So, how was the meeting?

Proceedings of the San Francisco

By Cliff Thompson

2 - February - 1997

President Kevin Fahl discussed the following items:

• March 2 Artist (Robot Art) & Survival (Robot Feeding/Self Charging) Contests, including details of the Contest Description & Rules printed in this column last month.
• This year’s joint Exploratorium -SFRSA Annual Robot Competition & Exhibition (ARCE) may be better viewed if moved from the Museum’s main floor to it’s McBean Theater. McBean has a stage, video projection equipment & many rows of step-elevated bleacher seats.
• ROBOTICS DIGEST Quarterly Magazine publisher Bill Gates is contacting various Robotics Clubs Newsletter Editors, including SFRSA. Bill is discussing the possibility of combining the various Club publications into a single Newsletter to appear as a Department or pull-out Supplement in the Magazine. This approach has several advantages. For the Clubs it would free up resources associated with the challenges & costs of desktop publishing, particularly the common disparity between small mailing lists and bulk mailing rates. For the Subscribers, it would reduce the cost of having to maintain several subscriptions to various Newsletters. Subscribers would instead have a single subscription of roughly the same amount for a single Newsletter, yet one that brings in return a full-blown magazine containing numerous Club Newsletters. And for everyone concerned, there are many advantages in having a professional publisher handling the publication. Additionally there is the opportunity to upgrade to glossy format, color photos &, with a starting subscriber base of over 10,000, greatly increased exposure. The Magazine debuts in the 1^st ¼ of ’97 at an estimated price of $24 a year.
• Discussions are underway with SFRSA members & FRONTIER MACHINE CONTROL founders Carlo Bertocchine & Stuart Davis to install their PC ROVER Robot Kit for the SFRSA Internet Robot Exhibit at the Exploratorium. The aim is to establish the exhibit in time for the Exploratorium-SFRSA Annual Robot Competition & Exhibition (ARCE) in September.

I passed around 2 San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper stories.

• The first story (12/26/96), "Honda Testing Human-Shaped Robot Worker," explains that the "battery-powered robot is 6 feet tall, weighs 462 pounds & looks like an astronaut in a space suit. The robot has an autonomous control process & can walk and go up & down stairs or slopes without needing detailed walking instructions...It can change directions & correct it’s balance automatically if pushed...the robot can do various jobs with two hands...".
• The second story (1/10/97), "The Electric Cockroach’s Acid Test... Scientists use miniature robotics backpacks to see if bugs can be controlled," notes that "Robo-roach, a cockroach surgically fitted with a high-tech backpack containing a microprocessor & pulse-emitting electrode set, underwent tests at Tokyo University to see if scientists can control the insect’s movements...Within a few years...Electronically controlled insects carrying mini-cameras or other sensory devices could be used for sensitive missions...With a remote, researchers send signals to the backpacks, which stimulate the electrodes. The pulsing electrodes make the roach turn left...right...scamper forward or spring backward...".

Kevin passed out the following items:

• HALTED SPECIALITIES CATALOG (HSC), an Electronics Supplies Catalog. HSC may be reached at 1 800 4 HALTED and runs a web site at http://www.halted.com. Kevin noted the printed catalog is available at Tower Books, 2727 El Camino Real Blvd., San Mateo, CA.

• AMERICAN SCIENCE & SURPLUS CATALOG. They run a web site at http://www.sciplus.com and are reachable at (847) 982-0870.

• Print of a design by SOLAROBOTICS for a contact sensor created from a spring-wrapped nail.

Kevin showed the following video clips from the DISCOVERY CHANNEL’S NEXT STEP & THE LEARNING CHANNEL’S THE FUTURE OF CRIME FIGHTING & TECHNOSPY series:

• ROBOT WARS ’96. The clip featured an interview with SFRSA member & FRONTIER MACHINE CONTROL co-founder Carlo Bertocchine & his contestant robot BIOHAZARD. The machine rolled off with a pair of 1^st prizes, in the Heavyweight & Design/Engineering Categories. The clip also plugged SFRSA member & MONDO-TRONICS President Roger Gilbertson’s ROBOT STORE.

Remotely Operated Bomb Squad Robot equipped with tractor treads, microphone, speaker, 2-way communications, video & infrared cameras, gripper arm, headlights & a laser-sighted rifle. In a riveting segment resembling a real-world case from the files of television’s police action series COPS, the robot was shown aiding the apprehension of a murderer. The criminal had killed his parents & 3 other people & was currently holding another couple hostage in their home while firing at police from a 2^nd story window of the couple’s residence.

RATTLER, being developed at the ROBOTIC VEHICLE RANGE, SANDIA LABORATORIES, New Mexico. The 4 wheel independent drive vehicle has a split body to allow the wheels to rotate, traverse rough terrain & keep in contact with the ground. To respond to surrounding conditions, an on-board computer & video camera utilize visual feedback to process images in real-time through Neural Network software. One application of the system includes a miniature mobile spy for intelligence gathering. About the size of a thumbnail, the robot could swim through sewer pipes & enter a building through plumbing fixtures. SANDIA run a Web Site at http://www.sandia.gov.

At LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORIES Mark Tilden is developing miniature legged robots whose navigation is modeled after insect movement. The insect-like robots resemble the spider-like MONDO-TRONICS ROBOT STORE Muscle Wires BORIS Walking Robot. The solar-powered machines carry an on-board video camera & mimic insect motion as they traverses the countryside. Intriguingly, the machines do not use a microcomputer or do any "thinking" to handle movement but instead utilize what Mark terms a "Nervous Net" to dictate motor coordination. An on-board computer breaks down tasks into large numbers of Yes/No questions, for example "If this leg is behind the one in front, then keep it still, else move it forward".

Noting that an ant uses much the same system, Mark explains how the Nervous Net operates. The Net determines motor coordination by enabling the machines to figure out where they are, what they have to do & how to move to their destination. The insect-like control mechanism does not "think" but utilizes an inner nervous system to react to things in the world, process the information, then respond both electrically & physically.

As an example of the latter, a machine is walking along on tall, closely spaced legs with a distinctly grasshopper-like gait. Mark then picks up the machine & bends its flexible, pipe-cleaner-like legs into a different, lower & wider stance. When the machine returns to the ground, its behavior changes and it resumes walking in a different way with a gait more like that of a spider. The change to the structure of the machine is a physical change that results in a change to its behavior & not to the actual way that it "thinks."

Mark noted he had successfully applied the Nervous Net technology to various other insect leg arrangements, as well as fin & wing systems. Applications include making the robots resemble real insects to slip undetected through security zones, then using the bugs to sabotage information or relay it back to an agent. In fact, a small "herd" or "swarm" of spy robo-insects of various types could be sent in as a team to explore the various rooms of a building simultaneously. They could then transmit their reports concurrently to a "mother insect!".

At MOLLER INTERNATIONAL in Davis, CA, Paul Moller, an Aeronautical Engineer, is combining aeronautics & robotics to build AEROBOT, a fan-driven robot that can hover & dart like a Hummingbird. Carrying a payload of camera, microphone & navigational sensors to enable it to move around in buildings, an AEROBOT requires a large amount of power, typically around 2 HP/lb., in a small package. The ‘bots come in the forms of tethered electric engine devices as well as un-tethered gas engine machines. The gas machines utilize 1.5 HP engines weighing a few ounces. The AEROBOTS can made as small as 6" in diameter at a cost of about $100 each. Paul’s 15 years of past experience includes building prototype "flying saucers" evolved from Hovercraft technology. MOLLER runs a Web Site at http://www.moller.com/~mi/frames.htm

CAL TECH Chemistry Professor Nate Lewis is at work developing an Artificial Nose that utilizes a group of sensors to detect a variety of chemical fingerprints ("smells"). Currently the system is being modeled after the olfactory system of the Locust, in whose brain tiny electrodes measure its neuronal response to smells. As explained by the narrator, "Scientists impregnate the electrical sensors with non-conducting plastics, each one specifically formulated to attract a different chemical. When the molecules of the chemical being smelled bind to the plastics, the sensors swell like a sponge. Each chemical smell can therefore be measured by the change in electrical resistance across the sensors. Experiments with different chemicals determine the minimum number of electronic cells necessary to mimic an animals sense of smell." The researchers are aiming to eventually mimic the olfactory system of a dog & are currently working on a microchip that will boast 255 sensors. Applications include detecting where people are, have been, whom have they been in contact with and can even involve lie-detector capability based on detecting chemicals unique to specific emotional states.

The SFRSA members, mother & very young son's team of Patty Pink, Hans Barnum & Nils Bailey, passed around the following:

UNMANNED SYSTEMS Magazine, on the cover of which was a picture of DANTE, the Volcano Climbing Robot from NASA-AMES. The magazine was loaded with robust technical articles & described an Aerial Robotics Competition with a related Web Site at http://sun-valley.stanford.EDU/arl.html. The magazine is reachable at (703) 524-6646. Additionally, THE ASSOCIATION FOR UNMANNED VEHICLE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL (AUVSI), runs a Web Site with links to various air, ground & undersea competitions at http://http://www.erols.com/auvsicc/index.html, with an dedicated aerial competition Home Page at http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/AUVS/IARCLaunchPoint.html.

Aerial Robotics Competition related Web Site

A photo-album of the team’s visit to, & the goings-on at, the ROBOT WARS ’96 Pit Stop area.

Cupcakes & soft drinks for all, to celebrate the boy’s birthdays. The lads opened their presents & receive a pair of HYPER PEPPY Robot Kits.

Kevin gave a talk on Robot Mobility. Among issues covered were Low Center of Gravity, Tracks versus Wheels, Speed, Torque & Weight. Kevin went over numerous physics formulas used to determine Acceleration, Torque, Speed & Power. A lively open discussion followed as various members debated their various divergent viewpoints.

As I wrap up this column, SFRSA’s Home Host Organization, The Exploratorium Science & Technology Museum, has begun utilizing it’s Internet links & direct feeds from organizations like THE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE for a special event. The Exploratorium will be transmitting "streaming" audio & video coverage over the Internet from Space Shuttle astronauts as they repair & upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope over the next few days. The "webcasts" occur daily at 11am & 1pm & may be viewed at the Museum’s Web Site for the event, at http://www.exploratorium.edu/hubble/index.html. A description & some images from the site follow:

"Special Event

Live from the Shuttle! The Hubble service mission. Live video! Feb 11th to the 21^st

Welcome to the Exploratorium's webcast studio and our current production, Hubble Servicing Mission: Looking Beyond Boundaries, a ten-day behind the scenes look at NASA's most recent mission to upgrade the Hubble Telescope. Looking Beyond Boundaries is a collaboration between the Exploratorium and the Space Telescope Science Institute, (STScI). 

These images are live video streaming from our production studio on the museum floor and will be your window into the science, technology, and personalities involved in the current mission.

Hear live audio from our studio mix in RealAudio"

After leaving the Exploratorium Web Site I went on to search the Internet for further information on the SOLAROBOTICS contact sensor mentioned above. I found a Site for SOLAROBOTICS at http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~hrynkiwd/index.html. During the search I stumbled upon an awesome Web Site of Robotics resources being run by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Robotics Special Interest Group (SIG) of Queensland, Australia at http://www-sqi.cit.gu.edu.au/~tracy/robots/resource.html. An image of the SOLAROBOTICS Site, as well as the ACS Site with a listing of their current Links, follow:

"FAQ and Hotlists

*Robotics FAQ

*Yahoo Robotics Resource List

*University of Massachusetts Robotics Resource List

*CERA Robotics Resource List

*Solarobotics BEAM Robotics Resource List

*Euro-Robots: Mobile Robots Archive

*Brat Wizard's Bookmarks

*Jace's Robotics Links

Robot Competitions and Games

*Robot Competition FAQ

*Robot Wars ®

*Australian Robotics Championships 1996

*Connecticut Robotics Society Contest 1996

*Western Canadian Robot Games 1996

*BEAM Robotics Events for 1996

*Australian MicroMouse 1995

*Irish MicroMouse 1995

*Singapore Robotic Games 1995

*University of Queensland Robot Cricket Competition 1995

*UC Davis MicroMouse Homepage

*MicroMouse Competition Rules

*MIT LEGO Robot Design Competition course notes

     (6.270 Robot Builder's Guide)

Robot Research

*Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT

*Robotics Laboratory, University of Maryland

*Robotics at LAMI, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

*Robotics Group, California Institute of Technology

*Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics, University of Massachusetts

*Robotic Architecture Lab, NASA

*Mobile Lego Robots

*Grad Student's Who's Who in Robotics

*NavLab (Autonomous Navigation), Carnegie Mellon University

Tele-robots, while not autonomous, are an interesting class of mobile robots.

*A Telerobot On The World Wide Web, University of Western Australia

*Mercury Project, University of Southern California

*Telerobotics Long-Term Research Program 1994 Annual Report

     Hydro-Québec Research Institute

Robot Equipment

Instructional Information

*Information on Building Sensors

*Where Am I? - Sensors and Methods for

     Autonomous Mobile Robot Positioning

Parts and Kits

*The Handy Board

*F1 Controller

*Robix RCS-6 Robot Construction Set

*Robotix

*Lego Technic

*California Cybernetics Home Page

*RWA Robot Features

*Lynxmotion Robotic Arm Kit

Robot Newsgroups

*comp.robotics.misc

*comp.robotics.research

I have a final note relating to the Police Bomb Squad Robot described above. My wife recently informed me that the AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS cable channel would be running a Classic Science Fiction THEY CAME FROM THE FIFTY’S Film festival over the next few days. Checking the listing I saw the 1^st film to be one that somehow escaped my youth. The film is the 1953 Republic Pictures Production titled TOBOR THE GREAT, accompanied by the description "A robot comes to the rescue when its creator is kidnapped".

Watching the gem together we found ourselves alternately howling & pleasantly impressed by the novelty & ingenuity of the adventures. Tobor is being built to pilot the first space craft in the impending age of stellar travel. The robot receives training in navigation & exercises in manual dexterity (during one such exercise he hunts & pecks out to a teletype the phrase "Tobor is robot spelled backward"). As a finishing touch to his construction, his creator scientists figure out a way to operate him "telepathically". They utilize a head harness to amplify brain waves & send them to a tiny transmitter stored in a writing pen, which in turn transmits the desired commands back to Tobor.

AMC’S THEY CAME FROM THE FIFTIES festival film TOBOR THE GREAT showing young lab assistant downloading Tobor

Russian spies kidnap Tobor’s creator for various secret formulas & the scientist uses the pen to write down the information while the Russians are unaware that the scientist is also secretly controlling the pen to signal Tobor to come to the rescue. During the rescue, rugged terrain poses all the challenges currently being met by advanced cantilevered, multi-wheeled robotics base platform design engineers. No fool Tobor simply bowls over a security guard & trundles off into the wilds by driving a Jeep! Now that’s using the ol’ Neural Net!