Crime-fighting robots duke it out
UBC students design machines to round up and catch bad guys
Mary Frances Hill, Vancouver SunPublished: Friday, August 01, 2008
VANCOUVER - They'll be the leaders in technology tomorrow. Today, they're busy playing games.
As stereo speakers at the University of British Columbia's Hennings Building blared the soundtrack to the Super Mario Bros. early video game, engineering students set up tables full of dolls and mini-robots, and tried to beat the pants off each other in speed and agility Thursday.
Although the Mountie-Bots competition -- part of the eighth annual UBC Engineering Physics Robot Competition -- looked like nothing but fun and games, the concept was inspired by darker circumstances, the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski after he was Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport last year.
Scientists have created a robot that reacts emotionally to the way it is treated, relaxing when it is shown kindness and flinching at anger.
Heart Robot has a beating heart, a breathing stomach, and sensors that respond to movement, noise and touch. Cuddle him, and he seems to soak up the affection. His limbs become limp, his eyelids lower, his breathing relaxes and his heartbeat slows. If he is given a violent shake he gets upset.
He flinches, his hands clench, his breathing and heart rate speed up, and his eyes widen.
Heart Robot was created by scientists at the University of the West of England in Bristol to explore how humans react to a machine that appears to show feelings. Holly Cave, who organised an event at the Science Museum in London where Heart Robot was on display, said: "Children react to him very differently. They either want to hug and cuddle him, and look after him like a doll or baby, or they just want to scare him. How humans and robots might interact in the future is something that raises lots of interesting ethical and moral questions."
Also on display was Hexapod, a metallic spider that registers faces of visitors and then follows them around.
Telegraph, London
Heart Robot has a beating heart, a breathing stomach, and sensors that respond to movement, noise and touch. Cuddle him, and he seems to soak up the affection. His limbs become limp, his eyelids lower, his breathing relaxes and his heartbeat slows. If he is given a violent shake he gets upset.
He flinches, his hands clench, his breathing and heart rate speed up, and his eyes widen.
Heart Robot was created by scientists at the University of the West of England in Bristol to explore how humans react to a machine that appears to show feelings. Holly Cave, who organised an event at the Science Museum in London where Heart Robot was on display, said: "Children react to him very differently. They either want to hug and cuddle him, and look after him like a doll or baby, or they just want to scare him. How humans and robots might interact in the future is something that raises lots of interesting ethical and moral questions."
Also on display was Hexapod, a metallic spider that registers faces of visitors and then follows them around.
Telegraph, London
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