Artificial Intelligence EssayArtificial Intelligence once somethingthat people thought could only come out of science fiction novels and movies. But today that could all change because of a robot called Cog.
Cogis an artificial intelligence that its creators have given a body. He is the future of AI and a new beginning for the field. His creator , Rogney Brooks, a professorof electrical engineering and computer science, thought of creating cog,from inspiration from an artificial intelligence that was depicted in themovie, “2001:A Space Odyssey. ” In the movie, Hal, the AI, controlleda large space craft. Instead of creating a brain in a box like inthe movie, Rodney is putting the mind of a human into the body of a robot.
Cog isnt yet a true humanoid robot. Right now he is little morethat a head, neck , shoulders, chest and waist. He is perched ona gray steel pedestal bolted to the floor of the Artificial intelligencelab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Still no othermachine has come closer to the humanoid robots of science fiction. Cog foreshadows the day in which robots will interact normally with us. Cogs creators are trying to do just that.
Cog is a very far cry from what HALwas thought, because he has some anatomy. HAL was just basicallya brain in a box. What they are trying to accomplish with cog, isto equip a brain with a body, that has sensors so that it can learn aboutits environment on its own, much like a infant does. Creating a humanoid was a big leap forBrooks. His last venture in to the AI world made a big impressionon the artificial-Intelligence community.
He created small robotsthe scurried around like insects. It turns out though, that thesesmall creatures have much in common with Cog. They both do no usethe usual AI approach that most other Mobil robots use. These otherrobots, would have to carry a complete map of the world that the machinewill encounter.
That would work fine in the lab, Brooks reasoned,but what about the real world with its vast space and many unfamiliarobstacles. To over overcome this problem, Brooks programmed thislittle robots with so-called parallel behaviors. He didnt need theall-encompassing maps others used, just simple leg routines, such as up-downand forward-back motions the operate in parallel. On the robotslegs sensors warded of obstacles and triggered these behaviors like reflexes. These machines ran riot in the lab where gradua!te students built new obstacles coursesfor them every day.
The insect like robots managed to conquer all. Cog represents the basic same principal, but a few steps beyond. Brooks plans to take Cog a long way. Right now , Cog is learning how to see, and relate what he sees to hishead motion, to be able to know what motion in the world, and what is dewto his head movement.
They are letting Cog learn by its self. There are also plans to make ears for cog so that he may learn to hear. They have all ready completed a poly styrene head that is complete withmicro-phones and processors. The first step in teaching Cog to hearis to map sensor coordination between the eyes and ears.
With thedone, when cog hears a sound, he will point his eyes at it, and then ifhe sees motion, that will reinforce what he just heard with the coordinationof the two. Sound will help cog figure out where to look, but hewill also be able to separate sounds, like people can do at a noisy cocktailparty. These senses will help it to be able to interact with itsenvironment and learn about its own body. What it sees verses whatit is doing. There are also plans to giveCog the ability to be able to reach out and touch someone.
Rightnow he has no arms at all. He can lean forwards and sideways at thehips, and turn its head, but that is all at the moment. Williamson, a graduate student on the Cogteam, is building Cogs first arm as a part of his Ph. D. research.
Cogs arms will have compliance unlike some other robotic arms that areavailable right now. Compliance is a way of dealing with any obstacle. If you are feeling around in the dark, for example, and you encounter abrick wall, your arms compliance lets you stop pushing with out you consciouslythinking about it. Without .
