed to intentionally burn toast. They claim the One True God (tm) told them too, and that this is only the beginning of.. something.. that's already happened...

    Fraking toasters.

    --
    Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
  2. Indestructable robots by PatPending · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dilbert cartoon

    --
    What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
    1. Re:Indestructable robots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This cartoon is posted on the door of the microwave where I work. I chuckle every time I see it there.

    2. Re:Indestructable robots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... and while you are reporting to the microwave it is busy sterilizing you with leaking radiation.

  3. Deathmatch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not pit these guys against Big Dogg? See who wins...

  4. Hrp-4c by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want my Hrp-4c: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/how-to-make-a-robot-dance

  5. Future by Nihn · · Score: 2

    With the advent of robots in factories why is it that we as humans have to work at all. I understand that at one point in history we humans had to make due with our abilities and the combined strength of animals and steam....but now with synthetic materials, auto-processed food, 1080p HD entertainment in 7.5 Surround sound and cars that can travel farther than we can on foot, why....WHY...do we have to work at all? Shouldn't we use our combined intelligence to use robots to serve us food, mine our minerals, construct our houses, do all the menial tasks that consume too much of our time...time that could be used to further human progression. I have been told that people NEED to work...as if the human race would crumble into dust the next day. Hell...thanks to this magic box and letter panel I can transmit my thoughts thru "cyber space" with minimal amounts of effort. A task that would take a MASSIVE effort and man hours just 30 years ago. why can't civilized nations get off this collective failure of a system and step up to the most obvious path?

    1. Re:Future by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With the advent of robots in factories why is it that we as humans have to work at all

      Mostly because we don't have a better way to distribute wealth. For an example of what happens when you put a whole culture on welfare see the Australian Aborigines.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    2. Re:Future by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      With the advent of factories and outsourcing, it isn't a question of "Why work?" it is more of a question of "Why can't I get a job?"

      --
      God spoke to me.
    3. Re:Future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's simple. $humans + $robots > $robots. In other words, there is more money to be gained in exploiting both robots and humans-- it isn't a choice between one or the other. Primitive meatbags are simply another type of robot, after all.

    4. Re:Future by geegel · · Score: 1

      This is one of the most insightful comments I've read here in a while.

      Another side of the equation is the shift towards a post-scarcity economy. Of course, this is only partial, there are still people dying of hunger after all, but in the long run, the human economy will shift more and more towards artificial needs creation and artificial barriers to simulate scarcity. This type of economy, already visible in the software world, will reach critical mass when rapid prototyping units (3D faxes) will become wide spread. That's my prediction anyway.

      --
      right...
    5. Re:Future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Lucky that I work in programming robots and automation system, at least there will be work for me until they build an autonomous robot repair robot... ... I for one welcome our robotic robomechanic overlords

    6. Re:Future by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      We need to develop one.

      As we
      a) require people to work
      b) cut benefits to people who don't work
      c) remove the jobs people could work at.

      It has the potential to get really, really ugly.

      Starting this month 1 million people a month lose their benefits. That's 12 million by next december when it roughly tops out. That is going to be large, very pissed off group of voters/rioters.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    7. Re:Future by Nihn · · Score: 2

      with machines making everything we need there will be no need for wealth, but its impossible to explain that to people who WANT to be in forced into servitude.

    8. Re:Future by Nihn · · Score: 1

      That goes to what geegel posted..wealth. Because a hand full of people are hording all the wealth they can the entire system becomes lop sided, meaning companies who are not allowed to horde are forced to nit pick, scrimp and save every dollar they can all the while legally bound by law to maximize profits for share holders. With machines doing all the work humans can live without the stock market and everyone will have access to the luxury only reserved for the greedy and selfish. But like I said before it is impossible to explain the benefits to people who WANT to remain a slave to money...slave to paper and bits of metal basically.

    9. Re:Future by toxonix · · Score: 1

      You are still asking the wrong question. What you should ask is "Why can't I get a job making robots?"

    10. Re:Future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lazy gringo is lazy

    11. Re:Future by Nihn · · Score: 1

      no...I asked the right question. you are just missing my point. Once a automatic system is established people will have no need to get up and waste 60% of their life with repetitive and pointless tasks of every day jobs. Instead people would be allowed to actually raise their own children as opposed to sending them to a building for 8 hours letting complete strangers influence the mental processes of susceptible children. People will have no stress because the basics of life will be provided indiscriminately to all within said system. We have the ability to create a actual utopia but it would step all over the toes of the worthless sponges who sit on their collective ass's and do nothing of actual value. People always bring up money in this situation but I know that the money system was just made up, an idea that has become more of a burden than solution. So if humans cam just make up a system that benefits only a handful of people then there is no logical reason why humans can't use the combined advancements in technology to ACTUALLY benefit all without stereotypically assuming that you are somehow superior to any other human because of a bank statement or worthless decorations aka. Bling.

    12. Re:Future by Phoghat · · Score: 1

      What about Whuffie?

      --
      Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
    13. Re:Future by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      I will have to have a read but at first look it may not cope with situations where individuals will massively over consume because they can. Say you have a culture of alcoholics with free alcohol everywhere. How do you stop them drinking themselves to death?

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
  6. VPD by bjoast · · Score: 1

    That Virtual Presence Device looked interesting!

    1. Re:VPD by tsa · · Score: 2

      Yes, to me that seems the robot that will have the most chance to become a success in the near future. If you make it a bit simpler and don't use a Segway for its locomotion it will be a lot cheaper. It would be very nice to have that thing go to a shop for me with a shopping list and bring the groceries back home. The fact that I am virtually present in the shop means that I can have a conversation with the shopkeeper about what products to buy. Of course it's cheaper to have someone else do the shopping for me but this is way cooler, and a robot is always ready and available, just like a car vs public transport.

      --

      -- Cheers!

  7. Robot Books by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1

    Any summary of the year in Robots should include fiction and fact stories about robots. I mean, there's at least one book and several articles on how you may end up marrying a robot, and I find this type of speculation as fascinating as the actual robots themselves. Isaac Asimov may not be writing any new stories of late, but a lot of other authors and stories are trying to fill the gap. I'm just hoping to live long enough to see the Science Fiction become the Science Fact.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    1. Re:Robot Books by grouchomarxist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Isaac Asimov may not be writing any new stories of late

      Yeah, he used to be so prolific, but then after 1992 his output diminished considerably. I guess dying can do that to a guy.

    2. Re:Robot Books by zmollusc · · Score: 1

      Obviously we need a robo-asimov to replace him, then. Maybe it would be possible to scale up the robot that writes stuff like Lost ( it uses the processor from a 1980's digital alarm clock ) ?

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    3. Re:Robot Books by MadKeithV · · Score: 1

      Perhaps we could call that robot Asimo?

    4. Re:Robot Books by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2

      Well that's because we need to extend copyright. WIthout 200 years after death, what's his motivation to right more stories?

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    5. Re:Robot Books by zmollusc · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't all the stories revolve around Adam Sandler?

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
  8. Advertisements? by tsa · · Score: 1

    I only saw advertisements in that webpage. No story whatsoever. Do I miss something?

    --

    -- Cheers!

    1. Re:Advertisements? by Missing.Matter · · Score: 1

      It's a video. Maybe you have flash turned off?

    2. Re:Advertisements? by tsa · · Score: 1

      Ah, then it's blocked by Adblock, probably. Thanks!

      --

      -- Cheers!

  9. Robot Rock by splerdu · · Score: 0

    If it's ok to post stuff from a couple of years ago...
    Daft Punk - Robot Rock
    Dinosaurs Fscking Robots

  10. Another highlight: MAGIC 2010 competition by edwinolson · · Score: 2

    This was also the first year of the multi autonomous ground-robotic international challenge (MAGIC), in which teams of robots collaborated to perform urban recon/search-rescue type missions. This competition focused on autonomous exploration, map building, object recognition, and coordination between both the robots and the human operators. 23 teams from around the world entered the competition, with the top five finalists competing just a few weeks ago in Adelaide, Australia.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_Autonomous_Ground-robotic_International_Challenge

    It was also covered on slashdot:

    http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=10/11/19/004203

    And Team Michigan, from the University of Michigan, took first place and $750k in prize money. (Forgive my obvious bias, I'm the team leader :)

    http://april.eecs.umich.edu/magic/

  11. Robots? by gargeug · · Score: 1

    I have to question whether or not a few of those should even be considered robots. Particularly the third one (I think) that was a replacement for you so that you could teleoperate. I am a grad student in robotics and have come to view robots as being those that have at least some element of autonomy. I think that tele-operated robots should start to get their own name, as they are really just complicated tools. Obviously it is a fine line. If the third one took care of avoiding walls and what not for you, then it gets into robotics. But I think that as this technology progresses, people should take more care in how they throw around the word 'robot'.

    1. Re:Robots? by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Well, the word "telefactor" could mean what you describe, but most telefactors are immobile.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  12. Forgot ROS C-Turtle by Missing.Matter · · Score: 1

    Any review of the year in robots should include ROS, which released its first two major distributions this year: box-turtle and c-turtle.

  13. Forget a Roomba, get your girl a Woomba! by just_another_sean · · Score: 1

    The perfect gift for your girl freind or wife!

    --
    Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
  14. What Would Asimov Do? by rx7chick · · Score: 1

    Very exciting advancements and to this veteran hard core scifi aficionado, long anticipated advancements. One thing saddens me though and that is the joyfully planned use of them for the sick and elderly. Freeing human workers up for what? Serving burgers and fries? What is a more valuable use of human talent that caring for each other? I can easily envision a future where our fate is to land in a facility where our emotional needs will be met by a robot teddy bear, and our physical needs met by among others, hair washing robots, and we can end our lives, untouched by human hands. Sounds like an Asimov story gone from scifi to horror.