Humanoid Robots
The article “Humanoid Robots”[1] by Rodney Brooks appeared in the March 2002 issue of Communications of the ACM. In this article the author discusses robots and their future in society. Evidence of human interest in robots spans at least 7,000 years. The robots of yesteryear ranged from simple clay statues to more complex playback mechanisms.
The
era of modern humanoids began in the 1970’s when Hirokazu Kato, a professor at
MIT started “developing humanoid robots as a tool for understanding humans’ use or representations of the world around them.”[2] In the mid 1990’s MIT developed COG, there were problems with its perception and motor control, which led to the development of Kismet.
COG and Kismet were designed with a program that simulates the human visual makeup. Kismit’s ability to perceive the world around him allows him to respond to stimuli the way a child does. Many experiments have been conducted examining the robot’s interaction with users. Video clips of such experiments can be viewed at www.ai.mit/edu/projects/humanoidrobotics-group.
Today there are a few domestic robots available for purchase in the consumer market. The author believes that robots will be common place by the middle of this century. Whether or not the robots will have a human form is not predictable at this point. There are two arguments for and against robots having human form. One is that “the current infatuation with humanoid robots is a necessary but passing phase.”[3] The second is that the projects underway in universities will be so successful that human will be “accustomed to robots and expect them to have human form.”[4] Ultimately the decision will be decided by possibly the invention of new technology and/or the consumer demand.