Technology is advancing toward a future supported by a workforce of autonomous, mobile robots.
by Ahmed K. Noor

The word "robot" dates back to the early 1920s. It was introduced in a play called R.U.R. by a Czech writer, Karel Čapek. The idea of an automaton existed in antiquity, the subject of myths and fiction, but the first humanoid robot, Elektro, was exhibited by Westinghouse Electric Corp. at the 1939 World’s Fair. Ten years later came the first biologically inspired autonomous robots, Elmer and Elsie. They looked like turtles and were constructed at Bristol University in England in 1948 and 1949. Artificial intelligence entered a fully mobile robot when Shakey was demonstrated by the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) in 1969.

Since then, robotic technologies have enabled computer-driven machines to interact intimately with the physical world, and there has been an expectation that robots would some day deliver humans from the drudgery of hard work.

Automated fire protection: Advances in computing power and artificial intelligence raise the promise of machines that will carry out increasingly complex tasks with a decreasing reliance on human intervention. The OLE beetle is a concept proposed in Germany at the University of Magdeburg-Stendal.

That has partly come to pass. Contemporary robots are used for jobs that are boring, dirty, or dangerous; or for tasks that require more speed, precision, or endurance than a human can provide. Robots today are part of our lives. They sweep the floor at home, and perform almost all welding, painting, and assembly tasks in the automotive industry. They have become a basic element of production in industries ranging from electronics to wood products.

Military and security organizations use robots to assist in dangerous situations. In space exploration, robots have been used as planetary probes, orbiters, and rovers. Robots have a significant role in medical and health care fields—helping surgeons achieve more precision in the operating room, and performing safer, less-invasive surgeries.

We are now entering a new age of robotics. Increasing computing power and AI advances are making robots considerably more useful, and rapidly expanding their fields of application. Above all, robots are becoming ever more reliable and autonomous. Indeed, networks of intelligent, autonomous robots promise to become the next disruptive technology.

Robots can have a profound impact on many aspects of our personal and professional lives. In recognition of this fact, several national robotics initiatives and activities have been launched in countries around the world.

The estimated number of industrial robots installed worldwide, according to World Robotics, a report published by the International Federation of Robotics, is more than one million—50 percent in Asia and Australia, 33 percent in Europe, and 17 percent in North America.

An assessment of the state of robotics conducted in 2006 by a panel from the World Technology Evaluation Center, a nonprofit organization, found that the United States leads in robot navigation in outdoor environments, robot architectures (the integration of control, structure, and computation), and in applications to space, defense, underwater systems, and some aspects of service and personal robots. Japan and Korea lead in technology for robot mobility, human-like robots, and some aspects of service and personal robots (including entertainment). Europe leads in mobility for structured environments, including urban transportation. Europe also has significant programs in elder care and home service robotics. Australia leads in commercial applications of field robotics, particularly in such areas as cargo handling and mining, as well as in the theory and application of localization and navigation.

The panel reported that the U.S. lost its preeminence in industrial robotics at the end of the 1980s, and nearly all its robots for welding, painting, and assembly are imported from Japan or Europe.

U.S. research and development efforts on robotics have focused primarily on military and defense-related applications—unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime systems, both surface and undersea. The Department of Defense has developed an unmanned-systems integrated roadmap covering the technology to 2032. The DOD will develop an increasingly sophisticated force of unmanned systems over the next 25 years and expects to integrate them with manned systems. Future unmanned systems will operate independently to execute complex missions in dynamic environments. A Robotics Industry Consortium was formed in July of this year, with 70 initial organizations, to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology for the DOD and other U.S. government agencies.

3-D at your fingertips: Mounted on a mobile robot, information could be summoned as needed in public spaces.

A congressional robotics caucus was formed in 2007 to broaden awareness among members of Congress and policy analysts of key issues facing the U.S. robotics industry. An initiative was launched in January this year to formulate a targeted R&D roadmap for nonmilitary applications of robotics. It grew out of four workshops that focused on robotics in manufacturing and automation, in medical and health care, in domestic and professional services, and in emerging technologies.

In Europe, the European Robotics Platform (EUROP) was formed to strengthen links between academia and industry, and to develop a research agenda of European robotics. The European investment in robotics research between 2007 and 2010 is about 400 million euros (more than $636 million).

In Japan, the Ministry of Industry and Economic Development has sponsored robotics activities for a long time. To alleviate a workforce shortage in the country, robots are expected to fill the jobs of 3.5 million people by 2025. A 2007 national technology roadmap by the Trade Ministry calls for one million robots to be installed throughout the country by 2025. The Japanese government also estimates that the nation may save as much as $21 billion on insurance payments in the same year by using robots to monitor the health of elderly people.

In South Korea, a 10-year robotics initiative was launched along with a detailed roadmap to make the country the second-largest provider of robotics in the world, after Japan. Two robot-themed parks are planned to be built near Seoul by 2013. They will cost $1.6 billion and will allow visitors to interact with advanced machines. The country’s forecasts include placing a robot in every household by 2020.

The European Union, Japan, and South Korea have developed “roboethics roadmaps” and charters—recommendations for the safe performance of next-generation robots, including robotic surgeons and soldiers.

FUTURE ENVIRONMENTS

The convergence of technologies involving computing, communication, and intelligent interfaces with autonomous robotics promises to change the way we live and work. People may one day be supported by intelligent tools, intercommunicating devices, and robots that are sensitive and responsive to them. The tools, devices, and robots may be seamlessly integrated in the environment and beam information to each other.

The concept of networking everyday objects and appliances in an ambient intelligent environment has been actively pursued since the beginning of the new century. However, the focus has usually been on the creation, delivery, and sharing of information, and not on the performance of physical tasks, which robots make possible.

Grunt work: This concept for a military robot would continue the tradition of machines taking on jobs that are dirty or dangerous. The image is based on tactical robotic systems by iRobot Corp.

Robotic networks are expected to handle increasingly complex tasks, with a high degree of autonomy and capacity for collaboration, thereby enhancing workplace productivity and safety, and making home management easier. The robots can be provided with sensors, develop rich models through interaction with the environment, and form a mobile sensor network to become search engines for physical space.

The flying robot concept of Microsoft Research labs is an example of the future mobile communication technology. The flying robot serves as a camera, a communications device, a fully operational computer, and more. It can accompany a person around, take pictures, receive a message from a friend, and turn into a computer with a projected keyboard and mouse. It can also recover files from a mobile phone.

Autonomous mobile robots may one day perform complex medical procedures, including surgery, on patients in dangerous or remote locations from battlefields to space, with little human guidance. A proof of concept for this technology was reported this year at Duke University, for a system using 3-D ultrasound and artificial intelligence in a desktop robot.

Advances in miniaturization and bionanotechnology can lead to a new generation of nanorobots, which would revolutionize the medical industry. Nanobots may provide treatment at the cellular level, perhaps clearing clogged arteries, repairing genes, battling cancer cells, and delivering drugs.

Instant attention: Cognitive robots can be used as home helpers, caregivers, or emergency and rescue aids.

Cognitive robots can become available as office helpers or as robotic companions for guiding the blind and assisting the elderly. General-purpose anthropomorphic robots, with human-like hands, can be used in transforming manufacturing from resource-intensive to knowledge-intensive, and creating totally unmanned factories. Agricultural robotic scouts may roam the fields of the future to care for the plants, use sensors to provide detailed real-time information about the status of the crop, and apply data fusion techniques for making management decisions.

The robotics industry is going through a paradigm shift from provider of a specific industrial technology to a broad enabler for a wide range of services. The challenges facing the industry are similar to those of the computing industry three decades ago. Among these challenges are the standardization of robotic processors and other hardware, the accelerated development of several enabling technologies, and the synergistic coupling of these technologies into novel robotic systems.

Many technologies still need to be refined before the full potential of robotics can be realized. There is a need for behavior and environment recognition; for novel mobility concepts; for large-scale coordination, collaboration, and interaction among different types of robots; for language understanding; for AI-based dialogue systems for unscripted communication with humans; for visual and voice recognition; for faster processors, and for smaller power sources.

It’s a big job that, of course, can be done. It represents opportunity for professionals in numerous fields and will require a range of advances. Above all, it will require the skills and collective knowledge of multidisciplinary teams of engineers around the world to do what they do best—to remake the world we live in.

ALREADY ON THE JOB

Autonomous and mobile robots have proliferated in recent years and moved out of the research labs. They are increasingly evident in the military, and in many aspects of industry and everyday life. They are used in the military as unmanned systems for surveillance, reconnaissance, mine detection, explosives handling, and other missions.

Robots provide rehabilitative and assistive health care. A health care robot developed by Skilligent LLC can navigate through a facility to monitor patients’ vital signs and to assist patients and caregivers in their daily routines.

With increased flexibility and a smaller footprint, new mobile and autonomous robots are used in several areas of life sciences, to alleviate the shortage of trained workers. Applications include laboratory automation, specialized forms of material handling, and collecting and organizing large amounts of data.

Domestic robots include the Roomba vacuum cleaner, with over two million units sold, and the Verro pool cleaning machine developed by the IRobot Corp.

Autonomous robots appear as guides, receptionists, pets, or even soccer players. The International RoboCup is one of many robotic competitions. It aims at building a robotic soccer team that can win against the best human team, on a real soccer field, by 2050. A number of technologies are being integrated in the soccer robot team including multi-agent collaboration, strategy acquisition, real-time reasoning, and sensor fusion. The technologies developed can be applied to search and rescue in large-scale disasters.

The uBot robotics platform developed by DigitRobotics LLC balances on two wheels like the Segway transporter, can lift objects, and is equipped with Skype communication software. The company’s founders, two University of Massachusetts Ph.D. students, plan to market it to other robot designers.

AUTOMATON AUTONOMY

Autonomous robots may be characterized as intelligent machines capable of performing tasks in unstructured environments without explicit or continuous human control over their movements. Concepts range from small insect-like machines to highly sophisticated humanoid robots with social intelligence and awareness of their environment.

An autonomous robot can sense and gain information about its surroundings, work and move either part or all of itself for an extended period without human assistance, and avoid situations that are harmful to people, property, or itself. It may also learn, or gain new capabilities, like adapting to changing conditions or adjusting strategies for accomplishing its tasks.

New categories of autonomous and mobile robots have been developed that can significantly expand the applications of robotics.

Cognitive robots are endowed with artificial reasoning skills to achieve complex goals in complex environments. Cognitive robots can be used in manufacturing and as home helpers, caregivers, or emergency and rescue aids. They are also useful for space missions.

A flying robot stars in a Microsoft video intended to encourage young people toward careers in computer science.

A number of research projects are focused on cognitive robotic systems, including the European Union’s project CoSy—Cognitive Systems for Cognitive Assistants—aimed at developing robots that are more aware of their environment and better able to interact with humans. Another is provided by the cognitive robot companion in the Cogniron Project of the French National Center for Scientific Research. The project aims at developing a robot that would serve humans in their daily lives. It would exhibit cognitive capabilities for adapting its behavior to changing situations and for various tasks.

Neurorobotics couples neuroscience with robotics. The overall goals of the activity are to develop high-performance, human-centered robotic systems to serve as physical platforms for validating biological models. Current activities are focused on developing robotic devices with control systems that mimic the nervous system, such as brain-inspired algorithms and models of biological neural networks.

The field of evolutionary robotics emerged from the idea of allowing robots to evolve. Although the field shares many of the insights of artificial life, which pioneered the use of genetic algorithms in the 1970s and 1980s, evolutionary robotics is distinguished by its insistence on making the leap from computer animations to physical machines. Evolutionary robotics aims at developing robots that acquire their own skills through close interaction with the environment. Evolutionary computational tools like neural networks, genetic algorithms, and fuzzy logic are used in developing intelligent autonomous controllers for robots.

Life-like robots are biologically inspired robots that resemble living systems and biological organisms, from insects to humans. Mobility mechanisms are incorporated into their design that mimic biological mobility systems, and the resulting robots are referred to as biomimetic robots. A recent life-like robot project is the BigDog built by Boston Dynamics Inc. with funding from DARPA—a quadruped robot that can walk, run, or climb on rough terrain (and other places where accessibility is difficult), and carry heavy loads up to 340 pounds. The iCat robot platform for human-robot interaction research, developed by Philips labs in the Netherlands, can generate different facial expressions and talks to its users. The Amphibian Snake robot ACM-R5, built by the Hirose Fukushima Robotics Lab in Japan, can slither and swim under water for 30 minutes, can navigate in very confined spaces, and can search for earthquake victims.

Several humanoid and anthropomorphic robots were created to imitate some of the physical and mental functions of humans. They wrestle, skate, or play soccer. Honda’s Asimo, originally developed in 2000, has more recently been equipped with software and an array of eight microphones, which enable it to understand three humans shouting at once. Sony has a dancing robot, Sugoi. A home helper robot, HRP-2 or Promet, from Kawada Industries Inc., understands voice commands. HRP-3 from the same company can work in hazardous environments and carry out disaster relief. The Kansei robot, developed by Japan’s Robot and Science Institute, can make up 36 different facial expressions in response to words associated with different emotions.

Cyborg robots, in the form of hybrid biological/artificial assistive limbs and wearable robots, have been developed to expand and improve human capability. The robotic exoskeleton developed by Raytheon amplifies the wearer’s ability and enhances personal mobility. An integrated prosthetic arm prototype that can be controlled naturally has been developed by an international team led by Johns Hopkins University under DARPA sponsorship. The arm, Proto 1, provides sensory feedback and allows for eight degrees of freedom—a level of control far beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs.

Advances in computing, sensing, networking, and communication technologies have led to the development of distributed robotics and multirobot systems for performing complex tasks in dynamic and challenging environments. Applications include search and rescue, reconnaissance, cleanups of toxic spills, firefighting, and planetary exploration.

Swarm robotics envisions large numbers of mostly simple robots. It is inspired by swarm intelligence, the principle of cooperation observed in colonies of ants and bees. The swarm may consist of heterogeneous robots, differing in the type of sensors, manipulators, and computational power. Robots can communicate by wireless transmission systems.

Potential applications for swarm robotics include tasks that demand miniaturization, like distributed sensing tasks in micromachinery or the human body; tasks that demand cheap design, such as mining or agricultural foraging; and tasks for which failure can be very costly, such as planetary exploration. A current swarm robotic project is the shape-shifting, or “claytronic,” robots of Carnegie Mellon University. The pocket-size, cylindrical wheeled robots of the swarm use electromagnetic forces to cling together, and to assume different shapes.  A.K.N.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Readers interested in pursuing the subject covered in this article will find links to more information at http://www.aee.odu.edu/automobilerobotics.

The Web site, created as a companion to Mechanical Engineering magazine’s November Feature Focus, contains links to material on autonomous and mobile robotics systems and technologies, and has continuously updated information feeds. There are also links to other online services and features of the Center for Advanced Engineering Environments at Old Dominion University.

Ahmed K. Noor is eminent scholar and William E. Lobeck Professor of Aerospace Engineering, as well as the director of the Center for Advanced Engineering Environments at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.