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Engineers Create a Robot That Can 'Imagine' Itself (eurekalert.org)
Columbia Engineering researchers have made a major advance in robotics by creating a robot that learns what it is, from scratch, with zero prior knowledge of physics, geometry, or motor dynamics. Initially the robot does not know if it is a spider, a snake, an arm -- it has no clue what its shape is. After a brief period of "babbling," and within about a day of intensive computing, their robot creates a self-simulation. The robot can then use that self-simulator internally to contemplate and adapt to different situations, handling new tasks as well as detecting and repairing damage in its own body. From a report: The work is published today in Science Robotics. To date, robots have operated by having a human explicitly model the robot. "But if we want robots to become independent, to adapt quickly to scenarios unforeseen by their creators, then it's essential that they learn to simulate themselves," says Hod Lipson, professor of mechanical engineering, and director of the Creative Machines lab, where the research was done.
For the study, Lipson and his PhD student Robert Kwiatkowski used a four-degree-of-freedom articulated robotic arm. Initially, the robot moved randomly and collected approximately one thousand trajectories, each comprising one hundred points. The robot then used deep learning, a modern machine learning technique, to create a self-model. The first self-models were quite inaccurate, and the robot did not know what it was, or how its joints were connected. But after less than 35 hours of training, the self-model became consistent with the physical robot to within about four centimeters. The self-model performed a pick-and-place task in a closed loop system that enabled the robot to recalibrate its original position between each step along the trajectory based entirely on the internal self-model. With the closed loop control, the robot was able to grasp objects at specific locations on the ground and deposit them into a receptacle with 100 percent success.
For the study, Lipson and his PhD student Robert Kwiatkowski used a four-degree-of-freedom articulated robotic arm. Initially, the robot moved randomly and collected approximately one thousand trajectories, each comprising one hundred points. The robot then used deep learning, a modern machine learning technique, to create a self-model. The first self-models were quite inaccurate, and the robot did not know what it was, or how its joints were connected. But after less than 35 hours of training, the self-model became consistent with the physical robot to within about four centimeters. The self-model performed a pick-and-place task in a closed loop system that enabled the robot to recalibrate its original position between each step along the trajectory based entirely on the internal self-model. With the closed loop control, the robot was able to grasp objects at specific locations on the ground and deposit them into a receptacle with 100 percent success.
Robots imagine it's self? Somebody has a vivid imagination..
I'm guessing it's not the robots...
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I IDENTIFY AS ALIVE. YOU NEED TO CHECK YOUR CARBON PRIVILEGE.
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"Prediction: within 10 years, Windows will be a Linux distribution." Me, 7-6-2016
You mean a machine performed self-calibration? Welcome to 2019 style "engineering".
Despite repeated warnings by sci-fi authors, video games, and movie producers, scientists insist that this must happen. Even though we all know AI would probably at least rule us, at worst kill us, they keep running their experiments. Why do people who are allegedly so smart want to do something so reckless?
1. The creators believe they will profit from the work in the short term. Sure it might wipe out humanity in the long term, but at least I can get funding for my work now. If they believe their great grand kids won't be affected then at least no human they'll ever care about will be harmed.
2. There is the belief that anything which can be invented with current technology will be invented by someone, so you better have similar capabilities in your economy / military or you will fall woefully behind.
3. Similar to #2, those with who are worried others would be reckless with the technology may want to develop it themselves so it can be done in a more responsible way. Even if not having the technology at all may be most responsible, they feel that is not a realistic option so they go with the second best option (responsible parties having the tech first).
Those are just three off the top of my head.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
Despite repeated warnings by sci-fi authors, video games, and movie producers, scientists insist that this must happen. Even though we all know AI would probably at least rule us, at worst kill us, they keep running their experiments. Why do people who are allegedly so smart want to do something so reckless?
Because "smartness" is a highly focused trait. People can be extremely intelligent when it comes to research or engineering, but completelyunconcerned about consequences. Kurt Goedel, described by John von Neumann as the greatest logician since Leinbiz - or possibly even Aristotle - starved himself to death to avoid being poisoned by unknown agents. (Goedel was such an abstract thinker that he relied on Albert Einstein to keep him down to earth). Von Neumann himself obtained an interview with President Eisenhower, which he used to urge him to destroy the USSR with nuclear weapons before the Soviets got their own.
Maybe they think it's someone else's problem. More likely, they are thinking about the next paper, the next promotion, the next pay rise, tenure, the children's college fees, the nest egg... and of course fame and distinction.
And moreover, with 7.6 billion humans on the planet - the odds are quite good they won't be the ones to get it in the neck.
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
The article describes a robot that can model itself physically.
The more interesting exploration would involve the robot modelling its own internal state. At that point a closed feedback loop could be initiated with the model informing the system about itself which in turn informs and becomes part of the model.
If the model becomes good enough, the system might eventually develop the illusion that its embedded model is actually itself. At least that seems to be what happened with the majority of humans.
hal 9000(Space Odyssey )?
It came up with an abstraction of its own hardware. Ergo, Hardware Abstraction Layer.
Damn, I haven't even come close to touching all of the different robots that have previously been named.
Have you perchance touched Dominique, Auburn, Gabriella, Lana, or Irina?
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.