Good Robot

9 responses to “Good Robot”

1. 

   elite car

   Feb 24, 2007 at 7:43 am

   I wonder if it can use bluetooth to place calls, send audio, or send text messages. That would extend its communication abilities well beyond BT range. Interesting use cases come to mind.

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2. 

   Todd Huffman

   Feb 24, 2007 at 4:10 pm

   What is it called? Are they commercially available yet?

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3. 

   jurvetson

   Feb 24, 2007 at 5:29 pm

   Yes, it’s the LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit, their most recent release. They have a great way to incrementally introduce complexity. First it’s just a two wheel robot, and simple motion exercises. Then you can add sensors as triggers, and arms with actuators. This is a great place to start, and then you can build walking robots (which needs a lot more effort to see the results).

   The gradual introduction of layers of complexity, and chadh’s question, remind me of the fun mental romp of Braitenberg’s Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology.

   In the first Amazon review, I notice that some guy, "Steve Borg" no less, offers this fine connection:

   "Braitenberg uses simple elecro-mechanical vehicles to demonstrate how very simple rules and designs can create surprisingly complex behavior. I used the vehicles to teach simple electronics concepts in a college level ‘Electronics 101’ course. The students were not only fascinated by the vehicles themselves, but could directly experience the effects of electronic components"

   And a "Noble" man summarizes:
   "With a playfulness not usually found in the writings of neuroscientists, Braitenberg starts with very simple machines or vehicles that respond to their environment. He shows that, despite the simple internal workings of these machines, we would be likely to impute feelings and desires to them. As the book goes on, Braitenberg discusses increasingly complicated machines, although remaining firmly in the realm of things that could potentially be built. The later machines appear to be capable of impressive feats of memory, planning and foresight, and yet they are ultimately made up of "simple electro-mechanical relationships". By the close of the book, one realizes belatedly that Braitenberg has sketched out (in fable-like form) a possible history of the evolution of intelligence."

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4. 

   steelhive

   Feb 24, 2007 at 7:36 pm

   Thanks for the book pointer; it looks like a fun read. I just wish I’d known about it before I went to the bookstore this morning. 🙂

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5. 

   alexmuse

   Feb 25, 2007 at 3:33 am

   I got one for Christmas, need to take it out of the box.

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6. 

   Vanita

   Feb 25, 2007 at 3:52 pm

   !!! Hey, that’s our new pet bot! A 21st century version of a puppy under the Christmas tree, given to our son last December. ‘-}

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7. 

   Mike_fj40

   Feb 26, 2007 at 6:30 am

   You’re the first on Flickr to use the Synthetic Psychology tag. Did you coin the phrase or is it old AI jargon?

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8. 

   jurvetson

   Feb 26, 2007 at 5:00 pm

   It’s a lovely description of Braitenberg’s thought experiments, and the subtitle of his book.

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9. 

   elite car

   Mar 3, 2007 at 8:30 am

   Thanks for the link to Braitenberg’s Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology. What an amusing, quick read – lots of fun.

   Reply