148 lines
8.7 KiB
Plaintext
148 lines
8.7 KiB
Plaintext
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßÛßßßßßÛÛÜ ÜÜßßßßÜÜÜÜ ÜÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛßß ßÛÛ
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ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛ ÜÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜ ßÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜÛÛÝ Ûß
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ßßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÞÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÞß
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Mo.iMP ÜÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ßÛß
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ß ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛ ßÛÛÛÛÛ Ü ÛÝÛÛÛÛÛ Ü
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ÜÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ßÛÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÛÛÝ ÜÜÛÛ
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ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÜÜÜß ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛß
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ßÛÜ ÜÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÜÜ ßßÜÛÛßß ßÛÛÜ ßßßÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ßßßßß ßßÛÛß ßßßßß ßßßßßßßßßßßßß
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Brief Look at Robotics ]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [ ]
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[x]11-12 [ ]Essay/Report [ ]
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[ ]College [x]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: o4/95 # of Words:1200 School: ? State: ?
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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===================================================================
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WIRED HANDS - A Brief Look at Robotics NEWSCIENCE
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Two years ago, the Chrysler corporation completely gutted its Windsor,
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Ontario, car assembly plant and within six weeks had installed an entirely
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new factory inside the building. It was a marvel of engineering. When it
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came time to go to work, a whole new work force marched onto the assembly
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line. There on opening day was a crew of 150 industrial robots.
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Industrial robots don't look anything like the androids from sci-fi
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books and movies. They don't act like the evil Daleks or a fusspot C-3P0.
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If anything, the industrial robots toiling on the Chrysler line resemble
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elegant swans or baby brontosauruses with their fat, squat bodies, long
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arched necks and small heads. An industrial robot is essentially a long
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manipulator arm that holds tools such as welding guns or motorized
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screwdrivers or grippers for picking up objects.
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The robots working at Chrysler and in numerous other modern factories
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are extremely adept at performing highly specialized tasks - one robot may
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spray paint car parts while another does spots welds while another pours
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radioactive chemicals. Robots are ideal workers: they never get bored and
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they work around the clock. What's even more important, they're flexible.
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By altering its programming you can instruct a robot to take on different
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tasks. This is largely what sets robots apart from other machines; try as
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you might you can't make your washing machine do the dishes. Although some
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critics complain that robots are stealing much-needed jobs away from
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people, so far they've been given only the dreariest, dirtiest, most
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soul-destroying work.
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The word robot is Slav in origin and is related to the words for work
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and worker. Robots first appeared in a play, Rossum's Universal Robots,
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written in 1920 by the Czech playwright, Karel Capek. The play tells of an
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engineer who designs man-like machines that have no human weakness and
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become immensely popular. However, when the robots are used for war they
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rebel against their human masters.
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Though industrial robots do dull, dehumanizing work, they are
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nevertheless a delight to watch as they crane their long necks, swivel
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their heads and poke about the area where they work. They satisfy "that
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vague longing to see the human body reflected in a machine, to see a living
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function translated into mechanical parts", as one writer has said.
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Just as much fun are the numerous "personal" robots now on the market,
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the most popular of which is HERO, manufactured by Heathkit. Looking like
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a plastic step-stool on wheels, HERO can lift objects with its one clawed
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arm and utter computer-synthesized speech. There's Hubot, too, which comes
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with a television screen face, flashing lights and a computer keyboard that
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pulls out from its stomach. Hubot moves at a pace of 30 cm per second and
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can function as a burglar alarm and a wake up service. Several years ago,
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the swank department store Neiman-Marcus sold a robot pet, named Wires.
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When you boil all the feathers out of the hype, HERO, Hubot, Wires et.
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al. are really just super toys. You may dream of living like a slothful
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sultan surrounded by a coterie of metal maids, but any further automation
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in your home will instead include things like lights that switch on
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automatically when the natural light dims or carpets with permanent suction
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systems built into them.
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One of the earliest attempts at a robot design was a machine, nicknamed
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Shakey by its inventor because it was so wobbly on its feet. Today, poor
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Shakey is a rusting pile of metal sitting in the corner of a California
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laboratory. Robot engineers have since realized that the greater challenge
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is not in putting together the nuts and bolts, but rather in devising the
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lists of instructions - the "software - that tell robots what to do".
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Software has indeed become increasingly sophisticated year by year.
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The Canadian weather service now employs a program called METEO which
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translates weather reports from English to French. There are computer
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programs that diagnose medical ailments and locate valuable ore deposits.
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Still other computer programs play and win at chess, checkers and go.
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As a results, robots are undoubtedly getting "smarter". The Diffracto
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company in Windsor is one of the world's leading designers and makers of
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machine vision. A robot outfitted with Diffracto "eyes" can find a part,
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distinguish it from another part and even examine it for flaws. Diffracto
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is now working on a tomato sorter which examines colour, looking for no-red
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- i.e. unripe - tomatoes as they roll past its TV camera eye. When an
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unripe tomato is spotted, a computer directs a robot arm to pick out the
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pale fruit.
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Another Diffracto system helps the space shuttle's Canadarm pick up
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satellites from space. This sensor looks for reflections on a satellites
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gleaming surface and can determine the position and speed of the satellite
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as it whirls through the sky. It tells the astronaut when the satellite is
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in the right position to be snatched up by the space arm.
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The biggest challenge in robotics today is making software that can
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help robots find their way around a complex and chaotic world. Seemingly
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sophisticated tasks such as robots do in the factories can often be
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relatively easy to program, while the ordinary, everyday things people do -
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walking, reading a letter, planning a trip to the grocery store - turn out
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to be incredibly difficult. The day has still to come when a computer
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program can do anything more than a highly specialized and very orderly
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task.
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The trouble with having a robot in the house for example, is that life
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there is so unpredictable, as it is everywhere else outside the assembly
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line. In a house, chairs get moved around, there is invariably some
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clutter on the floor, kids and pets are always running around. Robots work
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efficiently on the assembly line where there is no variation, but they are
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not good at improvisation. Robots are disco, not jazz. The irony in
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having a robot housekeeper is that you would have to keep your house
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perfectly tidy with every item in the same place all the time so that your
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metal maid could get around.
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Many of the computer scientists who are attempting to make robots
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brighter are said to working in the field of Artificial Intelligence, or
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AI. These researchers face a huge dilemma because there is no real
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consensus as to what intelligence is. Many in AI hold the view that the
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human mind works according to a set of formal rules. They believe that the
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mind is a clockwork mechanism and that human judgement is simply
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calculation. Once these formal rules of thought can be discovered, they
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will simply be applied to machines.
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On the other hand, there are those critics of AI who contend that
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thought is intuition, insight, inspiration. Human consciousness is a
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stream in which ideas bubble up from the bottom or jump into the air like
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fish.
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This debate over intelligence and mind is, of course, one that has gone
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on for thousands of years. Perhaps the outcome of the "robolution" will be
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to make us that much wiser.
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