Dravens Tales at Robots on Tour

For the 25th anniversary and World Congress «Robots on tour» of the laboratory for Artificial intelligence from the University of Zurich (AI Lab), robots, cyborgs, interested parties and robotics fans from all over the world made the pilgrimage to Zurich, in the middle of the industrial district, to the foundry hall Puls 5 yesterday Saturday to see robots from Korea, Japan, the USA and Europe. In addition to the presentation of the "Star" robot Roboy, a world record attempt by a walking robot, a robot flight show, a robot theater and real film robots such as C-3PO, R2-D2, dem Terminator and Sonny from I, Robot for entertainment. The financing for Roboy took place, among other things, by crowdfunding and as regular readers of the crypt know, I donated to the project and therefore wanted to see whether the Dravens Tales from the Crypt logo, i.e. my skull, was actually placed on the back of the humanoid Roboy has been.

  

  

Rolf Pfeifer, Director of the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence at the University of Zurich, called for the "Robots on Tour" congress. For more than 25 years he has been researching so-called humanoid robots whose construction and functions are based on those of humans. In addition to human-like robots, he also researches those that look like fish or jellyfish. The best human-like robots gathered in Zurich on March 8th and 9th and researchers from all over the world showed why they want to give machines human traits. There is a good reason for this. "The robots of the past were too heavy and designed too much like machines," says Pfeifer. "We have to make them simpler, then they'll get better. We want to build robots in such a way that they could be integrated into society." Therefore, robotics copy movements, but also surfaces and even facial expressions of humans, because nature is still the best role model.

Because if you want to use robots in healthcare, for example, they mustn't look like forklifts. Robots are already used as service providers in household and care services. Using such impersonal mute helpers for routine work may be useful, but they lack compassion and human warmth. Attempts are made to compensate for this deficiency with high-tech successors to soft toys or dolls. For example, the seal robot Paro (Personal Robot) was developed in Japan for therapeutic purposes and was also on display. The cuddly, white seal is equipped with sensors that react to touch, understand its own name and imitate the natural model deceptively real. The electronic cuddle companion is used in Japanese old people's homes and is part of the activation therapy there.

Robotics research is on the advance and today robots are being constructed that one would not have dared to dream of a few years ago. A look into the future shows what the interaction between humans and robots could look like. Robots are supposed to make our lives easier and the longer they look more like humans. Various robots from all over the world have obtained their visas for Zurich, Affeto from Osaka and Kenshiro from Tokyo in Japan, Kibo, Silbot, Kist and Mero from South Korea and Ranger from the USA demonstrated their skills. In my opinion, Asimo from Honda and Aibo from Sony were missing, but certainly not all representatives of the division could be shown in Zurich. Robo Soccer also provided great entertainment on the football field, quadrocopter put on a fascinating flight show and a robot theater provided the guests with cultural entertainment.

But what can these intelligent machines do? And how do we deal with these machines? Machines have long been superior to chess players. Specialized machines and robots are already superior to humans in certain areas and the field will expand even further in the future. Intelligence is one of the most valued values ​​in our society. For this reason, intelligent robots also arouse fears, because they are reminiscent of science fiction, Hollywood and Terminator. Intelligent machines have already taken over a lot of human activities: They calculate, suck up dust or weld motors together. They are superior to us in many ways because they are faster, more reliable, and cheaper. That doesn't matter as long as it involves individual activities and specialists, but the more human-like the machines are, the more they worry us. With the event, the AI ​​Lab tried to address these developments in an entertaining and innovative way and to discuss artificial intelligence with a broad audience.

With Roboy, they have chosen an android that will serve as an ambassador and pioneer for a new generation of robots that will share our living space with us and perform useful tasks in the future. Roboy is a research platform that can be used to learn how to build intelligent systems. With a hearty robot like Roboy, the researchers try on the one hand to take away people's fear that they can be replaced by machines and on the other hand, people can see from his example how far the research is at the moment and understand that there is still a long way to go robots can do as much as humans.

15 laboratories and 40 engineers are involved in Roboy and media around the world have reported on the unusual project. It was presented to the public for the first time on Saturday. Roboy's anatomy is modeled on that of humans. It has artificial tendons and so moves more smoothly. He can speak, recognize faces and has his own facial expressions. Roboy, on the other hand, cannot stand or walk yet. The manufacture of humanoid robots poses great challenges for the researchers: Fast, gentle movements or even robust, flexible, soft skin are very difficult to replicate.

However, some exhibited machine people were not spared from the demonstration effect, i.e. Murphy's Law. There were football-playing robots that tipped over instead of kicking - although they were probably based on human role models, who, when it comes to sausage, prefer to fall over uncontrollably. There were also models that went on strike due to a technical problem, showing that not all teething troubles have yet been eradicated.

The Roboy research project of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich was also more in its infancy than originally planned. After a construction period of around nine months, they wanted to send their work around the exhibition center on a small bicycle in time for the start of the "Robots on Tour" - but these days the machine is mostly sitting on a pedestal instead of a saddle and makes a few remote-controlled hand movements. “We should have equipped his legs with extra muscles. We simply didn't have enough time for that," says technician Serge Weydert. Another major and unsolved problem is the energy supply: the robot has so far been dependent on an external power source. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to follow the development of Roboy and as promised, the logo of the tomb, the skull on Roboy's back, was also visible, as the photos prove. All in all the event was a great success. Despite longer waiting times to get into "Robots on Tour" - the event was obviously completely sold out - it was extremely interesting to see what current technology is able to achieve and how far research has progressed these days.