Robo-News!
Robots! I don’t know about you, but the first thing that comes to mind when robots are mentioned, are the breaking dancing robot moves of the 1980’s. Surprisingly the earliest example of “doing the robot” is 1973’s, “the Funky Robot.”
Rufus Thomas singing the Funky Robot while dancers perform on the Black Omnibus tv show, hosted by James Earl Jones. Hollywood, 1973.
The future is now however, and it seems like droids are just around the corner. I know what your saying; “they got our hopes up about robots in the 1980’s, and all we got to show for it was Vicky the robot from Small Wonder.” Well, the waiting days are over me buck-o’s. From sassy digital assistant and “super-snooper" Alexa, to fry cook and local hero Flippy;
Pasadena-based Miso Robotics is rolling out kitchen assistant robots like Flippy that will make fast-food kitchens more efficient.
The robots have arrived and are already getting comfy.
So while Alexa reminds you to buy deodorant, and your Fitbit is suggesting you to do a couple of sit-ups, other robots are doing useful stuff. Like deliver the anti-stink stick Alexa "suggested" you to order:
Drone Delivery Canada USA Testing Program commenced March 5th, 2018 at the Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York - USA.
Or de-ice a wind turbine:
Aerones (Y Combinator W18) wind turbine cleaning and de-icing drone + interview http://www.aerones.com info@aerones.com
It hasn’t been all been smooth sailing with this technology though. The rollout of self-driving cars was impeded when a self-driving UBER fatally struck someone. The initial accounts of what happened; claim the person crossed suddenly and there wasn’t time for the car, or it's human safety driver to respond.
The program is suspended for now, but it’s too early to say where the road leads from here.
Uber is confirming that one of its self-driving vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in the Phoenix metro area Sunday night. Company officials say Uber is halting all of its self-driving testing as of Monday as the investigation continues.
Still, it’s pretty amazing to think that practical application of robo-ethics is a thing when this was the state of the art when I was a wee one.
Put-That-There was a gestural interface created in the Architecture Machine Group in 1980. More information: https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/put-that-there-voice-and-gesture-at-the-graphics-interface
I have been interested in robots since their glory days of the 1980’s.
From these guys,
to books like this,
and the real-life Space Shuttle missions I thought the world would be awash in robots. Well, that's not the case, but it doesn’t mean the future isn’t beta testing.
A few years ago (2014) we visited San Francisco for the California Academy of Sciences After Dark, Robot night event.
The museum showcased what was the latest in robotics from schools and companies all around Silicon Valley in the amazing museum late into the night.
It was a party atmosphere complete bars, DJ’s and guest speakers.
The highlight was inflatable robots like this arm.
Or my favorite, the life-size inflatable rock’em, sock’em robots you can actually battle someone with!
Whether we are all ready or not; the robot party has begun. The firsts guests arrived. Who or what will ring the doorbell next? I for one, welcome our robot overlords. Will you?
Boston Dynamics' four-legged machine SpotMini has already proved that it can easily open a door and walk through unchallenged, but now the robotics firm is teaching its robo-canines to fight back. This video shows SpotMini approaching the door as before, but this time it's joined by a human with an ice hockey stick.