What does the future look like for robotics?

Charles Thorpe returns to Science Friday to discuss how far we are from creating truly living machines.

Vocabulary: robotics, “biobot”, humanoid robot, electrical stimulation, cyborgs

NGSS: ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions, ETS2.A: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology, SEP1: Asking Questions and Defining Problems, SEP6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, and CCC2: Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation.

Common Core: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9–10.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11–12.2

A sea slug’s buccal I2 muscle powers this biohybrid robot as it crawls like a sea turtle. The body and arms are made from a 3-D printed polymer. Credit: Victoria Webster

In 1994, Dante II, a 1,700 pound robot built by Carnegie Mellon and NASA, rappelled into the volcano of Mt. Spurr at the rate of one centimeter per minute. The team wanted to test the capabilities of autonomous systems and robotic mobility at the time. In August of that year, Science Friday brought together a group of experts to discuss the trends in robotics: moving from complicated, highly programmed machines to smaller swarms that could be interconnected, where robots could be useful and the ethical dilemmas the technology. One of those guests was Charles Thorpe, a senior research scientist at the Robotics Institute, who was working on developing an autonomous car. He returns to Science Friday to discuss how far robotics have come in the last two decades.

And as engineers build squishy biological-machine hybrids, with mouse muscles and sea slug mouthparts, how far are we from creating truly living machines? A look at the future of ‘bio-bots’ and the unintended consequences of combining flesh, neurons, and mechanical parts.

Audio Excerpt “Predicting the Future of Robotics” July 22, 2016. (Original Segment)

Segment Transcript

Questions

• Why does Charles Thorpe say self-driving cars are already helping people, when they are not fully in use yet?
• Using what you’ve heard about different robots, create a definition that illustrates what qualifies as a robot.
• Make a prediction, what do you think robots will be like in 20 years?
• Why do you think that ethics modules are an important aspect of the National Science Foundation Center retreat? Do you think that some of those conversations should include members of the public? Why or why not?
• Explain what advance in robotics you are most excited about and why.

Activity Suggestions

• As we move towards self-aware artificial intelligence, engage students in discussion and writing about teaching robots the difference between right and wrong. Use this media guide to have students debate the best path to more artificial intelligence.

Related Media

• For more on robots, check out our Spotlight on A Future with Robots!
• They fold, they climb, they even swim! Have you seen the origami robots?!

Originally published at www.sciencefriday.com on July 28, 2016.