Ping to the Swedish Ping List.
Posted on 11/28/2008 11:01:25 AM PST by RogerFGay
Gothenburg - Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia (iRobis) has announced that the world’s first “complete cognitive software system for robotics” is ready for application. The system turns robots into self-developing, adaptive, problem-solving, “thinking” machines.http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/05/16/robobusiness-robots-with-imagination/
Brainstorm automatically adapts to onboard sensors and actuators, immediately builds a model of any robot on which it is installed, and automatically writes control programs for the robot’s movements. It can then explore and model its environment. Through simulated interaction using these models, it solves problems and develops new behavior using “imagination.” Once it has “learned” to do something, it can use its imagination to adapt its behavior to a wide range of circumstances.
A methodology known as genetic programming (GP) is “the trick” that makes it all possible. GP is an automated programming methodology inspired by natural evolution that is used to evolve computer programs. Evolving computer programs means the logic developed by the system can be anything that can be expressed by a computer program. That basically means anything. Robots need descriptions of things they are supposed to do and they figure out how to do them. GP itself is not an approach exclusive to robotic behavior. It has been applied to a variety of problems, some already yielding commercial successes. An example well-known to scientists in the field was the development of invention machines that had created two new patentable inventions by 2002. The potential for “thinking robots” goes well beyond developing their own actions.
The system is constructed using components and the learning / adaptive mechanisms can be turned on and off. This provides a broad range of choices to satisfy requirements. It can for example, be used for rapid development of control systems that cannot be modified after testing is complete or the learning adaptive system can remain on during use allowing the robot to continue to evolve as it gains real-life experience. The level of learning and adaptation can be adjusted to requirements. It can be used to build robot software from the ground up fulfilling all requirements or an add-on to an existing system that provides learning and adaptive behavior. Although product development time can be significantly shortened and less costly, it will still follow a familiar pattern. Product developers need to define their product requirements and engineers will make decisions about the best configurations and settings.
Some of the engineering work will be dramatically transformed however. Rather than working on writing millions of lines of programming, engineers will focus on the best descriptions of desired behavior and testing. iRobis can already provide a range of predefined basic behaviors for mobile robots and plans to expand its behavioral library. The fact that the system builds its own programs creates an opportunity for rapid research and development through experimentation. Robots and environments can be constructed in simulation where the behavioral programming will be automatically constructed. This allows a great deal of experimentation on design to be carried out rapidly before committing to construction of physical prototypes, allowing overall advancements to proceed at a faster pace.
The research model for Brainstorm was developed in the 1990s at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Dr. Nordin’s research there focused on self-developing computer programs and developed a new architecture for intelligent robotics using GP. The architecture was first presented in 1999 at The Fourth International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics in Oita, Japan. (“An Evolutionary Architecture for a Humanoid Robot”) The 1999 presentation already included demonstration of robots that learned balance, human gait, practical use of bifocal vision, navigation, audio orientation, hand-eye coordination, and object manipulation. The 5 year long Humanoid Project at Chalmers furthered the work with creation of hundreds of working robots of many types and sizes.
iRobis has been working on the commercial version under a “dual use” contract with the Swedish Defense Department. Results are intended to benefit both military and non-military technology. The announcement does not mean that the software is available to download for a free 30-day trial. In the short-term, iRobis expects to work directly with early commercial adopters and researchers to create prototypes with previously unseen levels of intelligent autonomous behavior and to prove the value of the system for rapid development and advanced experimentation. The search is on for the most valuable partners.
Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia AB (iRobis) Vasaplatsen 2 41134 Gothenburg Sweden http://irobis.com
Contact: Roger F. Gay VP Business Development Fiskarnasgata 161 v2 13662 Haninge Sweden
Phones: Sweden: +46 76 257-0048 US: +1 360 515-4243
Email: rogerfgay@isr.nu
“The system turns robots into self-developing, adaptive, problem-solving, “thinking” machines.”
Will Sarah and John Connor get there before Skynet is built?
In 2012 Skynet becomes self aware which is why that’s when the Mayan calender stops.
Will they replace Help Desks that were outsourced to India? I wasted a couple days last weekend on 1-800 call support for my busted water heater, ended up fixing it with my neighbor's help.
Self-aware robots will not be robots at all. As your comment illustrates, we may well see a case of life imitating art. God help us.
Well it was a good run humanity. I for one welcome our new Robot overlords, and remind them that as a trusted news anchor, I could be useful in rounding up others to toil in their titanium mines.
ping
Ping to the Swedish Ping List.
That’s just swell- all fun and games until they get themselves online and start learnign about htings like “Poison someone without a trace’- Beware the glancing looks of contempt from these ‘learning robots’
My thuoghts exactly. Arnold may give up governor or Californis to beome the terminator again!
I’ve checked the HTML Sandbox and the picture code doesn’t seem to work for me. Anybody know a code that will work?
Does the software contain the “Three Laws of Robotics?” Otherwise....watch out.
You transposed img and src!
So they should be reversed?
And thank you for posting the picture.
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