Robots and Intelligent Toys Mark Green School of Creative Media

Introduction  We all like toys, not just kids  Toys are used for a variety of reasons: Recreation Recreation Pass the time Pass the time Curiosity Curiosity Education Education Challenge Challenge  As we grow older our toys change

Introduction  Toys change with the times, they reflect the current culture  Children want to imitate their parents, so their toys will resemble their parents’ work  Children imitate what they see adults doing  Play is practice for growing older, how we learn to be an adult

Introduction  Over the past decade electronics has become an important part of toys  This has ranged from computer like toys and other electronic gadgets to electronics in traditional toys  Illustrates two approaches: Toys that emulate technology Toys that emulate technology Toys that include technology Toys that include technology

Emulate Technology  Toys that look like the real thing, or at least motivated by it  Computers and laptops are quite common, combine with simple educational software  Some can now access the Internet  Mobile phones are quite common as well  Many aim to be educational

VTech  Local company, probably the world leader in this type of toy  Have produced electronic toys for many years, many with educational side  One of the most innovative companies in this area, produce some excellent designs  Go take a look at their toys, see what can be done with creativity and electronics

VTech Electronic Toys

Include Technology  Other toys include technology, but it’s not an obvious part of the toy  Microsoft Barney and similar toys are good examples - ActiMates  Sophisticated use of robotics and computer technology  Could connect to computer and TV to interact with the child

Microsoft  The ActiMates line appeared in 1997 and has since been discontinued  They were too expensive, with a starting price of over $100US  Problems developing software for licensed characters, had to agree with the TV character  Think carefully about using licensed characters

Furby  Probably the most successful toy in this category  Developed in 1997 and became one of the most popular toys in 1998 and 1999  Had the right price point, around $30US and was cute  Main feature was ability to interact with Furby and train it

Furby

Furby  Furby is basically a very simple robot with a microcontroller  A motor was used to move its arms and mouth, very simple motions and expressions  Furbys tried to learn, started with some speech capabilities (could not understand them) which could be improved

Furby

Furby  Did a few things right: Small size with big eyes, triggers baby response in people Small size with big eyes, triggers baby response in people Gave impression of interaction and emotions, acted intelligent Gave impression of interaction and emotions, acted intelligent Speech was very important, its trying to communicate Speech was very important, its trying to communicate Developed over time, acted like it was learning, like a real creature Developed over time, acted like it was learning, like a real creature

Furby  Things it did wrong: Not very robust, ours broke after a few days Not very robust, ours broke after a few days Could easily reach its limit, Furby could develop for a while, but after that it was static Could easily reach its limit, Furby could develop for a while, but after that it was static No way to turn it off, could become very annoying No way to turn it off, could become very annoying  Developed over a very short period of time, didn’t have chance to make it robust enough

Robots  People are fascinated by robots, a machine that you can interact with  Robots for play and entertainment aren’t a new idea, have appeared in fiction for a long time  Industrial uses of robots started in the 1960s, and have grown rapidly over the past 20 years

Robots  Domestic robots: robots that appear in the home or work with people  These are now beginning to appear: Robots for house cleaning, a robot vacuum cleaner, commercially available around $200US Robots for house cleaning, a robot vacuum cleaner, commercially available around $200US Mail delivery in office buildings, robots that have a standard route for delivering mail and packages Mail delivery in office buildings, robots that have a standard route for delivering mail and packages

Robots  Entertainment robots have been available for several years  Sony is the leader in this area, but other Japanese companies are also active  The first Sony entertainment robot was Aibo, far more successful than they ever thought it would be  Based on a general robot platform – OPEN-R

Aibo  Originally produced by Sony as an experiment, did a small production run to see if it would sell  Only available on web  In Japan sold out in 20 minutes, in the US it took a full 4 days to sell out  Initial price was over $2000US, not a random purchase!

Aibo

Aibo  Current version in the $1500US range, still quite pricey  Main features: Wide range of sensors, including camera Wide range of sensors, including camera Reasonably fast processor and 32 MByte of memory Reasonably fast processor and 32 MByte of memory Can use memory cards for programming Can use memory cards for programming Wireless network connection Wireless network connection  A PC with legs!

Aibo  Aibo starts as a puppy and over a six week period grows into a mature dog  Aibo can recognize its owner’s face, and respond to voice commands  Can teach Aibo tricks and train it  If you aren’t happy with Aibo’s behavior can reset it to puppy stage and start over again

Aibo

Aibo

Aibo  Several ways of programming Aibo: High level scripting language for simple behaviors High level scripting language for simple behaviors Low level C++ interface for more complex behaviors Low level C++ interface for more complex behaviors GUI interface to customize Aibo GUI interface to customize Aibo  Sony lets users develop their own software and share with others, but no commercial software production

Aibo  Does a lot of things right: Sophisticated behaviors Sophisticated behaviors Can be trained, develops over time Can be trained, develops over time Ability to customize and program, can grow with Aibo Ability to customize and program, can grow with Aibo Complex enough to express emotions and be interesting Complex enough to express emotions and be interesting  Still very expensive, not a standard “toy”

Humanoid Robots  Several Japanese companies are working on this  More difficult problem: Balance: must be able to walk on two feet Balance: must be able to walk on two feet Must be more sophisticated to fool people Must be more sophisticated to fool people Cannot be threatening or scare people Cannot be threatening or scare people  Nothing commercial yet, likely to be very expensive, over $10,000US

Construction Sets  Construction sets allow us to build our own robots, previous ones provided a ready built robot  Far more flexible, have control over the physical form of the robot  Take a lot more time to build: Need to have building skill, know how to put things together Need to have building skill, know how to put things together Large projects, lots of work and testing Large projects, lots of work and testing

Construction Sets  Many different types of sets, depends upon the audience and their aims  Simplest are the single function sets  Given the parts and can then build a single robot, or robot platform  Many of these robots are expandable, but they have a fixed structure  Example: my small wheeled robot

Construction Sets  You can get a wide range of these sets  Most of them concentrate on wheeled vehicles, but there are some other types  Tend to be relatively cheap, around $50US for a set  They can lead to much more complex custom robot systems, where you design it yourself from basic parts

Simple Robot Kits

Lego  Probably the best known of the construction kits  Based on plastic blocks that fit together  Pixels for the real 3D world, can build about anything, but it will always look like it is made out of blocks  Very flexible, a wide range of parts that can be used to build many things

Lego  Mindstorms started as a research project at MIT, add computation to Lego  Add simple sensors and motors to Lego under computer control  Original system was large, computer brick was tethered to PC, so robots couldn’t go very far  Initial work with Schools, teach science, math and programming

Lego  Next version was portable, and used as the basis for Lego Mindstorms  Based on a logic brick called an RCX, a microcontroller that is programmed from a PC  There have been three versions of the RCX, versions 1, 1.5 and 2.0, we will be using version 2.0

Lego  Lego uses a simple visual language for programming the RCX  Extend the Lego block metaphor to programming  Users drag various shapes to a work area and assemble them to produce a program  Designed to be easy for 12 year olds, but is somewhat limited

Visual Programming

Lego  Since the RCX uses a well known microcontroller a number of other techniques have been developed for programming  A number of standard languages, like C, Java and Basic can be used for programming  Fairly open system for programming and hardware

Mindstorms

Mindstorms

Mindstorms

fischertechnik  The next level up from Lego  Produced by an engineering company that also produces industrial models  More flexible and better looking models, but it is also more expensive and not as widely used  Controller is more sophisticated and can support more sensors and motors

fischertechnik

High End  Build it yourself out of individual components  Design it all yourself and assemble the components required to produce your robot  Several companies specialize in parts for this, including one in HK:

High End  These stores carry various kinds of motors and sensors, can select what you need  Mobile platforms that can be used as the basis for a wheeled robot  Also have various types of controllers and single board computers  Need to know what you are doing, but the most flexible approach

HandyBot

HandyBot – Robot Dance

Artistic Robots  Artists have been fascinated with robots for a long time  Robots have been produced to dance, draw and play musical instruments  Basically mimicking what people do  Is this what we really want?  What is the robot adding to the performance?

Artistic Robots  What types of artistic statements do robots make?  They are modern industrial inventions, they should reflect our modern world  Installation art with robots as themes, live out science fiction  Influenced by violence and rapid pace of technology

Survival Research Lab  The first and probably best known of the artistic groups  Put together robots out of old scrap and cast off technology  Often have a violent theme, machines that fight with each other  Produce a spectacle as well as a performance

SRL  Robots tend to be quite large and potentially quite dangerous  Early show would have robots battle to the death, often staged randomly wherever there was an empty parking lot  Now have legal and insurance problems with their shows, fear that someone could get killed

SRL

SRL

SRL

Seemen  Another group with a slightly different take on robots  Machines are similar to SRL: Made of old industrial parts Made of old industrial parts Tend to be large Tend to be large Tend to be violent Tend to be violent Lots of fire Lots of fire  But, they like to have audience participation

Seeman  SRL tends to be chaotic, while Seemen is more staged, like a performance  SRL will destroy their machines during a performance, but Seemen uses them to express their opinions  Don’t always use violence as a theme, sometimes use love  Want the audience to experience the robots, control them directly