When a Robot Dies

On trusting the vacuum cleaner

"When a robot dies you don't have to write a letter to its mother" -Navy chief commenting on PackBot EOD #129 after its destruction in the line of duty by an IED

No, just a letter to the bean-counters, whose anal auditing is set to drive the entire business of humankind to the depths of despondency in the coming decades.

Scanning the film "iRobot" confirmed the inevitable: life imitates art, especially art with Hollywood's pull. Dramatized literature (using the term loosely wrt screenplays) is pre-shaping your attitude to the first-generation emissaries of the impending age of bots ("botage"?).

Fortunately in all major events starring artificial life the script has been relatively kind to alloy-silicon hero. Sonny in iRobot gained superhero status, redeeming the rogue intelligence supervising an entire commercial fleet of drones against the wildcard tendency of carbon-based life. And yes, its logic was undeniable.

Time is running out. iRobot, the movie, dealt narrowly with domestic robots, treading a milky-safe line for a pleasant, feel-good "movie experience". You know the world is a dirtier place and military bot will soon reside permanently in the headlines.

Who of you (outside the industry) knows a there is a real company named "iRobot" - making you-know-what bots?

"iRobot is the largest manufacturer of mobile robots in the world. We are pioneering breakthroughs in .. systems that perform dangerous jobs including reconnaissance, mine countermeasures, explosive ordnance disposal and hazardous materials handling.

"iRobot knows that the world is a complicated and oftentimes dangerous place.

"SUGV is The soldier's Robot - deployed by the soldier; operated by the soldier; sensing for the soldier and weighing less than 30 pounds to minimize the risk to the soldier in hostile operations. SUGV is an evolution of the combat-proven PackBot used extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq which iRobot developed from concept to combat in 3.5 years.

"Before sending in soldiers, send in PackBot Scout.

"PackBot Scout is a battle-tested Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) designed for Military Operations Urban Terrain (MOUT) and other 21st century battle missions. This lightweight, rugged robot can be hand carried and deployed by a single soldier. "

What really captured my imagination was this section of the iRobot website. These guys have the best (human) job on the planet ...

"The SwarmBot
The iRobot SwarmBot(TM) packs a comprehensive sensor suite, a high-performance 32-bit microprocessor, and a rugged low-maintenance design into a 5" cube that can rest in the palm of your hand. Each robot uses the sophisticated ISIS(TM) infrared communication system that provides obstacle detection, inter-robot localization, and communications at 125 kbps.

"Distributed Algorithm Behavior Library
SwarmBots communicate with their neighbors using a set-based neighbor query system and a gradient-based ad-hoc messaging system. Global behaviors are formed from the interactions of many individuals by using our collection of "group behavior building blocks." We have developed a large library of these behaviors, and have used them to perform group tasks such as clustering to a location of interest, surrounding an object to measure its perimeter, navigating long distances using neighboring robots as landmarks, and exploring and mapping a large building (Hey, I saw that in Minority Report with TomCruise!).

"Hands-Off Operation: HIVE(TM) and the Robot Ecology(TM)
In order to work with a large swarm of robots effectively, the user cannot program, charge, or even turn on the robots by hand. Software development, debugging, and analysis must be performed in a centralized fashion, without having to physically interact with each robot. The Robot Ecology(TM) provides resources so that the robots can keep themselves running, and the HIVE user interface provides centralized command and control of the swarm. For large swarms, these are requirements, not luxuries.

"The Future
As robots head towards ubiquity, swarms will be the norm rather than the exception. The list of potential applications of this research is prodigious, including mine countermeasures, nuclear/biological/chemical threat detection, covert surveillance, and interplanetary exploration. "

Yes, the future.

Posted by Dextre Rock : November 2004