Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
Robots 1
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
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Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
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Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
My Investigation Have you ever wondered how advanced humanoids benefit us every day? They are robots that look like humans with special materials for their skin and nervous system. They are used for hard labour types of tasks and also used for performing tasks that require great flexibility such as performing surgery. But the question we leave ourselves wondering with here is: do they really benefit us? Futuristic humanoids have the potential to do things humans can’t, if their controller or programmer wants them to. They can do a wide variety of tasks but we don’t know if it would make any difference to the final result if humans did these tasks themselves. Humanoids are being constantly developed and so many special human-like features have been added that it seems like it won’t be long before they will have a human-like brain and be able to interact properly with humans! This is what makes them so fascinating. 4
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
My group and I have been inquiring into how: advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind. I’ve been investigating how: advanced robotics technology is being developed for the betterment of humankind. Our key concepts are change, causation and effect and my related concepts are communication, networks, cooperation, discovery, exploration, borders, roles, rights, impact and dependence. I wondered how advanced robotics technology is being developed for the betterment of humankind. What advanced technology is being developed in this field and finally, what ethical challenges and issues may come out of this technology? I chose to focus my investigation on humanoids. Robots are used for a variety of purposes but I was wondering if they are really helping humans. Robots make any tasks easily accomplishable and also help keep us safe. They can search unsafe buildings and explore an area where there are fires, whereas for a human, those tasks would be very dangerous. Robots are also very useful because they don't get tired, sick or hungry and the rarely are unavailable when they are needed. Robots are good at jobs that are usually the same such as working on a production line. They also can move larger and heavier items than humans can. I asked Mr Knuckey, who is the Head of Technology, what he thought of robots and he replied: ‘Robots are generally used for the tasks that humans can't do, don't want to do or are not very good at doing. Exploring the very beginning of our existence through landing probes on comets is one example where humans do not want to travel. Similarly, at high pressures in the ocean depths or high temperatures in volcanoes, humans cannot survive whereas robots can take important scientific information. There are also a lot of monotonous and dirty jobs that humans prefer not to do, from packing food to washing laundry in hospitals, where robotics are definitely gaining in usefulness. With an ageing population and many young people not wanting to become nurses, healthcare robotics is a major research area. Furthermore, robots can be much more precise than humans so can be used in delicate surgery and exact manufacture.’ 5
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
The Selwyn Village Foundation From reading two stuff articles (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6105847/Space-age-robots-care-for-elderly) (http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/gore/243453/robot-trial-help-elderly) I found out that in in a home for the elderly called the Selwyn Village Foundation, there were trials for healthbots, which are robots that help in medical purposes. They were successful and the robots were used in the Selwyn Foundation. Dr Elizabeth Broadbent was the manager and supervisor of this project.
Asked to reflect on how she became interested in human-robot interactions she replied, ‘Star Wars made a big impression on me when I was small – I loved the personalities of the robots, their humour and their conscientiousness. As a teenager, I read the novels of Isaac Asimov and Harry Harrison and I dreamed of making Giskard and Daneel, robots from Asimov’s books who were so loyal and caring for humans.’ (Dr Elizabeth Broadbent) She then started with an honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, before going on to work for a small New Zealand company called RoboTechnology. However, she was frustrated by the limitations of technology and robots at the time. ‘I was studying how robots’ appearance, voice and behaviour affect peoples’ reactions to them.’ (Dr Elizabeth Broadbent) Broadbent was then asked then asked what the key factors were while making robots for healthcare purposes. She answered, ‘the key factors are making robots look good, simple to operate, responsive and reliable – all of which will make people more accepting of them. On top of that, you need to make the robots perform a useful task.’ (Dr Elizabeth Broadbent) 6
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
Healthcare robots have become popular in the village, indicating the Selwyn Foundation's goal of caring for the senior residents at their foundation. The robots perform tasks such as taking blood pressure, heart rate, helping with stiffness, blood oxygen, entertainment, reminding patients to take their medication and alerting the nurses of a fail in the patients tests. Professor Bruce Mardonairi from the University Of Auckland; Faculty Of Engineering says that the whole purpose of the trial is ‘to contribute to the development of healthcare devices that can maintain and improve the quality of life of older people which can help and empower an individual and caregivers alike.' (Professor Bruce Mardonairi) 'We want to help older people to be more independent and to be happier and more socially interactive, using the robots as a conduit for interaction. In the next few years we hope to see robots helping people by doing simple tasks and facilitating, empowering and enriching actions - connecting them via the Internet with friends, family and carers for example, or providing entertainment and interesting activities to those who may be socially isolated or whose health imposes limitations on what they can do by themselves.' (Professor Bruce Mardonairi)
Robot Sensors After reading an article by Professor Dale Carnegie, a specialist in robot designs, I understood the purpose of sensors. In the article he explained about how robots are completely blind without sensors because then they can't understand what's around them and if they can't do that, they can't interact or respond with their conditions. So robots have different sensors for different environments. Some engineers may not put in all of the sensors because the sensors might be very expensive or the robot might just stand there trying to process the information and not actually do what it is supposed to do. One of the simplest types of sensors is the infrared range finder. It fires out an invisible beam of light and when the light hits an object, it bounces back to the sensor. It is timed and the time taken to get to and from the object allows the robot to calculate the range. Sometimes robots need to have very sharp sensors that specify what they're looking for. For example, a human might be trapped in a dangerous situation so the robot will try to rescue the human. The 7
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
human might be moving so the robot will try and detect motion. The human would be hot so the robot will use its heat sensors to try and detect them. If the human is conscious, they might be screaming for help so the robot would need to be able to hear them. Also, humans take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide so the robot would need to find that carbon dioxide. But the danger is, a fire does not stay still, it is hot and it releases carbon dioxide into the air so a robot might be looking for a human but may actually run into a fire instead. That's why robots need to have sharp sensors. I was also wondering about how robots are controlled. While further investigating I found out that robots can be controlled via remote or be programmed to do certain tasks. Robots can do a large array of tasks yet they don't have a human brain so they can't do anything they are not programmed to do. So if they do come into contact with something they haven't been programmed to do, they cannot do it. A human must help or assist the robot or update the programming for the robot to identify and complete the task. Robots are made from various materials but mainly metal and plastic but it all depends on the task they're assigned to and the conditions they have to work in. Robots are also designed in various ways. Like humans, robots might have four limbs or maybe just an arm that they use to complete their tasks. Robots have light and sound sensors which act like the human eyes and ears and help them understand the conditions around them. Robots don't have a brain so their equality of a brain is the human controlling them. Robots move with the help of actuators which are power sources, for example: electric motors. Attached to the actuators, there are either wheels, Caterpillar tracks, legs or rails. Wheels are useful in enclosed spaces or smooth surfaces. Caterpillar tracks are useful if the robot is on rough terrain and for going up stairs. Legs are useful when it comes to climbing up slopes or walking on uneven ground. Rails are used when the robot's tasks need to be performed speedily without needing to go off a fixed course for example: construction lines. Robots can be used for exploring or for medical purposes but they are mainly used in industries or factories. In an industry, they are mainly used for 8
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
jobs that require accuracy, flexibility, speed and reliability. Most of the robots that are in industries are robot arms. Robot arms operate in a similar way to the human arm. The area the arm can move in is called the robots working envelope. Robots have a lot of joints so they can move in many different directions. The directions in which the robot can move in are called degrees of freedom (DOF). There are also Mobile robots. Mobile robots are also known as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). They have either wheels or legs that allow them to move independently. Mobile robots are used to carry objects, explore land and carry out tasks that are non-repetitive and not in a particular order. Another field where robot technology is being advanced are Educational Robots are used to show students how to design, build and operate them. A group of students sometimes compete against another to compare their robots. Agricultural Robots: Agricultural robots are robots that do jobs that are natural and environmental, such as plant seeds, harvest crops and pick fruit off of trees. At the moment, not many agricultural robots are being used as humans take less time and are more efficient. There are two more types of robots and one of them is Telerobots. Telerobots operate in places where humans can’t or prefer not to go. Tiny telerobots can go into the human body while sturdier and more stable robots can travel in space. The people who control telerobots are called teleoperators. There is one more type of robot and those are Humanoid robots. Humanoid robots are robots who look and act a lot like humans. The simplest humanoids have a torso ( the main part of the body), two arms, two legs and a head and are also able to walk when operated by a human. Scientists are trying to give humanoids human senses of 9
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
sight, touch and hearing so that they can act in a similar way to humans. While further investigating I found that robots can be programmed to touch, see and hear like humans and they can also walk like humans but they do not behave exactly like humans, not yet anyway. Humans have five senses, touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste. Instead of having these proper senses, a robot has pressure sensors to touch, light sensors and cameras to see and sonar sensors to hear. These senses allow robots to be as sensitive as humans, or maybe even more. Touch, hearing and sight have been developed for robots because scientists thinks that they are the most useful senses when it comes to robots. At this stage, the robotic development of taste and smell has not been considered worthwhile. The key idea is that robots are all designed for a different purpose. Ten years ago the push was to get robots that were cheaper, more reliable and faster. Nowadays, the aim is to get robots that are more flexible so that they can be employed in multiple tasks at once. For example, the ability to pick up clothes, wash them, iron them and then put them away for you. The recent DARPA grand challenge had robots competing in many tasks that would be useful for disaster recovery, such as rescuing people trapped in an earthquake. Mr Knuckey also emailed me some information about artificial interactions and how we also want humans and robots to interact well together, so Mr. Knuckey, Q.M.C head of IT is undertaking his own research into ‘further investigating artificial emotions. Not just to get 'happy robots but the use of analogues of emotions to help the robot figure out what to do in a complexed environment.’ (Mr Knuckey) Clearly, robots can be of huge benefit to humankind – According to Mr. Knuckey. While further investigating I found out about how robots are very good at acting in the world with high precision, accuracy, repeatability and strength. However, they are not very ’soft’, which is known as compliance. Spend the next few minutes manipulating objects to see how dexterous yet soft your hand is. 10
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
It is the planning task that lets robots down the most. Artificial intelligence seeks to give robots the ability to plan unstructured, dynamic and complex problems, just like humans do every day. Doing up buttons on a blazer is a very unstructured, dynamic and complex task as it changes subtly every time you do it. Such tasks cannot be preprogramed into a robot and they must learn to adapt to the subtle changes of everyday life. Mr. Knuckey’s field of research looks at trial and error learning, where we get robots to try things out, figure out the bits that work and then combine together the best bits. (Mr Knuckey) From interviewing Mr Knuckey I found out that there are two major ethical issues that scientists and engineers are wrestling with at the moment. Firstly, how much autonomy should we give artificial systems? Should a robot be able to intervene in a life and death situation and make decisions without reference back to a human operator is a major consideration. Secondly, and something for a few decades time, if we give robots the ability to feel and are perceived as humans, then should we give them robot rights as we do human rights? (Mr Knuckey) From investigating further into some issues I found out that there is also a danger that when robots are developed, they can be used against humans in conflict. Robots are tough and can do things humans cannot. A bullet hitting them on the shoulder is not going to do much damage but that doesn't mean that the robot can't do any damage. Robots are a lot stronger than humans are so they can cause a lot of damage and destruction. This is what makes robots very dangerous because there is the potential for the most technically developed countries and organisations to use these innovations to assert their viewpoint and power. WORLD – The Dominion Post I read a newspaper article on drones. There have been some complaints about drones invading the privacy of some citizens. Chris Anderson – the chief executer of drones - was explaining on Wednesday 9th September 2015 about how drones are being sent out far too often. ‘It’s bad and it’s going to get worse and if we don’t do something about it, no one’s been killed yet, but 11
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
someone’s going to do something stupid.’ (Chris Anderson) He was talking about how on Wednesday 2nd September a drone crashed in a stadium which was in the US and when that happened, there was an open tennis match going on. Drone sightings in civilian aircraft are also increasing and the pilots are starting to complain about that. Fire Fighters and Emergency Workers are complaining about how drones interfere with their work. Chris Anderson has clearly expressed his opinion that drones are interfering with the public’s privacy far too often. ASIMO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skXYr8BzjpM) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdQL11uWWcI) . From watching the two videos above and reading Robots And Artificial Intelligence, I found out about ASIMO. In Honda's technical studio, ASIMO was made. ASIMO is Honda's famous humanoid robot. ASIMO has been designed to interact with humans so if you reach out your hand, ASIMO will shake it. It has sensors in its palm that sense your touch and cameras in its head to track movement. ASIMO has stabilisation technology which react if its balance system is upset. ASIMO's balance system allows it to move back if pushed and move forward if pulled. ASIMO is the product of nearly three decades of development. It all started when back in 1986 Honda built a robot that could walk but very slowly and clumsily. In 1998, it was developed to walk more like a human. And in 1993, a torso was added. By 1996, the robot had become intimidatingly large. So in 1997, it was shrunk to a less intimidating size. In in the year 2000, Honda revealed ASIMO, which stands for Advanced Step Innovative Mobility. ASIMO is 130 centimetres tall which is the same height as a sitting down adult, ASIMO is the perfect size for helping in daily tasks. Over the years ASIMO has been constantly developed and is now Mobile enough to play some sports. ASIMO can run at 6 miles an hour as well as walk backwards and hop. ASIMO has been programmed to kick a ball but not been programmed to stop a ball going 12
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
at fast speed. Also, ASIMO can help getting people refreshments. With the ability to unscrew a bottle and pour a drink in a cup, ASIMO has definitely got some steady hands. It may not be remarkable for a human but is a very big achievement for a robot. In total, ASIMO has 57 degrees of freedom which allows it to dance while its 52 vault of battery can keep it going for 40 minutes. ASIMO has better moves than some humans!
Kismet, Domo and Leo From reading a book called Future Technology, I found out about how Dr Cynthia Breazeal and her group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which is more commonly known as MIT, are dealing with a major challenge. They are scientists who study robots (roboticists) and they are facing the challenge of building a robot that socially interacts with humans. The world is already filled with robots that do delicate and dangerous tasks. Yet, as Breazeal knows, something is missing. Today's robots, the best ones included, are very limited. Their Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot match the brain power of humans, dogs and even ants. People want to build 'real' robots like ones in Star Wars or even just a very basic one that acts a little bit like a human. The most famous robot Breazeal's team designed was named Kismet. Kismet has the ability to express itself through human-like facial expressions. He can frown, look puzzled, smile and look sad. Also, when Kismet hears a human voice, he can avert his eyes in the direction of the sound. His eyes and ears send signals to computers which then tell Kismet what facial reactions to display and what to say. Mobile robots are the next step up. Two examples are Leonardo or Leo for short. He is 3 feet tall with large eyes, pointed ears that are quite large, a mouth with very soft lips, small teeth and a set of a furry belly and legs. Domo however, is all metal with a long neck and large blue eyes. Domo’s eyes are wirelessly linked up to 12 powerful computers. These act as the robots brain. They can both recognise faces, express that they understand and volunteer to help perform some simple tasks. 13
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
After reading an article I found out a bit more from Simon Raik-Allen, the cheif technology officer. ‘Machines that have their own brain could come in less than decade,’ is what online accounting business Mind Your Own Business (MYOB) says. MYOB encourages students, developers and business owners to focus on automation and artificial intelligence. Simon Raik-Allen said that scientists are highlighting dangers of uncontrolled technology development. ‘While it is fun and even scary to think about what it might be like, the changes we see are closer than everyone expects’ (Simon Raik-Allen) ‘Regardless of how advanced the technology is one thing unlikely to change is the desire for human interaction.’ ‘ As the world evolves, in everything from your retail experience to making a business deal, the complexed interactions we have with people are likely to become, more valuable’ ‘ Increased Automation would fundamentally change the workplace for next 2 decades.’ ‘Well we are probably not going to be reporting to a robot, the reality is that a lot of jobs that exist today will be replaced by automation while roles we have not yet thought of will open up.’ ‘To prepare business owners should digitise their business, automate as many manual processes as possible and focus on customer experience and develop networks that enable a great connection with people’ (Simon Raik-Allen)
Others Opinions I was wondering about what other people may think about what robots are most likely to be used for most. I decided to do a survey of what my class thinks as I thought people that didn’t know much on the subject would have a good opinion; will advanced humanoids be used more in conflict than for beneficial purposes? At the beginning of this unit and even now I disagree for what the majority of the people thought. The graph below shows the responses.
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Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
Do you think that advanced humanoids will be used more for conflict than for benificial purposes?
9 20
Yes
25
No
Do you think that advanced humanoids will be used more for conflict than for benificial purposes?
20
15
10
5
0 Yes
No Series 1
15
Column2
Column1
Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
To conclude my investigation, as my report has highlighted, advanced humanoid technology has the potential to transform life as we know it. Advanced humanoids clearly benefit humankind by generally being used for roles that previously put human’s lives at risk like rescuing humans in a traumatic incident and doing damage assessments. They are also used for manual labour tasks and fine motor coordination like surgery and healthcare. Their capabilities can also minimise a risk from human error. However, humanoids can be dangerous too. Drones invading peoples’ privacy is just a small issue compared to the harm humanoids can cause when pushed to the limits. They can be used as weapons or can turn against us possibly in the future. The government needs to put up a limit to the development of humanoids and make it so they can’t be used in conflict. We need to keep these hardworking humanoids on our side. -Rishika Khera
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Rishika Khera – Advanced technology can provoke and challenge humankind
Bibliography • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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Community Mr Knuckey (Head of Technology) Henry (Robot Expert – Ambassador from Future Tech.) Janice Sanders (Spokesperson for Selwyn Foundation) Texts Andy M. (2008)-‐Technology ethical debates about the application of science Evans Brothers Limited Publications Nicolas B. (2010) Robots and Artificial Intelligence Macmillan Publications Rodger B. (2011) How Cool is This? D.K Publications. Nicolas B. (2010) Robots and Artificial Intelligence Macmillan Publications Kathryn C. (2014) Humanoid Robots Running into the Future Capstone Press Publications Ian G. (2001) New Technology Robot Technology Evans Brothers Limited Publications Clive G. (2011) Gadgets, Games, Robots & the Digital World, What are you connected to? Charles P. (2009) Future Tech From Thomas -‐ Page in Learning journal Websites
http://manyanswers.co.nz/topic-‐robots-‐1698.aspx http://deeperweb.com/results.php?cx=%21004415538554621685521%3Avgwa9iznfuo&cof=FORID%3A11%3BNB%3A 1&ie=UTF-‐8&q=robots+helping+humans&as_qdr=&siteurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdeeperweb.com%2F http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_10-‐6-‐2014-‐11-‐42-‐22 http://www.medgadget.com/2012/02/medgadget-‐exclusive-‐interview-‐about-‐the-‐healthbots.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/robot.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djKNh503jPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdQL11uWWcI http://manyanswers.co.nz/topic-‐robots-‐1070.aspx