Thanks for the Next-Generation Computer Info - What are they called?
Robots are the future, they don't just help you clean your house anymore
Robots: Not Just for Housecleaning Anymore
The company behind the Roomba has robots at work in Iraq.
Some people may think of robots as friendly human-shaped things that help with the housework or that will in the future pilot spaceships.
IRobot's military robots don't have a lot in common with the walking, talking robots of science fiction movies. They're shaped more like mini tanks or golf carts than like humans, designed more for functionality than for looking good on the big screen. IRobot's PackBots, for instance, have tracked wheels to navigate rough terrain and weigh about 40 pounds.
Military Applications
PackBots, in various configurations, have been used by the U.S. military to scout into caves or battle areas, conduct roving surveillance, and to even disarm roadside bombs. The PackBot can be thrown into a building through a window, climb stairs, or drop 20 feet and still function, according to IRobot. More than 100 of the versatile robots have been deployed by the U.S. military in Iraq, says Tom Ryden, director of sales and marketing for IRobot's Government & Industrial Robotics division.
In March, IRobot announced it signed a $18 million contract with the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command to supply the military with multiple explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) versions of the PackBot. The PackBot EOD uses a robotic arm mounted on the PackBot's tank-like base to disable roadside bombs. PackBot operators use remote-control devices to move the arm and the robot itself from a safe distance away.
"Some of the soldiers become very attached to them, because they know that [the PackBots] are going down there instead of having to put on a bomb suit and go down there themselves," Ryden says.
Back at Home
Plenty of consumers own IRobot Roombas, however. With all models costing less than $300, the Roomba uses sensors to vacuum rooms without a human directly involved. The Roomba was introduced in September 2002, and in October 2004, IRobot announced it had sold 1 million Roombas.
The company is using lessons from Roomba to focus on cutting costs in its military robots, says Joe Dyer, executive vice president and general manager of IRobot's Government and Industrial Robotics division. "The consumer guys, when they're willing to sell a product for a couple of hundred bucks, they'll kill for a nickel," says Dyer, a retired Navy vice admiral. "We're taking the lessons in consumer in regard to cost consciousness and price control and feeding those lessons back to the defense side."
Using the lessons learned in its consumer division to drive down costs and using the lessons in its government division to drive up performance, Dyer believes multipurpose robots will soon be available to a wider group of people than soldiers. "We think it is going to be available to people who don't have a lot of money to spend," Dyer says.
IRobot is also working with tractor maker John Deere to build unmanned, Jeep-shaped vehicles. The golf-cart-sized R-Gator Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle can be programmed to cart supplies through dangerous areas and patrol perimeters. The vehicle has sensors to avoid obstacles on its route and has mounted cameras to perform surveillance. The first eight prototypes are due to be finished in midyear.
In addition to the Navy contract, IRobot in April 2004 signed a $32 million contract to develop a next-generation small unmanned ground vehicle for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems program. The contract has since increased to $37.3 million, Dyer says, and the Army contract will develop unmanned vehicles that offer more functionality than the R-Gator does.
"We'll look back on [the R-Gator] as the Model A of intelligent vehicles," Dyer says.
The development of mobile military robots is being pushed by a congressional mandate that at least a third of all military vehicles be autonomous by 2015.
These robots are called "Bid Dog"
Sony Sends Its Robots to School
Humanoid devices will be used to encourage interest in science and technology.
Sony will lend one of its five Qrio public relations robots to schools in Japan, India, and Vietnam to stimulate children's curiosity in science and technology, the company says.
The program consists of a smaller class for elementary, and a bigger class for middle and senior students. The lessons are billed as "hands-on experiences" for children showing them how science and technology are "useful in daily life," using "cutting-edge technology."
Intelligent servo actuators enable Qrio to
walk on two feet, dance, climb and descend stairs, not fall over when shoved, and even pick itself up when it takes a tumble. Using twin CCD (charge coupled device) cameras, it can also recognize and identify faces. Equipped with seven microphones and a speaker, Qrio is able to identify
voices, talk, sing, and understand about 20,000 words. It can also exhibit some limited emotional responses, according to Sony.
Sony calls Qrio, which was formerly called the SDR-4X II (SDR means Sony Dream Robot), a technical prototype toward the development of
soccer-playing robots that will challenge humans in a match around 2050. For the moment, however, children aged 5-18 will meet Qrio and use digital cameras and other equipment and make and edit videos under the instruction of Sony representatives and local teachers, according to a Sony spokesperson.
"Sony was founded after the [Second World] War as a company founded to be against war," Sony Chairman and CEO Noboyuki Idei says.
"More than just selling products,
we want to make products that are fun and enjoyable," he says.
Idei says that sending Qrio abroad with NFUAJ was the latest in several international educational and promotional programs that the company has kicked off in recent years in China, Moscow, and in India.
Sony and NFUAJ are considering extending Qrio's Science Program to other countries and schools in 2005.
