Friday, April 25th, 2008

Building Social Robots

Teens from the tri-state area bring their best bots to a regional competition. (Credits: Music from Prelinger Archives. Still photos provided by FIRST. Filmed and Produced by Flora Lichtman) See More Videos

Watch Team #217, aka the Thunder Chickens, in the final round of the national FIRST robotics competition in Atlanta, GA. (Credits: Provided by Grant Cox) See More Videos

Can't find anyone to hang out with? Maybe you should invite a robot into your home. In this segment, Ira and guests talk about developing robots with personalities -- moving on beyond the mechanical arms found in today's factories, to devices that could interact with people on a social level. Some of us already anthropomorphize our robotic assistants -- who hasn't called the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner 'cute?' Inventors are working to develop devices that can interact with people on a deeper level, however: communicating, responding to emotion, and operating under specific rules of social behavior. How soon will it be before social, lovable robots enter our homes?

We'll also hear from inventor Dean Kamen about the results of FIRST, a worldwide robotics competition for young inventors. An alliance of three teams from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, Greenville, Texas, and Sterling Heights, Michigan won this year's championships, held last weekend.

Guests

Helen Greiner
Chairman and Co-Founder
iRobot Corporation
Burlington, Massachusetts

Peter McOwen
Project Coordinator, Living with Robots and Interactive Companions (LIREC)
Professor of Computer Science
Queen Mary, University of London
London, United Kingdom

Dean Kamen
Inventor
Founder, FIRST Robotics Competition
Founder, DEKA Research & Development Corporation
Manchester, New Hampshire

Grant Cox
Team member of winning FIRST Robotics Team "Thunder Chickens"
Senior, Eisenhower High School
Sterling Heights, Michigan

Related Links

Segment produced by:Molly Webster

Image: Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot will conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as it performs "Impossible Dream" to open a special concert performance with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma May 13.