The Robots are Coming 

According to this week’s edition of New Scientist, the next robot revolution is underway and software is the key. You remember what happened with home computing – “…software transformed computers from dull accounting tools to can’t-live-without devices” writes the article’s author, Celeste Biever.

 Well, it’s happening with robots. They are moving out of the lab and into our homes. Advances in software are making it possible to develop robots and apps that will have us clamoring for the intelligent machines.

 An open source robot operating system (ROS, of course), developed by Willow Garage, is being widely accepted, allowing roboticists to concentrate on developing unique applications rather than the nuts and bolts of routine robot functions.

Robots running ROS are still expensive, but people like Ted Larson, who owns a company called Ologic, are experimenting with transforming cell phones into robots.  Scientists at MIT recently created DragonBot – just insert a cell phone into the fluffy, orange dragon and it comes alive, if that’s the right term. The transformed cell phone runs the Android OS and stores its memory and personality in a cloud via the Internet.

 And then there’s Boxie (shown above).  This little robot, who appears to be a very talented cardboard box, is designed to move around the streets on it’s own, engaging passers-by and asking people to tell it a story. It videotapes the interaction, which is later edited into a documentary film.  Watch the video – Boxie scores very high on the cuteness scale.