the NRI funding are designed specifically to support U.S. research. But there are areas, like building robotics technology to respond to nuclear crises, where we are actively looking for the best solutions around the world.
Q:
What role do you see robots playing in our homes in the next 10 to 20 years, and will the NRI help us get there?
A: Our homes are some of the most difficult areas for robots, because they were not designed with automation in mind. Handling car parts in a factory is much easier than folding laundry or cooking a meal, and the price point for a successful home robot is much lower than for a military or industrial application. But when people find the right application, household robots can be powerful; currently there are about seven times more robot vacuum cleaners worldwide than all other robots combined. The NRI emphasis on safe robots, and on robot-human interaction, will be key to getting robots that will assist the elderly and perform useful tasks around the house.
Q:
What role can robotics play in promoting education, particularly for science, technology, engineering and math?
A: The great thing about kids working with robots is that they are learning science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — skills, and they don’t even realize it. The kids think they are just building cool robots! I’ve watched several kinds of robo-camps, robot clubs and robot
competitions, and the students are learning how to work together in groups, how to document their results, how to make presentations. Most important, they learn there is no such thing as a “right answer” or “wrong answer” — there is only a design that can be built, tested, taken apart and improved. Building a robot is a lot like the real jobs they will have in the future.
Q:
How do you see robots, and robot makers, transitioning to civil applications from other arenas?
A: It’s already well under way. Technology originally developed for the military for automated scout vehicles has now worked its way into
cars with adaptive cruise control and lane departure warnings. Underwater vehicle technology designed for military purposes is used for tracking oil plumes and doing oceanography. And unmanned air vehicles will soon be fighting forest fires and helping in search and rescue missions in bad weather and difficult terrain. It is happening gradually — so gradually that a lot of people may not notice. But if you are immersed in this field as I am and keep your eye out, you start to realize that robots — mostly friendly ones, to be sure — are all around us already. And they are surely going to be a bigger part of the everyday landscape in the years to come.
Mission Critical
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Summer 2012
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