by Mark Ollig
One answer is in its capacity for allowing people to add,
retrieve, and benefit from the information contained within it.
How has using the Internet improved the human condition?
The Internet helps us to get prompt answers to our
questions.
It also provides us with the processes needed to complete
specific tasks using the information uploaded by others who have already
accomplished them.
We are able to access this wealth of human-collected
knowledge from just about any location on the planet.
Countless people have contributed to this ever-expanding
pool of intelligence we share amongst ourselves.
The Internet is to us, as Paul Otlet’s early 20th century
collection of thousands of wooden drawers filled with cataloged books and
papers, were to him.
The story of Paul Otlet is one worth reading. Here is the
link to the column I wrote about him July 21, 2008:
http://tinyurl.com/bytes-Otlet.
We know how humans have used the Internet for the
improvement and betterment of their lives, but what about the robots? How do
they learn, and improve upon accomplishing their tasks?
People create the programing software code used by a
robot in order for it to logically complete a task.
When a modification to a task a robot performs is needed,
an intervention or a change is required to be made by a human.
This human involvement takes additional time, and, until
the program changes are implemented, the robot will encounter delays in its
ability to complete tasks.
What if the robot could wirelessly tap into a knowledge
database having the information it needed for making its own program
modifications; thus quickly adapting itself in performing new tasks?
And what if this knowledge base included contributions
made by other robots?
You would have what the researchers at Eindhoven
University in the Netherlands, and five other European institutes have been
working on for four years; a World Wide Web-styled database called: RoboEarth.
RoboEarth is a new online, worldwide information
depository.
Robots will access this depository in order to teach and
learn skill sets from each other.
“The goal of RoboEarth is to allow robotic systems to
benefit from the experience of other robots,” said Dr. Ir. René van de
Molengraft, project coordinator at Eindhoven University of Technology.
RoboEarth can also be thought of as a “Wikipedia for
robots.”
The idea is to speedup delivery of the knowledge and
skills required for a robot to carry out its tasks for hospital patient care,
or for its role in supporting the growing elderly population, or for providing
assistance to those in need of it at home.
As we grow older, and become more dependent on assistance
while in our homes, robots will be fulfilling a variety of caretaker duties for
us.
These robots would need to be able to adjust to new
situations and conditions within its environment, namely, the home or facility
it would be providing assistance in.
Researchers point out a person can teach (program) a
robot to bring them a cup of coffee into the dining room; however, if there’s
an obstacle, or the location of the dining room table or the chairs have
changed, the robot may become confused, and not be able to find the person.
Robots need to tap into some universally available
resource in order to obtain the necessary knowledge needed to quickly deal with
any new situation or conflict they may confront.
This is where RoboEarth comes in.
When many of us come across a subject or a process we
need more information about, we access the Internet and research it.
Now, robots will be able to tap into their own network
information resource.
This resource will be largely contributed to, retrieved
by, and shared betweenº fellow robots.
RoboEarth will be directly accessible to robots, via a
wireless network.
Scientists will soon put the RoboEarth system to the test
at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
There, inside a mockup of a hospital room, four robots
will be using RoboEarth to complete a series of tasks. Some of these tasks
include serving beverages to a patient.
These robots will work with one another, learning new
skill sets and sharing them with each other via RoboEarth.
It would be interesting to look many years into the
future and see the kind of information amassed in RoboEarth, and how it’s being
used by the robotic intelligence community.
The word “RoboEarth” reminds me of the 1987 sci-fi movie
“RoboCop.”
This caused yours truly to wonder if the intelligent
robots of the future will have encrypted RoboEarth, in order to prevent humans
from accessing its knowledge base.
This could make an intriguing storyline for a science
fiction novel.
