From Autonomy
To Symbiosis:
Some Thoughts on the
Complexities of
NE
T
OKD E R w
By Fulvio Mastrogiovanni
Robots
You have an appointment with a new employer
for the long-awaited interview. Consider your
actions as you try not to be late: You enter the
huge building where the employer’s office is
located; you search for the office directions
near the main hall desk, thereby finding
your way towards the elevators; you
wait for the elevator and take it
selecting the proper floor, trying to
accommodate other people as the
elevator moves; you exit from the
elevator, moving towards the
employer’s office; and so on. These
are very simple actions for humans,
to such an extent that you are not
thinking about them as you perform
them. Strictly speaking, they are so
“simple” that no multi-billion-dollar mobile or
humanoid robot would be able to manage the
whole process.
42 SERVO 01.2010
