Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The Coming Tipping Point in Robotics Mark W. Spong Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair and Dean Excellence in Education Chair Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX 75080 create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The Coming Tipping Point in Robotics How many of you interact with a computer at least once a day? How many of you interact with a robot at least once a day? Over the next 25 years robots will be as common as computers are today. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science What is a Tipping Point? A Tipping Point refers to a threshold, a moment of attainment of a critical mass resulting in an irreversible and unstoppable change. A Tipping Point in Robotics will result from the impact of Moore’s Law on Communication, Computation, Sensing, and Control. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science What is Moore’s Law? Moore’s Law refers to the exponential increase of computational power and exponential decrease of cost of computers over time. Number of Transistors Logarithmic scale cost 1971 create your future 2011 time www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The Tipping Point in Computers • In 1971 computers were rare, large, slow, and expensive. • People generally had to be isolated from computers. • In 2011 computers are ubiquitous, small, fast, and cheap. • Computers share the same space with people. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science • The momentum started to build in the 1970’s and early 1980’s (TI, Apple, IBM) • The Tipping Point occurred in the 1990 s (Internet, Mosaic, Netscape, smartphones) In effect, the computer industry capitalized on the exponential changes in cost and performance resulting from Moore’s Law. The same thing will happen in Robotics over the next 25 years. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Let’s Start with a Seemingly Simple Question What is a Robot? Cincinnati Milacron T 3 Robot Unimation `Unimate’ Robot The original notion of a robot was the manipulator arm used in factory automation. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science What is a broader notion of a robot? Certainly, everyone would say that Gort is a robot. Is this a robot? Remotely-Piloted Plane create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science What about this? Autonomous Rover What about these? Da. Vinci Surgical System create your future Roomba Vacuum Cleaner www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The Notion of What Qualifies as a Robot has Changed Greatly Over the Years create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science What are the Attributes of a Robot? A Robot Environment Acting Sensing • Gathers Information about its Environment - Sensing • Processes that Information to Make Decisions - Thinking • Performs Work on the Environment – Acting Thinking create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science So, to be called a robot, an entity must • be a machine, i. e. a physical entity capable of `doing real work’ • operate in a closed-loop fashion under computer control transforming sensing into action Mechanics Electronics Controls Sensors create your future Software A Robot is a Mechatronic System at the heart of which is Feedback Control allows: • Autonomy • Performance in Unstructured Environments • Learning www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The Humanoid Robot is the ultimate Mechatronic System and the most like us: • It has mechanics (hands, arms, legs) • It has sensors (cameras, force, touch) • It has a brain (computer) • It incorporates feedback control (actions are based on sensed quantities) create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science But is the Humanoid the future of Robotics? In other words, will the future be Rosie? create your future or Roomba? www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science I would argue that a tipping point in robotics will occur at the confluence of three areas: 1. Networked Robots 2. Human-Robot Interaction 3. Telepresence create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Networked Robotics By Networked Robots we mean a group of independent robots that can function as a single coordinated entity by communication and cooperation. Applications include: • Surveillance • Environmental Monitoring • Health Monitoring • Cooperative Manipulation • Formations of Vehicles • Agricultural robotics create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science • The problem of coordination of networked robots is inspired by natural systems. • Examples from nature include: Flocking of Birds create your future Schooling of Fish www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Attitude Synchronization of Networked Robots M. Fujita, Tokyo Institute of Technology M. W. Spong, University of Texas at Dallas This work was begun in CSL and ITI at UIUC, supported by Boeing, NSF, and ONR. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Human-Robot Interaction The biggest change in robotics over the past 25 years has been the nature of human-robot interaction. In the past, robots were big, dumb, and dangerous. Humans and robots had to be physically separated by cages, pressure-sensitive mats, light curtains, and emergency stop switches. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Human-Robot Interaction Today robots are designed to work closely with people in the same space create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Human-Robot Interaction Applications include: • Assistive robots for the elderly • Rehabilitation robots • Exercise trainer robots • Robot servants in the home • Military robots create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Human-Robot Interaction Gretzky – The First Air Hockey Playing Robot Coordinated Science Laboratory University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1996 -1999 create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science The Results 1. Spong, M. W. and Bishop, B. E. , “Development of a Three Degree of Freedom Air Hockey Playing Robot, ” IEEE Intl Conference on Robotics and Automation, Video Proceedings, Segment 19, Leuven, Belgium, May 1998. [recipient of the conference best video award] Recall that this is 1990’s technology. In particular, computation and computer vision have made significant improvements thanks, in large part, to Moore’s Law. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Human-Robot Interaction Brain-Computer Interface Technology is also being developed for • Control of Prosthetics • Control of Assistive Devices • Control of Robots, Airplanes and Automobiles • Gaming UT-Dallas/ CINVESTAV project on BCI for assistive devices create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Telepresence From the Greek root tele – from afar: • Television • Telecommuting • Teleconferencing • Teleoperation • Telepresence create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Teleoperation refers to controlling robots at a distance and was one of the first applications of robotics. The problem of semi-autonomous teleoperation combines networking, human-robot interaction, and telepresence. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Teleoperation of a Robot Formation LARS – The Laboratory for Autonomous and Robotic Systems The University of Texas at Dallas create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Telepresence In the future, Telerobots such as this will be your personal Avatar. They will be widely distributed around the world and ready for hire. Instead of traveling to that conference in Detroit, you will log into Avatars. RUs. com and attend the conference without leaving home. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Telepresence This will be a disruptive technology impacting transportation, hotels, restaurants and entertainment industries. It will also greatly increase productivity. People can attend more conferences and meetings without having to travel. create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Telepresence create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Summary Robots will soon be • inexpensive and widely available • networked together, remotely accessible, and remotely controllable • working with people, extending the capabilities of people, entertaining people • working in hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, shops and private homes • monitoring our health, our environment, our infrastructure, our security create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Research Needs • Object Recognition • Manual Dexterity including Haptics • Improved Brain Interfaces • Natural Language and Gesture Interfaces • Social Understanding • Cyber Security and Privacy Awareness • Modeling and Control Algorithm Development • Formal Methods of Verification create your future www. utdallas. edu

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science Thank You! Questions? create your future www. utdallas. edu