Students Luke Johnson and Sam
Dyar program a robotic arm.
Photo by Jason Dorfman.
robotics to biology, having worked
with things like underwater robot
networks and virtual fences to herd
cows. In March, it was announced
that these folks have been
developing a concept called
“precision agriculture” through
which greenhouses of the future will
be fully autonomous.
In such a facility, the plants will
be fitted with sensors that allow a
computer to monitor their general
physical state, moisture, and
nutrient needs. The computer will
continuously direct robots to provide
whatever care the plants need and
even to pollinate plants and pick
ripe fruit.
According to Prof. Daniela Rus,
this approach offers two advantages
over current practices. First, it
conserves resources such as water
and fertilizer as these things are
dispensed only on an as-needed
basis. Second, it eliminates back-breaking human labor in the harvest.
It all sounds good, but you have
to wonder. These, after all, are college students. Are these guys really
interested in growing a bumper crop
of Better Boys? Or, could they have
some other specialty crop in mind?
Precision agriculture could offer a
third advantage: a considerable head
start if the federales stumble across
your little farm.
Automate Your Child Neglect
Crib action.
Finally, coming in at the top of
this month’s list of lamest robotic
concepts is the Suima crib, developed
by Japan’s Kyushu University and
industrial machinery builder Maruki
Kaihatsu, K.K. According to the
design team, “First, we observed
mothers holding their babies and
analyzed their movement to decide
the specification for experimental
apparatus. Then, we produced
the experimental apparatus and
carried out experiments to clarify
comfortable swing for babies.”
The result is a device that uses a
sensor (probably something as exotic
as a condenser microphone) to detect
when the baby cries. The cradle then
sways in 1.8 second cycles until the
crying stops. That appears to be all
it does.
The crib is presently available
only in Nippon, though, so if you
want to go out bar hopping and
leave the kid at home, you’ll need
to live there. You’ll also have to fork
over $100 a month to rent one or
up to $5,500 for an outright
purchase. But, hey, it wouldn’t be
Robytes
right to let the little brat encroach
on your lifestyle.
You can see it in operation by
logging onto suima.jp/top/ and
hitting the “What’s suima” button
and then the “next” arrow.
Saya Gets a Promotion
Eighteen motors behind Saya’s
face stretch her latex skin to
express emotions.
You may have caught Saya the
robot in her usual role as front-desk
receptionist at the Tokyo University
of Science. But after 15 years in the
same old rut, she has finally been
given a shot at working as a teacher
in an elementary school. And she
appears eminently qualified, being
able to speak several languages and
— via a complex array of motors in
her head — express surprise, fear,
disgust, anger, happiness, and
sadness, all of which come in handy
in the teaching profession.
In her new job, Saya calls the
roll, smiles, and even scolds errant
pupils. However, according to her
creator, Prof. Hiroshi Kobayashi, she
isn’t really ready for full-time teaching
duties because, “The robot has no
intelligence. It has no ability to learn.
It has no identity,” making her more
like the average student. But at
least she has ignored any romantic
overtures from class members.
To see her in action, visit
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfxp
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