Year-end lists can be an interesting review of the blur that modern life has become, and the evolution of technology is extra rapid by its nature.
Wired’s list of robotics shows no interest in associated job loss for human workers, but if you look closely, the improving capabilities of smart machines are a warning of things to come. In one example, robots are placed in Airbnbs to familiarize themselves with the environment — with duties in housekeeping to follow, presumably.
One familiar machine is being retired, Rethink Robotics’ Baxter model. It was inexpensively priced to be affordable for smaller businesses — and replace humans in performing basic movements.
Below, the Baxter robot excels at simple tasks, like packing boxes.
In addition, we should recognize that rapidly improving automation technology will soon make low-skilled immigration totally obsolete.
The Year in Robots, from Boston Dynamics to (RIP) Baxter, Wired.com, December 29, 2018
DEPENDING ON YOUR perspective, 2018 either brought us closer to salvation by way of robots, or closer to doom by way of robots: Where some see the end of meaningless work, others see the end of humanity, also meaningless. (We’re in the former camp, by the way.) Whatever your biases toward the machines, this year has been a big one for the field of robotics, which continues to roll around joyously in the convergence of falling prices, better software and hardware, and skyrocketing demand from industry.
Given that it’s That Time of Year again, we’ve collected a list of the biggest moments in robotics in 2018, from the continued ascendance of Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini quadruped to the rapid rise and fall of the home robot.
Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog, Finally Unleashed — Taking a quick break from uploading videos of its humanoid robot Atlas doing backflips, Boston Dynamics announced that one of its machines, the four-legged SpotMini, will finally go on sale in 2019. The question now becomes: What do you do with a robot that can fight off stick-wielding humans? One idea might be to load it up with cameras to run security details, or to inspect construction sites. Whatever the case, SpotMini’s forthcoming career in the real world is a big deal for robots of all kinds, which have struggled to escape factories and labs to walk among us.
Goodbye Baxter, the Gentle Giant Among Robots — Alas, as one robot’s career begins, another ends. In October, Rethink Robotics said it was folding, meaning its most famous offering, Baxter, faces retirement. It’s hard to overstate the impact Baxter has had on robotics—because of its low price point and ease of use, it’s become the go-to research platform in universities the world over. Inevitably, though, another more advanced platform will take its place. But let’s give a hand to Baxter, the Robot That Launched a Thousand Discoveries.
Darpa’s Robots Go Underground — Baxter had the luxury of relatively clean, dry, climate-controlled environs, but not so for the machines of Darpa’s next robotics challenge (the same variety of challenge that gave us the unintentionally hilarious face-planting bipeds of 2015). This year the far-out research wing of the Pentagon detailed a grueling underground course through caves and tunnels and bunkers. Unlike previous challenges, teams will be able to deploy a variety of robots that work together to overcome one of the most brutal environments on Earth.
Robots Take Vacations in Airbnbs — Even robots need the occasional change of scene. This year Carnegie Mellon University researchers booked their robots rooms in Airbnbs. The rooms were rented to teach the robots how to manipulate objects in unfamiliar environments. Because teaching a robot how to grasp things in the lab just won’t cut it: To get the machines to work well in the real world, researchers have to train them how to recognize objects against unfamiliar backgrounds, like patterned carpet. And yes, in case you were wondering, the owners of the Airbnbs were notified beforehand that their renters were robots. And yes, they got along famously. (Continues)
