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| Sunday, 05 March 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
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New generation of robots At a recent international robotics exhibition in Japan, Joe Engelberger criticized the Japanese robotics industry for wasting time and money making human-like robots. He saw "nothing serious, just stunts. There are dogs, dolls, faces that contort and are supposed to express emotion on a robot. They are just toys." Engelberger is considered by many to be the father of robotics. His company, Unimation, installed the first robot in the General Motors car plant in 1961. Along with other robotics experts, he believed then, that by the early 2000s, robots would have taken over many jobs. They haven't. Engelberger is critical of efforts by Japanese companies to create humanoid robots. He sees such efforts as a distraction from developing robots with a specific function. He believes companies spend money making walking, talking robots such as Asimo as a way of demonstrating technical competence.
But not everyone shares Engelberger's view. Professor John Gray, a robotics expert based at Salford University, thinks that trying to create a humanoid robot is as useful as trying to get a man on the moon. "It was by taking on such an enormously difficult scientific challenge that a lot of spin-off technologies were created," he argues. Gray points out that the drive to get a man to the moon also had critics, who demanded the money be spent on more directly beneficial research. But Gray believes it was America's commitment to the space race that resulted in its becoming "paramount in technology." Engelberger also argues that the Japanese interest in humanoid robots is partly cultural. Takuya Fukuda, senior manager at a UK robotics company agrees. He thinks the Japanese fascination with robots starts at a very young age: "A lot of us grew up reading Atom Boy manga comics. Now we are the ones developing the robots." But part of Engelberger's argument is that robots don't have to look human to be useful to humans. The average industrial robot, for example, looks nothing like a human, but has transformed manufacturing. His company has developed a robot that delivers medicines in hospitals. "It looks like a fridge on wheels, but people still talk to it." Engelberger wants to see more service robots, and is keen that technology be used to create robots to help care for older people. For Japan, along with all the other industrialised nations, faces a demographic time bomb: by 2050, more than a third of its population will be over 65. Engelberger points out that the market for such robots is worth about six billion sterling pounds a year. But it seems the Japanese are already on to this. Professor George Bekey, of the University of Southern California, led a team of US robotics researchers on a tour of robotics laboratories in Japan and Korea. They visited 25 labs and "about 90 per cent were involved in some way with the design of robots for the elderly." Professor Bekey believes that such work has led to "great advances in sensors, actuators, controllers, stability and software," which will find their way into this new generation of service robots. He insists that "human-robot interaction, including the ability to express and interpret emotions, will be a significant component of future systems." But it is clear from the latest UN survey that the use of robots is continuing to grow. In 2003, about 400,000 "domestic" robots were bought; by 2007 that is expected to reach 4.1 million. They are also present in electrical appliances, security systems, medicine, defence systems and cleaning equipment to name a few. They are taking on jobs in food manufacturing and silicon chip factories.But the growth in robots is the fastest in Asia: their number grew by 57 per cent in the region in 2004, but doubled in Korea. When Engelberger introduced robots into industry, people were soon talking of "lights-out" factories run solely by robots. This hasn't happened everywhere; but it's clear that the rise of the robot is continuing. Who knows, one day they may even be looking after you. - The Guardian |
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