GE143 - 9:

Robotics, Driverless cars, and Assistive technologies

Dr Robert Batzinger
Instructor Emeritus

2022-10-19

1 Soeul Halloween Stampede

  • Crowded events work only with good crowd control and constant flow
  • A sudden panic will cause a surge that can lead to a deadly panic
  • In a surge, the best thing is float with the flow
  • The critical thing is to be able to breathe
  • Lighter members survive as long as they can flow at or about eye level of everyone else
  • Individuals below shoulder level are dragged down and stepped on by the crowd.
  • People in front of a deadend will be crushed as more surge forward.

1.1 Protecting yourself

  • Be Prepared: take note of your surroundings

  • Take Cover: side hallway or closet, under the stage. Outside, look for trees, vehicles, or anything large that you can climb on.

  • Keep Moving (diagonally to get out of the center) you want to get to edge where you can take cover or get to an alternate exit.

  • Arms up to protect your breathing space

  • Avoid Choke Points

  • Look for Hidden and Non-Obvious Exits

2 Session 9:

Robotics, drones and driverless cars (2)

3 Levels of mobility and autonomy in Robots

  • fixed task from a fixed position
  • wired mobile devices
  • wireless remote control of mobile device
  • network of switches
  • path following
  • proximal awareness
  • obstacle avoidance
  • autonomous swarm

3.1 Fixed task from a fixed position

  • Programmable factory robot
  • Useful for repetitive or complicated tasks
  • Used in factories, kitchens, bar, and shipping rooms
  • Often has 7 degrees of movement

3.2 Wired mobile devices

  • Quick development, low tech robot that uses wired controls
  • Depends on the skill of the operator

3.3 Wireless remote control of mobile device

  • Popular among radio-controlled toys
  • Depends on the skill of the human operator
  • Crashes are common when the unit is fast and out of the direct view of the operator

3.4 Network of switches

  • Useful in freight train, airports and post office sorting as well as factory and warehouse operations
  • Requires a object ID system to help track and guide objects through the system
  • System will deliver items at the portal to their destination.
  • Nightmare if the power goes out.

3.5 Path following

  • Simple machine to follow marked lines
  • Stops for obstacles in the way
  • Stops and signals when the destination has be reached

3.6 Proximal awareness

3.7 Obstacle avoidance, autonomous traveller

3.8 Autonomous swarm

  • Useful for distributing the workload over a swarm of robots working together

  • Used for simulataneous

    • search and rescue operations
    • [aerial light shows][]
    • cave / rubble exploring

4 Robotics

  • Platform: mobile, airborne, stationary, weight
  • Endurance: HP, battery for mobile, backup power
  • Flexibility: degrees of freedom, flight agility
  • Tools attached: grippers, sensors, mechanical tools/blades
  • Range of terrain: flat, inclined, smooth vs rough surface
  • Human intervention: operator, setup, terrain and position data entry
  • Accuracy and adaptability: (remote surgery, microelectronics assembly)

4.1 Examples of current robots

Baxter Cog Sphero mini

ASMIO Mule AMECA

Spot Salli Roomba

Da Vinci Sofia Pepper

Chinese robots Chinese robots Chinese robots Chinese robots

4.2 Applications

5 Design intent

5.1 Requirements of Service robots

  • mission completion (core)
  • user sensory experience (external manifestation)
  • artificial intelligence (guarantee)
  • unique human characteristics (promotion).

6 Review of Kitchen Robots

\[\small\matrix{ Criteria & Thermomix\ TM6 & Aldi\ Stirling\ Thermo& Magimix\ Cook\ Expert\\ \hline \hbox{Cost:}& \$2,200 & \$249 & \$2,249\\ \hbox{Product Review:} & 3.8 & 3.2&4.9\\ \hbox{Power:(motor)}& 500w & 700w&900w\\ \hbox{Power:(heat)}& 1000w & 1200w&800w\\ \hbox{Cooking functions:}& 20 & 10 & 12\\ \hbox{Mixing bowl:}& 2.2L & 2L & 1.2-3.5L\\ \hbox{Build quality:} & 4.0 & 3.7& 4.9\\ \hbox{Value for money:} & 3.1 & 3.7& 4.5\\ \hbox{Ease of use} & 4.1& 3.7&4.7\\ \hbox{Cleaning - maintenance} & 3.9& 3.7&4.6\\ \hbox{Noise level} & 3.1& 3.2& 4.0\\ \hbox{Safety} & 4.1& 3.8& 4.8\\ }\]

6.1 Comparison

Criteria Thermomix TM6 Aldi Stirling Thermo Magimix Cook Expert
Picture
Reviews: Pos/Neu/Neg 66%/9%/25% 49%/21%/30% 99%/0%/1%
Temperature settings: Precise 37-120C 4 levels (off, low, med, high) Precise 37-12C
Functions sauté, emulsify, stir, purée, mill, mix, knead, steam, smoothie, crush ice, Slow cook, sear, sugar, ferment, sous vide, kettle, thicken, rice cooker, egg boiler, warm up, blend, beat, chop, grate, weigh directly into bowl, whip sauté, emulsify, stir, purée, mill, mix, knead, steam, smoothie, crush ice Cook (pureed soup, creamed soup, simmer, steam); bake (pastry/cake, bread/brioche, whisk); blender (smoothie, frozen dessert, crush); food processor and an automatic rinsing function

6.2 Missing functions

  • Pressure cook
  • Roast
  • Fry
  • Bake
  • Dehydrate
  • Preserve
  • Freeze

7 Social robotics and anthromorphization

  • Goal: develop the capacity for robots to engage in meaningful social interaction with people

  • While not necessary for social robotics, some form of anthropomorphism facilitates interactions between humans and robots

  • Both designers and users tend to anthropomorphize robots as they interact with them, ascribing to them features such as personality, aliveness, empathy, and the attribution of a soul

7.1 Characteristics of socially interactive robots

  • express and/or perceive emotions
  • communicate with high-level dialogue
  • learn models of or recognize other agents
  • establish and/or maintain social relationships
  • use natural cues (gaze, gestures, etc.)
  • exhibit distinctive personality and character
  • may learn and/or develop social competencies

7.2 Areas of discomfort

People feel strange when

  • an object that is supposed to be lifeless appears lifelike

  • objects suddenly exhibit threatening actions in response to human interaction

  • objects that appears human-like but moves or reacts in strange, anti-social ways

  • objects build a reputation of trust-worthy behavoir and then suddenly break the trust.

8 Robots: instruments in relationship???

8.1 Naïve Instrumentalism:

* Robots are machines and mere instruments to human purposes.
* However, there is an oxymoron: while the robot is a mere instrument, in appearance it is more like a person.
* Instrumentalist are generally against talking about robots in a way that suggests that they are people as they can only provide illusions of a relationship

8.2 Uncritical Posthumanism:

* totally embrace social robots as quasi-persons
*  Posthumanists tend to cross the borders and question dualisms and binaries
* Robots are  social entities that share our world

9 Anthropomorphizing of Robots

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00468/full

10 Ethics

  • What governs the behavior of the robot?
  • Who is responsible when something goes wrong?
  • What is considered appropriate level of risk?

10.1 Issac Asimov’s three laws of robotics

  1. A robot shall not harm a human, or by inaction allow a human to come to harm.
  2. A robot shall obey any instruction given to it by a human
  3. A robot shall avoid actions or situations that could cause it to come to harm itself

ACM Code of Ethics

PYU GE143 2022/1: Science and IT for the Quality of Life [9]