The organizations that have been testing the PR2s since their release participate in bimonthly teleconferences, where they discuss software code that they have written for their robots and released openly for others to use. "The PR2 is really inspiring more efforts in open-source code" that people can share, Kemp says. With the PR2, "you have a robot that can run someone else's code" and encourages sharing "through the community that Willow Garage has fostered." Kemp's lab has been strong in terms of robot manipulation and movement, he says, but not so much in mapping and navigating over long distances. By working with other PR2 testers, Kemp and his team now have access to other research they can use to improve their own system, without having to reinvent the wheel.
Human factors
The scientific method, which demands repeatable results that others can verify, has also played a role. It had not typically been a part of robotics because the field largely relied on custom hardware and software. Robotics researchers rarely compared what they were doing with previous efforts in a direct way because the systems were so different, Kemp says. "Now that people have the same robots, they can run the same code, so there's really a chance to see what actually does work better."
Kemp's lab is also collaborating closely with Georgia Tech's Human Factors and Aging Laboratory, headed by psychology professor Wendy Rogers. Rogers and Kemp are both part of the university's Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI), an interdisciplinary effort to address the fundamental technical, design and social challenges required to construct a home that enhances a resident's quality of life or helps them to maintain independence as they age.
Robots are expected to play a key role in the "aware home," although it is unclear exactly what that role will be. "So far we've done a survey of older adults in the Atlanta area, and they were quite open to the idea of having robots in their home environment," Rogers says. "We'll be looking to determine what tasks older adults, over 65, are open to having done in the house, and then Charlie's team is going to program its PR2 to do those tasks. In the spring, we're going to move our PR2 over to the aware home and bring older adults there to give them a chance to interact with the robots in that home environment."
Georgia Tech is hardly the first to envision robots playing a crucial role in caring for the elderly—France's Robosoft, GeckoSystems of Conyers, Ga., and others already have prototype devices aimed at helping the elderly better communicate with the outside world. Healthcare Robotics Lab's work may be at earlier stage of development, but its open, communal approach to GATSBII (not to mention its arms, which neither Robosoft or GeckoSystems have) promises to advance home-based robotics faster and to a higher level than any one group working in isolation.
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10 Comments
Add CommentThe problem I forsee is that the basic parts are not modal.and thus interchanmgeable.The second problem is that of memory.Why does every robot have to learn everything from scratch Why can't the information be stored in a mainframe then sent via wifi when it's needed.Thus the weight of a large computer would be unnecessary,thus making individual robots much lighter and cheaper to produce.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWith remote storage of data or software modules you run into issue of communication speeds and also outages. A bot with it's own data and storage that has lost connection but still has power can still function. This is just the whole "cloud" vs local server issue. Each has advantages and disadvantages.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEveryone talked about modular cars for about a decade but it never happened. Computers used to be quite a bit more modular than they are now because it just isn't cost affective. The same will go with robots. Too much needs to be specialized. A certain amount of modularity is viable but a lot of function simply isn't viable as an add-on to a generic base.
The great thing about this particular situation is that researchers are sharing actual data and collaborating. That really hasn't happened much in robotics as contrasted with cars for example. Car manufacturers actually share a significant amount of research either directly or via patent registration and leasing.
I suggest the following robotical law: No robot shall have humanlike face.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor imagine that otherwise in future a man gives on his wife's birthday her a robot with same face as the woman to do the household and later he is called at his office because the house is on fire. The people of the fire brigade tell him that his wife is rescued though still unconcious. Coming home he discovers that it is the robot that was taken to safety while nothing else was spared by the fire.
I am curious to explore the application of these robots, and what their roles would be in the future. I cannot stop imagining the unlimited possibilities and how they can both make our lives easy, as well as complicated.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI believe the problem here will not be in producing the technology or the application, although a standarized platform will boost the ability of these types of robots to go mainstream, but it lacks in how to sell this to the consumer. I personally do not want a robot to follow me around all day long, I want robots installed in my appliances and other areas of my house to assist in doing things faster, simpler, more efficiently. A washer that i don't have to sort the clothes, it does it for me, a whole house monitor (gas, temperature, humidity ect) that reports to me, things of this sort, no one is going to want to learn/teach/babysit a robot. They'll just want something that works and that is affordable. For that reason i don't see the personal robot that follows you around like Rosie from the Jetsons.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI’m just glad to see that the PR2 does have great out of the box functions. The fact that there is collaboration within the robotics field is also a great thing. This outlook on technology should be incorporated more in this highly competitive world. With this collaboration I predict that PR2 should have a greatly reduced price from $400,000.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo me, most fascinating part of robotics is the use of artificial intelligence to make them capable to serve the world's elderly growing population. To use robotics efficiently to serve senior citizens is not a simple task, but how they would be intelligent to serve the senior citizens? this indicates the power of software engineering and use of artificial intelligence. Dealing with kids and senior citizens are always a challenging tasks. Despite of its social and human aspects, it would be most emerging technology in near future.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think a key problem with an aware home is the actual presence of Robots and the effects of what Robot care will have on the elderly care. While I think robot care is an interesting development, I wonder if those being cared for will feel less cared for over time. It is possible that leaving care to a robot might at first seem great, but those experiencing long term care might feel ignored by society and left to the robots. I would expect that human interaction is a much needed and wanted part of current elderly care for social and emotional purposes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA standard platform, as well as a readily available wealth of knowledge for the software interface of that platform, is truly what is needed to usher this technology into the sectors of society that need it most. These robots could be used to assist the elderly, as well as the disabled, and could easily be used to replace the current workers in our Assisted Living environments. Not only would they serve the same functions, but they could also cut down on the amount of abuse and mistreatment seen in poorly staffed facilities. Human interaction would be a necessary addendum to the formula, but this is the foundation on changing the way in which assisted living facilities function currently.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe point I was making was that unlike a human child who has to be taught everything from scratch.The experience's of robots can be stored in a mainframe and then downloaded thus removing the need for a huge memory and ram to teach each robot what to do.When something new is learned it is uploaded and sent to all other robots via wifi.While each independent robot would have all this information stored on it's hard drive.Thus each robot would continue to function even if the connection is broke.
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