Ping to the Swedish Ping List.
Posted on 02/07/2008 7:36:22 AM PST by RogerFGay
When you ask a man on the street where revolutionary advanced robots are being developed, he is likely to name Japan and the United States. Japan is well known for such amazing mechanical creations as ASIMO and HRP, as well as robots that dance, engage in martial arts, transform, and play musical instruments. In the United States, the success of iRobot in both military and consumer markets is legendary. The DARPA Grand Challenge demonstrated advanced work on autonomous vehicles. GM has its own autonomous vehicle and expects driverless cars to be on the roads in a few years. (Lexus already has a car on the market that parks itself.)
A true robot connoisseur will include Sweden on the list. The seeds of Cyberdyne Systems technology and the robot uprising might be growing in Gothenburg instead of Sunnyvale, California – all really to serve mankind rather than destroy it of course.
It may seem like ancient history, but Sweden’s ABB is an international giant in industrial robotics. This has helped drive robotics research and education in Sweden for decades. Among current activities, ABB along with other interested companies such as Volvo participate in a large regional program for advanced robotic systems development and commercialization (The Robot Valley) The program also receives government funding to encourage collaboration and commercialization efforts and provides annual science prizes for innovative robotics research throughout the world.
Achievements in software, sensors, and systems have been impressive. Some examples: In 2000, Swedish researchers at Linköpings University reported creation of miniscule submersible robots that “may cruise through your bloodstream looking for misbehaving cells or man the production lines of miniature factories.” (BBC) The world’s first successful flapping wing robotic system (ornithopter) was created at Chalmers University of Technology. (The Humanoid Project) A general purpose spherical robot with applications in security among other things that moves through mud, sand, and snow without getting stuck is commercially available. (Rotundus AB) Karolinska University research hospital has been a significant contributor in international developments in robot surgery. The Stockholm International Fairs conference center uses autonomous robots to layout its large halls for displays before each show.
Gothenburg based Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia AB (iRobis) is poised to introduce the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence for robotics this year. (related article) Based on successful research in learning and adaptive software at Chalmers, iRobis attracted funding from both Sweden’s largest civilian funding agency and the military. Phase 2 of the research program is aimed at producing complete working prototypes. The iRobis system uses a technique in evolutionary machine learning (“genetic programming”), which has been pegged by some as the current front-runner for achieving a technological singularity - a very versatile artificial intelligence that can improve itself to become smarter than humans. Researchers and companies throughout Europe are already contacting iRobis in advance of their initial product launch regarding joint R&D.
Sweden: The Land of Robots
Roger F. Gay has been a reporter, commentator, and international correspondent at MensNewsDaily.com since 2002. (archive)
Ping to the Swedish Ping List.
I am so glad I re-read that. I originally thought it said marital arts.
Stoopid dyslexia...
Nice to know. Thanks for posting!
You may not be far off! I’m sure that kind of thing is in the works also.
Fembots?
LOL!
^_^
| To: RogerFGay
Illegal aliens are retarding the United States' uptake of and research into robotics the same way slaves during the Roman Empire and afterwards retarded the arrival of the Industrial Revolution.
Japan is currently the leader in robotics, followed by Western Europe. They aren't having all that many babies, and are reluctant to let in immigrants. In Japan's case, there is a huge racist aspect. For Europe, a more rational one: Muslims are a dangerous risk and Africans largely come just for the financial benefits doled out be socialistic governments. Having the United States, the undisputed leader in technology, behind robotics could advance the field by years or decades. Yet another [valid] reason to oppose illegal immigration. Larger use of robots in the United States would drive down the costs of robots and lead to more sophisticated ones. And a little bonus, more food would be processed by bloodless machines, thus reducing the risk that blood from cuts or even hair follicles gets into food. Posted on 02/07/2008 12:12:25 PM PST by Jedi Master Pikachu ( What is your take on Acts 15:20 (abstaining from blood) about eating meat? Could you freepmail? ) |
The US has invested heavily in advanced robotics and continues to do so. They were also leaders in development of industrial robotics ... and the fax machine, among other things. ... television, computers. The lead dog in consumer robots, iRobot (Roomba) is a US company.
Robosapien is also a US patented invention, although it’s manufactured in asia. The US military is using tons of robotics in its operations now, developed mostly by US companies.
Hrmph. I could swear that I see driverless cars on the road every day.
My God Mr. President why what we have here is, well..A ROBOT GAP!!!!
Here’s an article about the Swedish lawnmover robot (developed by Husqvarna, a subsidary of Electrolux):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926518/posts
Racism is overt hostility towards people because of their race. Simply wanting to preserve the racial make-up of one's nation is not an act of hostility against people of other races. Just as preference for your own wife and children over other women and children is not hostiltity or hate directed against anyone, it's merely a natural preference for one's own family. The Japanese merely believe that they should remain in control of the nation they built, rather than inviting others in to potentially take it over from within. That's prefectly rational. It's Western societies that are irrational for wanting to open the floodgates to non-Western peoples.
Guess I haven’t thanked you for the link. I added it to the original article.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.