Over the past decades, industrial cybernetic devices have practically ousted humans from dangerous, monotonous and heavy industries. In the near future, the expansion of service androids is predicted. Humanoid robots will save the average person from routine household chores, take care of the elderly, and teach children with special needs.
First prototypes
In 1639, more than two hundred years of isolation of Japan from the rest of the world began. A few merchants from Holland and China were allowed to trade in the port of Nagasaki, which allowed the unique Japanese culture to develop in its own way without any external influence. It was during this period that the dawn of the Karakuri dolls fell.
In fact, these are the first humanoid clockwork robots, although some exotic models were powered by steam, water or sand. Dolls entertained people during mass festivities, were very popular in we althy houses.
It was considered indecent to be interested in the internal structure of the karakuri, and attention was paid no less attention to the appearance than to the drive mechanism.
Technology and psychology
Japanese humanoid robots set the general vector of development for developers of cybernetic devices around the world. The main difficulty in creating anthropomorphic systems is the need for multidisciplinary research. Not only engineers and programmers, mathematicians and physicists, but also psychologists, sociologists, historians should act in a coordinated and well-coordinated mode.
Man is inconceivable without feelings. So for a complex model, in addition to hardware and software, the third component of the anthropomorphic system is very important - emotions. Research in this area is carried out by special sciences closely related to the humanities - social robotics and robotic psychology.
Humanoid robots, in addition to the ability to imitate the simplest mechanical movements, must have artificial intelligence, self-learning and adaptation functions.
What can an android do?
Humanoid robots learn new speci alties and skills, interactively interact with humans. The most impressive progress in mastering the following professions looks like:
- Secretary. Android meets visitors, talks about the company's services or products.
- Waiter. The robot takes the order (verbally or via the touch screen), transmitsinformation to the kitchen, delivers dishes and bills the client (and does not require a tip!). Robocafes are very popular in South Korea.
- Guide. Guide. He will tell in detail about the exhibition, the exhibits presented.
- Teacher. Educator. Very useful for children studying remotely, according to an individual program.
- Cosmonaut. There are at least two active copies: the "Japanese" KIROBO and the "American" ROBONAUT 2. And if the first is intended only for communication with crew members (photographing, sending messages), then the second is capable of autonomously performing complex technical tasks in outer space.
Anthropomorphic warrior
Favorite brainchild of science fiction is becoming a reality. Robots have long and successfully mastered military speci alties in the United States. True, we are still talking about automated combat systems that have proven themselves well during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such devices successfully cope with reconnaissance and engineering tasks.
Fighting humanoid robots due to the extremely high cost exist in single copies as exhibition samples. For example, the manned android METHOD1 demonstrated by Korean developers. The walker is able to move its arms and move around, imitating the movements of the operator. The huge humanoid robot is 4 meters high and weighs 1.5 tons.
The Russian android has a more modest size, but it has much more functionality: shooting frompistol, driving an ATV, providing medical assistance. The robot is a version of the earlier SAR-401 model (NPO Android Technologies) adapted for military tasks, created for the needs of the Roscosmos corporation.
Japanese traditions
Ishiguru Hiroshi, a professor at Osaka University in Japan and the Institute of Advanced Technology in Kyoto, gained worldwide fame in 2006 by presenting to the public his exact cybernetic copy - Geminoid HI-1 (Geminoid HI-1). A huge number of sensors and servomotors allows the anthropomorph to imitate not only gestures, but also facial expressions of the prototype. Subsequent models (HI-2; F; HI-4; Q1) were even more realistic. In fact, the most humanoid robots are puppets controlled by an operator via a wireless interface.
According to the professor, it is much easier to achieve external resemblance than to teach an android to think like a person and make decisions on his own. Created by Ishiguru Hiroshi, football robots only schematically resemble a person, but they find the ball and, having estimated the position of the goal, send it exactly to the target. Ishiguru's "iron" team are five-time world champions in robot football.
Charming humanoid from China
This beautiful creature is called Jia Jia. Loose black hair streams down a traditional Chinese dress. She will support a simple dialogue with a smile, knows how to navigate in space, and evenflirting with men. She has fans around the world who have dubbed her the "Robot Goddess".
Jia Jia is the first Chinese android created by engineers from the University of Science and Technology (Hefei, China). It took about three years to develop the model and special operational support, and it is still far from perfect. Project manager Chen Xiaoping is confident that the followers of the "goddess" have a great future. Robots with advanced artificial intelligence are eagerly awaited in medical institutions, nursing homes, restaurants to perform simple jobs.
European humanoid robots
In the Old World, humanoid systems are created and improved within the framework of the ROBOSKIN project. The most famous models of CASPAR and iCub are small in size. The first one was developed at the University of Hertfordshire (Great Britain) and is designed to communicate and teach children in a playful way. The reaction of CASPAR to touch, thanks to artificial skin with sensitive sensors, can be different and depends on the strength of tactile contact. With a light tickle, the robot expresses satisfaction, with a strong push, it complains of pain.
The body of the robot iCub (Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa) has 53 degrees of freedom, and the android is endowed with a machine touch. Outwardly resembles a child 4 - 5 years. Can crawl, manipulate objects, navigate the terrain.
US Government Order
PETMAN humanoid (project author R. Plater, Boston Dynamics) is notexpresses no emotion at all for the simple reason that he has no head. It was created by order of the government to test and test the quality of protective suits. The robot has the parameters of an average man: with a height of 1.75 m, its weight is 80 kg. PETMAN responds to physical stress. Walking and running lead to increased breathing, an increase in body temperature, and even sweating.
The robot is able to perform simple exercises: push-ups from the floor, squat, crawl, etc. So far, a hydraulic drive and a cable-cable system are used as a mover. The developers promise that in the near future they will create a humanoid robot with autonomous power supply.
2014 saw the introduction of two new models, ATLAS and CHEETAH, with greater functionality and mobility, but still tied to an external power source.
Revolution coming?
Professor Mashe Vardy (Computational Engineering, Rice University, Houston, USA) argues that there are no limits to automation and machines will eventually become much smarter and more advanced than humans. Every year, humanoid robots are becoming more and more popular, if not love, all over the world. Photos and videos on the Web are gaining millions of views, and meanwhile the upcoming expansion of robots can significantly increase the proportion of unemployed. At risk professions and positions that can be converted into binary code: telecom operators and checkpoints, cashiers, etc.
And the top 5 best humanoidrobots confirm this:
- GEMINOID-F - Robot Girl (Japan). A humanoid specimen of Professor Ishiguro. Able to talk, smile, mimic a whole palette of emotions and even sing. Played several roles in the theater.
- ASIMO - android (Honda, Japan). In the arsenal - running, overcoming flights of stairs, playing football. It has a complex machine vision system and a distributed sensor network. Able to open a bottle and pour the contents into glasses.
- Ro-Boy is a 3D printed humanoid (Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland).
- FACE (Italy) - the most emotional of European robots. 32 drives make the muscles of the body and face very mobile.
- ALICE ("Neurobotics", Russia) - the most realistic android in Russia. 8 drive mechanisms, controlled by gamepad.
