Brown University, DARPA give iRobot's PackBot autonomy
It's not easy to find research in the field of robotics without military applications (or military funding), and Brown University's latest is certainly no exception. Starting out with iRobot's PackBot (and some pocket change from DARPA and the Office of Naval Intelligence) researchers at the school have achieved several advances that will someday produce robots that follow both verbal and nonverbal commands from a human operator, indoors and out, without the need for a controlled environment or special clothing. The goal, according to Chad Jenkins, is to develop a robot that acts "like a partner. You don't want to puppeteer the robot. You supervise it, 'Here's your job. Now, go do it.'" The work is being presented this week at the Human-Robot Interaction conference in San Diego, but if you can't make it we've provided a video of the thing in action just for you (after the break). We for one salute our autonomous robot overlords.
[Via PhysOrg]
[Via PhysOrg]



















I for one welcome our yellow polo shirt wearing overlords.
Those people are acting like robots, who's training who?
Holy crap someone grease those wheels for gods sake.
nice info about Brown University, DARPA give iRobot's PackBot autonomy..
nice information blog
this iRobot,s use technology Artificial_intelligence..
robot make work easy...
Cheers,
diabetic diets
murad skin care
OH NO! the PackBot is already able to comment on it's own article!
AND it has already figured out link spam too!
We may be giving them orders _now_, but it's only a matter of time...
but would they respond to the command, "NO, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!!!" ?
I would like to own a trunk (travel case) wich fallows me and I don't have to carry it.
i'm sure TSA would have no problem with consumer robot suitcases following people around in airports and boarding planes...
Yes, and I would love to trip over your autonomous suitcase which you created because using a conventional suitcase with a handle and wheels--under your direct control--is too hard.
Or, alternatively, I would love to see you and your suitcase use an escalator.
I think the TSA would back off once the trunk looked at it menacingly (despite having no facial features), picked itself up on its hundreds of little legs, and ran off after its owner - crashing through several walls in the process.
If it's luggage made out of sapient pearwood, then I'd be up for one too!
I remember that they had those in this one sci-fi novel, Accelerano. The suitcase was like a traveling server/media center that followed the user.
"As you can see the robots ability to follow is reliable the the human doesnt even need to turn back to check on it"
no need to check back on it, because its fucking creaking your ears off
Yes, but do the robots get to be in the veterans day parades? I can see that as a point of conflict.
Watching the video, it's alarming to see the humans have lost all emotion and enthusiasm... they look like the walking dead. What's up with that? The actual robot / control system seems to be working well.
No, they're not the walking dead... they're programmers.
go bruno!
Militia + military = militiary?
It's all fun and games until it's integrating itself with exosuits and manipulators and making you it's fleshsack bitch!
"...It's not easy to find research in the field of robotics without military applications ..."
Nor is it easy to find women in robotics research. Granny is pleased.
So one day robots will fight robots, wich will prove the point of war. Its useless and bad for both sides.
Ugh humans using their intelligence to do dumb things.
Well said and so true.
Big up Bruno, Big up Ruth Brown= best school in the universe. '05
This technology combined with Boston Dynamic's Big Dog would be AMAZING!
Imagine a future version when big dog could run and a soldier whistling to call it, that would be awesome.
Somebody, that's one SQUICKY robot