New Computing In 2019 and Beyond - Opportunities,

Challenges, and ThreatsFromm Institute

Fall 2019 - Lecture 6 Bebo White - bebo.white@gmail.com

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calendar

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robotics and autonomous systems

• Potentially incorporates all the technologies that we have discussed (I think) to this point-

• IOT/sensors

• AI/ML - are HAL and Watson robots?

• Data Science - remember the 5 V’s?

• Blockchain?

• HCI/UI - what are the appropriate interface mechanisms?

• and more

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robotics and hype

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look how things have progressed - metropolis (fritz lang), 1927

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sophia - 2019

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sophia

• became a citizen of Saudi Arabia in 2017

• design inspired by Audrey Hepburn

• would she pass a Turing Test?

• would she pass a Winograd schema?

• what is the point of her human-like features, gestures, etc.?

• is she learning?

• are you threatened by Sophia?

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r.u.r. (rossum’s universal robots), karl kapek, 1920

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-Karel Capek, R.U.R, 1920

“When he (Young Rossum) took a look at human anatomy he saw immediately that it was too

complex and that a good engineer could simplify it. So he undertook to redesign anatomy,

experimenting with what would lend itself to omission or simplification. Robots have a

phenomenal memory. If you were to read them a twenty-volume encyclopedia they could repeat the contents in order, but they never think up anything original. They’d make fine university professors.”

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pop-culture droids and humanoid robots

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laws of robotics

0 - a robot may not injure humanity or through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm

1 - a robot may not injure a human being or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate any of the previous laws

2- a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such order would conflict with any of the previous laws

3 - a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with any of the previous laws

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definitions

• robot - an electromechanical device with multiple degrees-of-freedom that is programmable to accomplish a variety of tasks

• degrees of freedom (DOF) - the number of independent motions that a device can make; mobility

• robotics - the science of robots practiced by roboticists

• humanoid - a robot that is based on the general structure of a human but does not necessarily look convincingly like a real person

• android - like a humanoid, but may contain biological materials

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classification of robots

• programmable computers designed to perform a variety of tasks by moving parts, tools, or specialized devices

• non-adaptive - no way of sensing their environment

• adaptive - sensor feedback affects behavior

• stationary or mobile

• mobile - free to move around, tethered or not

• stationary - have parts (like arms) that can move

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DOF

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for a robot, DOF is tied to use - correct? is that also true of humans? sophia?

puma (programmable universal manipulator arm), 1961

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in san francisco

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simple structure

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Power

Sensors Actuators

Controller/CPU/Memory

User Interface

Output/Manipulator

Sophia?

control loop

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sensors provide the view to the environment

• sensors in robots are based on the functions of human sensory organs - remember the MHP?

• they must also detect condition

• which sensors defined by robotic application

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types of robot sensors (1/2)

• light

• sound

• temperature

• contact

• proximity

• distance

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types of robot sensors (2/2)

• pressure

• tilt

• navigation

• acceleration

• gyroscope

• etc.

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human-robot interaction (hri) and robot-robot interaction (rri)

• if we assume non-tethered robots (autonomous, no cables/wires), what would be the best

• interaction models?

• can we expand models based upon wider variety of sensor systems?

• do we continue to think about such topics as the Turing Test or MHP?

• is this like models in IOT?

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simple case - do you have a robot in your house?

• DOF

• sensors

• actuators

• manipulators

• interface

• where does intent/function/skill come from?

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robotic applications

• traditionally, robotic systems are used to address the 3 D’s - Dirty, Dangerous, Dull, i.e., jobs that humans would not want - but not aways!

• industry - factory automation, materials handling, etc.

• military - bomb disposal, search and rescue, etc.

• medical - remote surgery, minimally invasive surgery, etc.

• remote operations - undersea, nuclear environments, law enforcement, space exploration, etc.

• service - home, hospital helpmates, handicapped, servants, etc.

• education - robotic instruction, STEM projects, etc.

• entertainment - robotic pets, toys, playmates, etc.

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the future of robotics

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the ethics of robotics as per asimov’s laws (1/4)

• First Law - “a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm”

• (robot perspective) - What is a human being?

• (robot perspective) - What can injure or harm a human being?

• if HAL was robot was he/she/it unethical even if it considered its own survival?

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the ethics of robotics as per asimov’s laws (2/4)

• Second Law - “a robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law”

• (human perspective) - How do I tell the robot what I want it to do?

• (robot perspective) - What do I do if my orders conflict with the First Law?

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the ethics of robotics as per asimov’s laws (3/4)

• Third Law - “a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law”

• (robot perspective) - What do I protect myself from?

• (robot perspective) - How do I protect myself ?

• (robot perspective) - What do I do if protecting myself conflicts with one of or both of the first two laws?

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the ethics of robotics as per asimov’s laws (4/4)

• are these laws

• sufficient?

• realistic?

• impossible or impractical technologically?

• do they address the ethics of an autoworker losing his/her job to a robot?

• do they protect us against a dystopian robotic future (like AI concerns) ?

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spinoffs of robotic technology

• exoskeleton - wearable electromechanical devices to augment the physical performance of the wearer or as orthotic devices for rehabilitation or assistance; opposite of humanoid?

• autopilot systems - assistance without constant control by a human; does not replace humans but instead assists them

• autonomous devices/systems - awareness of environment, state, incoming data with the ability to learn and make independent decisions

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consider this little guy

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how does this relate to autonomous vehicles/cars?

• cars, drones, airplanes, boats, etc.

• is a self-driving car just a robot that has passengers?

• should a self-driving car obey the Laws of Robotics?

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what is an autonomous car?

• it is capable of sensing its environment and operating without human involvement

• a human passenger is not required to take control of the vehicle at any time, nor is a human passenger required to be in the vehicle at all

• it is able to go anywhere a traditional car goes and do everything that an experienced (?) human driver does

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(source: Society of Automotive Engineers)

how do autonomous vehicles work?

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autonomous vehicles as iot

• Vehicle-to-Vehicles (V2V)

• Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I)

• Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P)

• Vehicle-to-Robot (V2R)? - imagine a robocop directing traffic

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the future of robotics

• robotics, like AI, is here to stay

• research and application touches many diverse fields

• we should not think threats but opportunities

• policies, not politics, need to be included

• robotics is helping to define the 5th Industrial Revolution and we do not need to be afraid

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