RoboEarth

Robotics

Joris Peels, of i.materialse, has a curious hobby he calls “Skynet search.” He goes around the internets looking for evidence of the real-world emergence of Skynet. He posted this item about RoboEarth to his blog. RoboEarth is an attempt at creating a sort of Google Earth/Internet for robots, a place where standardized navigation and object information can be uploaded, stored, and then downloaded by a bot that needs it.

Scientists and researchers from the Technical University of Eindhoven, Philips & the universities of Stuttgart, München, Zaragoza & Zurich have just made a huge breakthrough with RoboEarth. They have managed to get the TechUnited AMIGO robot (pictured above) to download all the information it needs for a specific task and then carry out this task. The task seems simple, the robot had to pick up and serve a bottle of water to a person. The AMIGO was successful in doing this autonomously.

Wait. Is that the dusty crunch of a human skull being mindlessly trammeled beneath a robotic foot? Why yes, I think it is.

(BTW: Some viewers might find the audio to this video a little annoying. I turned my volume way down.)

Skynet is here. Robo Earth & the ‘AMIGO’

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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