(some of) the (42) robots I have met.
I met my first robot at MIT circa 2009 — at the laboratory headed up by Dr. Cynthia Breazeal. The place was empty when I walked in, straight off the fast train from New York to Boston.
Suddenly I sensed a head turn, and felt a pair of eyes looking at me curiously from across the room. It was NEXI. I walked over, peered into the robot’s face, and it blinked. I was hooked.
(Unsurprisingly) I’ve been keen on learning more about our silicon cousins ever since — even the scary ones who can walk up stairs, drive an SUV and turn off the mains switch if required.
DRC-Hubo sat almost side-saddle with one arm extended holding on to the top of the vehicle as if it was enjoying a fast dash down Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu on a sunny day.
The car’s motor controls were modified so driving was possible at that angle and the robot slipped easily out of its vehicle in record time. Many of the other robots in the competition failed to dismount and had the indignity of their teams wheeling over the safety harness to tether and lift them out, losing points and time, before continuing other tasks.
[from Behind the Scenes at DARPA]
Here are a few of the robots I’ve met and written about in the years since — some of them at NASA, before they went up to the International Space Station, and one training to be a bodyguard (true story).
NASA: Astrobees Robots Heading to ISS
//ENDS
S.C. Stuart is an award-winning futurist (and sci-fi writer), technology commentator and strategist focusing on AI, DARPA, exoskeletons, NASA, medical/military innovation, robots and virtual humans for companies including 20th Century Fox, DTCC (Wall Street), Four Seasons, Milken Institute, Nano (empowering global human health), New Line Cinema, RAND Corporation, Smithsonian and Sony Pictures. Published in ELLE China, Esquire Latin America, Four Seasons Magazine (global), Mosaic (Morgan Stanley), Singularity Hub and Ziff Davis PCMag.