book

21st Century Robot

by Brian David Johnson

December 2014

Intermediate to advanced

278 pages

6h 21m

English

Make: Community

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A Manifesto Is Born
Imagined FirstEasy to BuildCompletely Open SourceIntentionally IterativeFiercely SocialFilled with Humanity and DreamsThinking for Her/Him/ItselfOur Motto: “Every Robot Has a Name”
A Robot Who Sees Angels“I’m Making Irrational Robots”The Creative Science Foundation Is BornHe Fixes Radios by Thinking!Next: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Robot
Cockpit, Cargo Hauler Chen-Ming: 30 Hours to RebootDeutchConn Fab 5, Rim of Aitkin Crater, Lunar Farside: 25 Hours to RebootDeutchConn Fab 5, HCI Lab: 22 Hours to RebootDeutchConn Fab 5, Load Dock: 19 Hours to RebootDeutchConn Fab 5, HCI Lab: 10 Hours to RebootDeutchConn Fab 5, Load Dock: 5 Hours to RebootCargo Hauler Chen-Ming: 1 Hour to Reboot
Robots in the BackyardFrom Paper to Plastic and BeyondPrinting JimmyGoing BigIs Your Robot a Boy or a Girl or Neither?The Future of Robots Brought to You by Ms. Moore’s First-Grade ClassNext: I_AM_Robot
Grande Lobb, Villa Marquis Station, Orbital Space Habitat ShilohEdelman Guest Residence 3145, Villa Marquis StationTransition Tunnel and Shark Tank, Five Worlds Resort, Orbital Space Habitat ShilohSodaPop Pools, CandyWorld, Five Worlds ResortFairy Hotel, PrincessWorld, Five Worlds ResortTreasureful Jungle, PirateWorld, Five Worlds ResortFairy Hotel, PrincessWorld, Five Worlds Resort
A Different Kind of RoboticistA Brain in Three PartsRobots That Make Bad DecisionsA Robot with Multiple PersonalitiesFrom AI to AppsWhy Social Robots?From Theory to CodeAction Primitives LayerSocial Primitives LayerCharacter LayerAPP LayerPlease Play with the CodeNext: The Machinery of Love and Grace
Falconbriar—2315: Engstrumm-Bracht Search-and-Rescue ShipHussmann—12999: Engstrumm-Bracht Cargo Supply UnitNew Lebanon Border Station—3899Centennial Station—8854: Engstrumm-Bracht Corporation HeadquartersSandsurf Spa, The Hotel DrexelNew Lebanon Border Station—3899Falconbriar—2315: Engstrumm-Bracht Search-and-Rescue ShipCentennial Station—8854: Engstrumm-Bracht Corporation HeadquartersLobby of the Hotel Drexel

Robots Are SimpleFour Unique Designs for JimmyJimmy with four motorsJimmy in Seven MotorsJimmy in 18 MotorsJimmy in 24 MotorsWhat Was It Like?Building a Super JimmyThe First AppNext: Murderous Little Pets
Cute Little RobotsJimmy 2.0: The Research Humanoid RobotHR-OS1: “The Jimmy Kit”What’s Next?Ducks, Dolls, and RobotsA Dancing HexapodA Robot That Rides Cats?NEXT: How to Build a Robot
DesignShareBodyThe Building Blocks for Motion: Single and Double ServosThe Feet and LegsHips and TorsoArmsHead and NeckExoskeletonPrintingBooting Up Your RobotYour RobotYour Robot’s VoiceGetting Your Robot WorkingHELLO!Trouble! Problems!NEXT: Seven Billion Best Robots Ever!
How This Book EndsNow It’s Up to You
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Content preview from 21st Century Robot

Chapter 5. The Brain

The next step we need to take to assemble our 21^st Century Robot is to build the brain. We start with the theoretical, learning from Dr. Simon Egerton about the Creative Science Foundation’s use of unconventional tools to dream up new digital minds. Then we talk with Professor Maja Matarić and learn more about social robots. We finish with Ross Mead, who explains to us the software he’s building to make designing and programming artificial intelligence easier for everyone.

A Different Kind of Roboticist

Dr. Simon Egerton, whom we met back in Chapter 1, is not your normal kind of roboticist. For years, Simon has been researching and building robots that are meant to be social.

“The technical term for interacting with people in ...