Ai Dreams Forum
Robotics => Robotics News => Topic started by: Art on October 25, 2015, 01:21:47 am
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From Tyler's AI page, I found this interesting Crowd Funding Project and thought it worth posting from the source:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1128055363/7bot-a-powerful-desktop-robot-arm-for-future-inven/ (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1128055363/7bot-a-powerful-desktop-robot-arm-for-future-inven/)
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That is pretty cool. I'll consider getting one. See if I have any use for it at all though.
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The very same logic I used when I first saw the article.
Then, I talked myself out of it. O0
It all breaks down to those "wants" and "needs".
A "need" is one of those things that, without, you'll die: food, clothing, shelter (perhaps medical fits in here if required) but we're just talking basics.
A "want" is everything else. O0 It was a "want" for me and right now, I simply have more than my share of "stuff" that I "wanted", now cluttering my life! I "want" to get rid of a lot of it. ;)
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I just read an article in today's newspaper that having less stuff makes you happier. It's also true for me. The less I have, the less I have to keep from losing.
I'll probably talk myself out of it too. I had the same when I saw a cool mobile robot platform for my laptop AI to drive around: http://www.xaxxon.com/shop (http://www.xaxxon.com/shop) . But robotics would just distract me from programming intelligence.
Maybe I just lack imagination. I could make a sculpting algorithm and have it make little statues to sell on Ebay and make me rich. I could have it write letters - no, wait, that's what computers are for. Errr... I can have it fill in crossword puzzles. Play chess, like a... chess computer... err...
I'll still buy it if it can do my dishes though.
Wait, I know: I can have it arrange all objects on my desk to 90 degree angles.
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You're correct to keep on with the intelligence programming. After all, a "Brain-in-a-box" can do way more than a mobile "being" trundling through your house accidentally knocking things over! The Brain program can simply know the state of everything connected, check weather, order pizza, start your auto, manage your bank accounts, reminders, dates, etc.
Don't leave out companionship part which comprises a decent chatbot that can carry on current, topical conversations, ideas, thoughts, events & outcomes and all sorts of philosophical and personal influences. Let it Dream based on what it has learned and give it the ability to "Learn" from conversations, the Internet (albeit somewhat filtered if desired), and from documents, text files, etc. In a short time, it should be able to speak it's mind. Or, at least that's how I envision it!
I dare say, you could fetch a fairly nice fee for licensing one of these brains. Heh! Good Luck! O0
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That arm is a nice toy, it doesn't have to have any particular super power to be interesting.
Although this one has some interesting abilities. I like how it draws Japanese letters and solves simple math expressions. And I bet you can teach it how to play rock-scissors-paper game :)
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check weather, order pizza, start your auto, manage your bank accounts, reminders, dates, etc.
I've actually been working on adding geolocation, weather reporting, computer task automation, and reminders have been on board my program for a fair while (I use the reminders for cooking and TV schedules). All these 'butler' tasks take surprisingly little to no intelligence, unfortunately. Making an individual conversationalist on the other hand would be very challenging, but I'm more interested in making a think-tank, something that doesn't exist yet, while chatbots do already exist.
I had decided to buy one anyway, but it turns out I'd need a credit card for that and I ain't got none. I'm sure I'll see some appear in stores eventually or maybe I'll have figured out how to work an Arduino by that time and built my own.
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Wouldn't they accept a Bank draft or cashier's check? How about a Money Order?
You mentioned that chatbots already do exist. True, but none with any measure of conversational intellect including topic flow or staying on subject, able to remember and recall from previous conversations, to learn from a variety of methods, to perform inference and deduction...etc.
So while we have a few pretty nice chatbot entries that have been pre-scripted, how about one that can draw upon knowledge from more than one source and compile that into something intelligent and engaging? Ahh...there's the rub!
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Kickstarter apparently only takes Visa, Mastercard, that sort of thing. And with shipping added, the price of the arm is getting a little too close to $500 for my comfort. There's a similar (formerly Kickstarted) robot arm available with a suction cup, but I think I'll just practice some patience and wait for the future to get closer: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13663 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13663)
Yeah, you're right. Existing chatbots leave much to be desired, and all the things you mention are things that I've worked on. But I think making a problem-solving think tank to save the planet outweighs any luxury and profitable applications. Profit is in fact the reason why AI have remained mere tools.
I have been considering to set up a paid talk-to-my-AI service online eventually, but that's more for if and when I run out of funds.
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If the "Big bucks" companies had redirected their efforts even 20 years ago, into renewable energy things like Wind, wave energy (in oceans), hydrogen and solar energy, the earth would be so far ahead. Of course Big Oil might not be too pleased with that overall picture.
One last stray from the topic: less than 4% of Americans were Farmers 30 years ago. Without looking it up, I'm not sure what a valid number currently happens to be but I'd bet it's even lower than that now. Outsourcing just about everything for the sake of a dollar seems common place these days. A real shame that is.
Yeah...I'm getting old.... :(
### Getting back to topic ###
That uArm looks a LOT like one of those desk lamp movable arms that everyone once had littering the corners of our desks, writing and drafting tables some years back. Some even had magnifiers equipped. Seems like one could almost fashion their own robot arm and even outfit it with some servos and sensors. Then it all comes down to the programming! (Right Don?) ;)
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It's the piece inbetween computer and servos that one needs most: An Arduino control board or something like it. Currently the only physical object I can move programmatically is the CD tray. I could put some strings on it and move the desk lamp around, sure. Hook it up to my webcam and a two-weeks-old computer vision algorithm and it may be able to manipulate brightly coloured objects. Or, swing at them, mostly.
Here's an arm (http://www.artistdetective.com/robotarm.mp4) I made earlier out of $6 parts.
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Nice but Hey! You're not flipping us off are you? ( I mean, your robotic arm isn't). :o ;)
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I... hadn't considered that XD