   Terminator 3 inspired question, err sort of...
  Given the current state of AI used in Robots how long do you think it will be before a complete autonomous robot is developed that can actually do something useful?  I watched a program on discovery channel a few weeks ago on the subject and one guy said the robots today have the IQ of a retarded cockroach.  Another computer scientist said that he doesnt believe that robots will ever be able to get to the point of autonomous machines who can learn and maintane themselves as seen in the movies.What are your feeling on the subject?  Termintor 3 inspired me to ask this question but I have always been interested.~PS 
  The problem is that a ton of people who would want to experiment with AI don't have money to build a real-world robot.  Without much outside input, a robot is pretty worthless.I saw T3 today.  Pretty cool.   [edited by - Nypyren on July 3, 2003 3:46:47 AM];  Scientists have to work harder on the boddies of robots...Any robot today has a full mechanical body, we need robots that have rubber muscles and actual synthetic skin, so that other AI scientists might build something on top of that...The brain will be easy (flaming material here). I know what i say because i do AI research myself. Humans will: - stumble on the answer (has happen before) - brute force it (wait 100 years or so, and any PDA will run AI code, do a "seti" on an artificial brain and voila!) - actually do the work (expect amazing stuff in 12-18 years)AI research is very good a coming up with very good specific ways of doing one task, like voice recognition, visual recognition, path finding, etc. Real AI has trouble coming up with a solution that will be generalistic enough to encompass it all...My $0.02 anyway... ;D   [Hugo Ferreira][Positronic Dreams]I Am Digerati.;  There are many autonomous robots that do useful things, they just don''t look like people, walk around on two legs, or start conversations.Assembly plant robots are autonomous (once you get them going).  They use many complex algorithims to make sure that they are exactly where they should be, and are constantly adjusting themselfs. Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, is usefu and fully autonomous.  It still wants you to empty it''s dust bin and plug it in for recharging, and needs you to turn it on, but thats about it.Stinger missles are autonomous to a certain degree, as are Exocet curise missles.  Fire and forget.The computers in your car run all by their lonesome without any human help and do a fine job of keeping everything running smoothly.Telephone swithes do some pretty nifty autonomous routing and load-balancing.Penut processing plants can be fully autonomous factories-- humans only show up for maintenence, as the operating conditions are ''hazerdous'' to humans.There are tons of useful autonomous robots out there.  Cheers,Will;  I''ve made some preliminary designs for a useful robot but haven''t had money or time yet to work on it. My goals are pretty simple to itemize but involve a lot of work to implement:- Map and navigate a house.- Open/shut doors and cabinets.- Map shelf and cabinet geometry and recognize items.- Pick up, cary, and put down light objects on any platform from 0 to 7 ft high.- Respond to voice keyword commands using a hypertext-like interface.  You access pages of text-to-speech by keywords and the robot uses a different pitch on the keywords so you know where the speech links are.  I know...sounds silly but it''s functional.The robot itself would look like a short R2D2 with a tall pole sticking up that manipulates an arm/gripper assembly like a crane.Some applications:- Fetching/Putting small stuff away- Dusting/sweeping/mopping/polishingDoes anyone else have a million half-baked things like this they never seem to be able to make progress on?  ;quote:Original post by 5010  Does anyone else have a million half-baked things like this they never seem to be able to make progress on?   I do - though the secret is to throw away your 999,999 other ideas and concentrate on just one.Back to topic - there''s not much hard evidence either way on this. It''s just a matter of what you want to believe really.I don''t think anyone (university research, private companies) has aimed as high as you are suggesting and been willing to commit to it. ;quote:Original post by 5010  Does anyone else have a million half-baked things like this they never seem to be able to make progress on?  i am waiting to win the lottery to begin the actual implementation... ;  Well, in order to actually take over the world, robots will have to be able to:-Repair themselves-Know how to build new robots-Know how to design and program new types of robots-Use ingenuity (adapt to all situations)That''s a hard job. ;  Well, Zolcos, your post is where AI hits the fan, for allthe bad reasons.Im going to show you a living being, that has for all preactical pusposes conquered the planet, and he cant do anyhting on your list, ants: - an ant cannot repair itself: less energy is spent on "building" a new ant - 99.9999999999% of all ants on this planet have never heard of sex, or reproduction... - an ant is quite incapable of adapting to situations she wasn''t pre-programmed to. Yes, at first glance everybody is going to argue that ants are super-adaptable, and i agree, ants are, a single ant isnt...AI is so many diferent things to so many diferent people, that is is almost mind-boggling. BTW, if you haven''t noticed, ants are my favorite animal, and their military model of operations is probably the best nature has to offer. Future martial robots should follow their modus operandis...   [Hugo Ferreira][Positronic Dreams]I Am Digerati.;quote:Future martial robots should follow their modus operandis... ...then goodbye humans!  insect politics is an oxymoron but something I love to throw around at work, cauz they aint got no politics.. watch the nature channel sometime, they are brutal  >)   I fseek, therefore I fam. 