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
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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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.
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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.
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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
time
1971
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2011
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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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.
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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•The momentum started to build in the 1970’s and early
1980’s (TI, Apple, IBM)
•The Tipping Point occurred in the 1990s (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.
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
and Computer Science
Let’s Start with a Seemingly Simple Question
What is a Robot?
Cincinnati Milacron T3 Robot
Unimation `Unimate’ Robot
The original notion of a robot was the manipulator arm
used in factory automation.
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What is a broader notion of a robot?
Certainly, everyone would
say that Gort is a robot.
Is this a robot?
Remotely-Piloted Plane
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What about this?
Autonomous Rover
What about these?
DaVinci Surgical System
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Roomba Vacuum
Cleaner
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The Notion of What
Qualifies as a Robot has
Changed Greatly Over the
Years
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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
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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
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Software
A Robot is a Mechatronic
System at the heart of
which is Feedback Control.
Feedback Control allows:
• Autonomy
• Performance in Unstructured
Environments
• Learning
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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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)
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But is the Humanoid the future of Robotics?
In other words, will the future be
Rosie?
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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
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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
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• The problem of coordination of networked robots is
inspired by natural systems.
• Examples from nature include:
Flocking of Birds
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Schooling of Fish
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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.
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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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.
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Human-Robot Interaction
Today robots are designed
to work closely with people
in the same space
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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Human-Robot Interaction
Applications include:
• Assistive robots for the elderly
• Rehabilitation robots
• Exercise trainer robots
• Robot servants in the home
• Military robots
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Human-Robot Interaction
Gretzky – The First Air Hockey Playing Robot
Coordinated Science Laboratory
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1996-1999
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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.
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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
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Telepresence
From the Greek root tele – from afar:
• Television
• Telecommuting
• Teleconferencing
• Teleoperation
• Telepresence
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Teleoperation
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.
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Teleoperation of a Robot Formation
LARS – The Laboratory for Autonomous and Robotic Systems
The University of Texas at Dallas
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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 AvatarsRUs.com and
attend the conference without
leaving home.
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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.
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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Telepresence
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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
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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
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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
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Thank You!
Questions?
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