The Door
Into Spring
WARNING: This Appetizer contains opinions which may not
taste good to the robotics community!
Consume with caution!
It’s New Year’s Eve, I’m 50 years
old, and instead of partying until I’m
stupid, I’m home writing a column for
SERVO. It’s amazing how a few years
change things! Three decades ago,
I thought New Years was the best
party opportunity of the year;
now it’s a quiet night to write. I’m
reminded of the changes time brings
because the soundtrack to this
evening’s writing is my wife’s
Christmas present: an iRobot Roomba
cleaning robot clattering and
bumping around. It’s probably just a
coincidence (but who knows what
lurks deep in the brain) that I just
finished my umpteenth re-read of the
first sci-fi book I ever read, Robert
Heinlein’s “The Door Into Summer.”
In that book (published in 1957, the
year I was born), Heinlein clearly
predicted the automated floor cleaning robot in his “Hired Girl” machine.
It took 50 years — all the way into the
third millennium — before his dream
was realized as a commercial success.
In the same book, he predicted
CAD via his “Drafting Dan,” although
he missed a bit in that his version was
mechanical in nature, rather than
computerized. Still, CAD became a
reality just one short decade after he
76 SERVO 02.2008
by Kevin Berry
predicted it, so let’s score him with a
“close enough.”
This train of thought led me
to consider where the world is,
robot-wise, in 2008.
I’m a solid member of the combat
side of robotics, but with interest in
other competitive aspects of the sport,
and in the overall implementation of
the technology in our society. I have
very mixed feelings about the state
of things, robotically speaking, in
today’s world.
First, the down side. The general
feeling in the combat community is
that things continue to decline. There
were about 25 events held in 2007,
down from 35 in 2006, and with
generally smaller attendance. At the
larger events, fewer are travelling long
distances to participate, and there is
a definite downturn in both new
builders, and in large class bots.
In the consumer market, as well
as industrial, I don’t see the kind of
rapid evolution in robotics technology
as there is in computers, cell phones,
and music playback. This may be a
natural outcome of the mechanical
nature vs. electronic, the lack of a
driving economic force, or — as I
suspect — a symptom of the gradual
shift of our culture from an outdoor,
farm based, mechanical nature to an
indoor, information based, electronic
nature. The closing down of so many
high school auto, machine, and wood
shop classes, being replaced with
web, digital, and computer aided
design classes, seems to back up
this assessment.
In hobby and educational robotics,
I’m disappointed in the overall lack of
leadership and integration. There are
many complementary programs and
types of competitions, but they
don’t seem to cooperate, or even
communicate, well. I, for example, had
no idea Science Olympiad even had a
robotics element until I was called by a
parent for help. (I’m known as “that
robot guy” at work.) The lack of
outward cooperation between BotsIQ
and RFL member groups is another
concern of mine.
Now, more within my comfort
zone, the up side. FIRST has done a
tremendous job of building support at
that key level — the state education
department. BotsIQ has a solid
membership base, and is holding
regional tourneys in addition to the
nationals. RoboGames 2007 pulled in
a whopping 559 registered bots, from
all around the world, in the widest
possible range of categories. In
combat, the 25 events in 2007 in
North America represent one every
two weeks. A few RFL member
organizations and individuals have
programs working in their local
schools, and some participants in
BotsIQ also cross over to local,
regional, or national combat events.
