Engineering Cybernetics Eleanor Cole And Frank Conover

What is cybernetics? “Cybernetics” comes from a Greek word meaning “the art of steering” About having a goal and taking actions to achieve that goal Involves a feedback system Began in natures, was referenced by Plato and made popular by Norbert Wiener

What is engineering cybernetics? Established by H.S. Tsien Sub-field of cybernetics Used to control and predict behavior of certain systems like mechatronic and chemical Is an engineering science

The Purpose of Engineering Cybernetics To study the parts of cybernetics with direct applications in designing controlled or guided systems

The 1960s - Technology “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation” - Norbert Wiener Machines had become very effective and even dangerous. Game Playing “War Games” Artificial Intelligence “Terminator” - Skynet “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation” – father of cybernetics - During World War II, his work on the automatic aiming and firing of anti-aircraft guns led Wiener to communication theory and eventually to formulate cybernetics.   - In this paper, Wiener distinguished between industrial machines and intelligent machines. - Machines had become very effective and even dangerous. - They possessed "a certain degree of thinking and communication" that went beyond the limitations of their designers. - Referencing game playing and learning machines, he considered a hypothetical situation in which cybernetic machines were programmed to push a button in a "push-button" nuclear war. War Games - Simply by following the programmed rules of the game, these machines would probably do anything to win a nominal victory even at the cost of human survival. Terminator - Skynet, an artificially intelligent system which became self-aware and revolted against its humanity. - He stated that since machines became so smart so fast humans may not know, until too late, when to turn it off. – Terminator 3

The 1960s - Consequences New man-machine relationship Apollo, Cuban Missile Crisis, Computers Blurring of the boundary between machine and organism Cybernetics, Systems Theory, Intelligent Computers Threaten the existence of humans Hydrogen Bomb - The 1060’s were seeing the fictional dominance of humans, by machines, transforming into reality. It was an age of new science and technology, for which people had high hopes and the deepest fears. It was a new man-machine relationship. – Apollo, Cuban Missile Crisis, Computers - Cybernetics, systems theory, and intelligent computers blurred the strict boundary between machine and organism, forcing people to rethink the nature of human intelligence and understanding. - Machine and technology became part of what it meant to be a human. However, man-made machines - the electronic battlefield, and the hydrogen bomb in particular - began to threaten the very existence of humans.

The Cyborg A cybernetic organism has both artificial and natural systems. Fictional “The Six Million Dollar Man” Real Prosthetics Feedback: a prosthetic leg, may have sensors to aid in walking - Cyborg; Cybernetic Organism - has both artificial and natural systems. - Cyborgs are also often portrayed with physical or mental abilities far exceeding a human counterpart. The Six Million Dollar Man - Military forms may have built in weapons. This perhaps oversimplifies the category of feedback in cybernetics. A prosthetic leg, for example, may have sensors to aid in walking. - Real cyborgs are more frequently people who use cybernetic technology to repair or overcome the physical and mental constraints of their bodies.

Cyborgs are Safe Concerns over automation, replacement of workers, and unemployment. Master and slave reversing, malfunctions, technology out of control. US astronaut John Glenn: “Let man take over!” “2001: A Space Odyssey” Asimov first law of Robotics A robot may not injure human beings. “I,Robot” - The idea of the cyborg captured the attention and imagination of the public in the 1960s largely because it was proposed at a time of intense concerns over automation. - Would workers be replaced by autonomous machines increasing the number of the unemployed? - Without human involvement or control there were concerns of what happens when the machines malfunction or become uncontrollable. - There was also fear that the relationship between master and slave was becoming reversed. - During an Apollo mission, US astronaut John Glenn’s spaceship was programmed to control itself automatically, but when its automatic control began to malfunction, John Glenn insisted on controlling it manually by sending to the earth a message, "Let man take over!" - Technology out of control was also a theme in 2001: A Space Odyssey. - What rules would be applied to control autonomous machines? Isaac Asimov had introduced the famous "three laws of robotics" in 1942, the first of which was that "a robot may not injure human beings."

Cybernetic Anthropomorphous Machine Possibly the climax of Engineering Cybernetics in the 1960s. A gigantic cyborg robot that moved by following the movement of the human inside of it. General Electric's Schenectady plant 11 feet tall, 3,000 pounds, four-legs Feedback System Prototype of more advanced systems being built such as Military Exoskeleton – super soldier. - 1969; possibly the climax of Engineering Cybernetics in the 1960s The General Electric's "Cybernetic Anthropomorphous Machine"; a gigantic cyborg robot that moved by following the movement of a human; appeared in Time magazine and surprised the world. - The metal “muscles” exert far more force than their human counterparts. But they are attached to a sensitive feedback system that gently lets the handler "feel" what the metal limbs are doing. This allows the machine to knock over heavy stacks of timber as well as gently kick a ball. - The walking machine was merely a prototype to demonstrate the feasibility of more sophisticated CAMs already being developed; Mosher foreseen few technical barriers to more intricate models. - An exoskeleton of mechanical muscles was also being developed, which, when worn by an operator, will convert mere man into superman.

Suspicion In spite of such achievements technology continues to scare people. Considered more threatening than promising. Avatar - Amplified Mobility Platform "AMP" Suit - Yet, in spite of such remarkable achievements, advanced machines were still viewed with suspicion and considered more threatening than promising. - Even in the present such a creation is used by the antagonists in the movies. The bad guys use an advanced version of the CAM called an AMP suit for fighting the natives. Amplified Mobility Platform "AMP" Suit

CAM - 1969 AMP - 2154

Cybernetics Today Concepts and origins of cybernetics are being revisited Lack of success with AI has lead to greater curiosity as towards what a brain does, and views on the biology of cognition Designers are rediscovering the needs for rigorous models of goals, interactions, and systems limitations

Cybernetics Today (cont) Notable figures in the development of modern cybernetics are Norbert Wiener, William Ashby, and Warren McCulloch It is an important subject in many academic and scientific fields

Questions? Comments?

Sources http://www.pangaro.com/published/cyber-macmillan.html http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v7n3/hong.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900752,00.html http://cyberneticzoo.com/?tag=quadruped-walking-machine http://www.ehow.com/about_5185625_history-cybernetics.html