Advance of the Robots

Written by Emily Toman

Tuesday, 15 July 2008 10:03 PM

University research means to improve cybernetic motion, cognition Someday, robots will move naturally, like humans. That’s one possible outcome of the Human Motion Database Project. Gutemberg Guerra-Filho, computer science assistant professor, hopes to develop a language for human movement. The language could help generate a cognitive robot that understands its surroundings and can do things automatically, he said. “The day will come when humanoids will move as we do,” he said. His research aims to turn individual actions into one continuous flow of motion, like words that fit into a sentence. “Our goal is to open up this set of actions and to use a whole vocabulary,” he said. He gathered volunteers to perform 70 actions each, like walking, jumping or kneeling, while wearing a suit with motion sensors placed on major joints. Cameras record the movements that go into the computer that creates a digital person on screen. When each session begins, Guerra-Filho tells his subjects that it’s their second birth — the birth of their digital body. Diego Calderon, civil engineering graduate student, volunteered for the study. He said he saw similar things on the Discovery Channel. “I could see myself inside the computer,” he said. “When I was walking, I could see myself walking.” Guerra-Filho told Calderon that someday his movements might be reflected in a robot that assists the disabled. A cognitive robot could remind patients to take their medicine and could even be used as an exoskeleton in the military to improve performance, Guerra-Filho said. Each session takes about two hours with a few breaks. Arnab Biswas, computer science graduate student, helps Guerra-Filho with the project. They alternate directing subjects and recording data. Biswas wants to use the research in developing automatic animation. “With this data, I’m trying to make the task easier and more automatic,” he said. “Doing this will be a big step in animation, and that’s my motivation.” Guerra-Filho needs more volunteers older than 50 years old. He has more than 30 subjects but needs about 50 to validate the research. “We can show that anything we find is there in 50 different people,” he said. He said the true success will come in the distant future when a person cannot tell the difference between a human and a robot. Views: 1971 | E-mail   Be first to comment this article Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com All right reserved

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 September 2008 03:54 PM )

 

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