Servo - May 2009

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.