Determinedly advance technology better than Germany
January 17, 2019 3:02 PM Subscribe
Roombas, sure, and industrial robots of course, but also warehouse fulfillment robots, drones (consumer and military), self-driving vehicles, underwater remotely operated and autonomous robots used in science, military, and commercial applications, military ground robots (also used for things like nuclear plant inspection/etc), and that's all not to mention pieces of robotic technology that are key to things like advanced prosthetics, 3D printing, the driver-assist systems on your non-self-driving car, and lots of other non-obvious things you wouldn't necessarily call "robots" but there they are. The electronic control, localization, navigation, sensor fusion, etc that was developed in this early research at Stanford and elsewhere is fundamental to a lot of stuff that's out there these days.
I've been building robots since I was a teenager and I've worked in the industry for more than a decade - there is a *lot* of robotics out there. The fact that you don't have C-3PO in your house doesn't mean there isn't an incredible legacy here.
posted by olinerd at 8:25 PM on January 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
I've been building robots since I was a teenager and I've worked in the industry for more than a decade - there is a *lot* of robotics out there. The fact that you don't have C-3PO in your house doesn't mean there isn't an incredible legacy here.
posted by olinerd at 8:25 PM on January 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
This list is incomplete without Stanley. It's safe to argue that the tech that went into both Stanley and Andrew Ng's autonomous helicopters are having greater impact today than anything else on this list.
posted by simra at 10:35 PM on January 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by simra at 10:35 PM on January 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
ropeladder, you realize they're taking our jobs, right? :P
this is cool as junk. And I'm kinda surprised we don't see more articles/lists/rundowns like this. Could do with a less house-centric one. Robots are infiltrating society, slowly enough to be almost invisible despite the fact that 'robots are infiltrating our society' is a crazy sentence. It's really illuminating to see this process described as history, and I feel like we could all use a more comprehensive view of this industry.
posted by es_de_bah at 11:49 PM on January 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
this is cool as junk. And I'm kinda surprised we don't see more articles/lists/rundowns like this. Could do with a less house-centric one. Robots are infiltrating society, slowly enough to be almost invisible despite the fact that 'robots are infiltrating our society' is a crazy sentence. It's really illuminating to see this process described as history, and I feel like we could all use a more comprehensive view of this industry.
posted by es_de_bah at 11:49 PM on January 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Where's my robotic jaguar?
C'mon Stanford, include some old stuff. I read Stanley and though and forgot and found that I was thinking of SHRDLU. And I know there was very probably some early robotics / AI stuff from Stanford.
Historically it goes back to clockwork mechanical dolls. Then before computers and such it was rotating drums and contacts and timing and was programmed in actions like a player piano. Just timing. Then computers. Then AI. Then you replace the drum with integrated circuits. Then it's all a matter of size and mechanics.
That's why a jaguar and not a cat. More space to work with.
loads cat firmware onto Boston Dynamics *too big* hardware
posted by zengargoyle at 7:53 PM on January 19, 2019
C'mon Stanford, include some old stuff. I read Stanley and though and forgot and found that I was thinking of SHRDLU. And I know there was very probably some early robotics / AI stuff from Stanford.
Historically it goes back to clockwork mechanical dolls. Then before computers and such it was rotating drums and contacts and timing and was programmed in actions like a player piano. Just timing. Then computers. Then AI. Then you replace the drum with integrated circuits. Then it's all a matter of size and mechanics.
That's why a jaguar and not a cat. More space to work with.
loads cat firmware onto Boston Dynamics *too big* hardware
posted by zengargoyle at 7:53 PM on January 19, 2019
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In the other hand, seeing all these people in outdated fashion posing next to theoretically-exciting breakthroughs, it's striking how irrelevant this legacy of achievement is to our daily lives. Sure there are plenty of robots used in industrial production, and sure, someday I'll probably have a robot butler and it'll be nifty, but... all this work for what, Roombas?
posted by ropeladder at 7:37 PM on January 17, 2019