Tex wrote:
This may be of interest to Girls of Steel:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsjA Researcher and a Robot Walk Into a Bar...
When they appear on stage, Heather Knight, a robotics graduate student, and Data, her stand-up-comedy-performing robot, seem like a futuristic Odd Couple. Ms. Knight is tall, blond and human while Data—sheathed in a white plastic shell and about a third her size—resembles a RoboCop action figure.
Quote:
Ms. Knight splits her time between New York City and Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, where she is earning a doctorate in robotics. Her practice includes formal psychology-like user studies and software programming at the university as well as playful live performances at tech festivals.
Over the past few years, Ms. Knight has been invited to present her formal research at conferences throughout Europe and the U.S. Her live performances and stand-up act have inspired a sort of viral following. She and Data have taken the stage together at events ranging from the 2010 TEDWomen conference to the Wired 2011 festival in the U.K.
Ms. Knight recently conducted a series of user studies at Carnegie Mellon casting Data as a campus tour guide. The idea was to catalog when and where people lost interest as indicated by their wandering eyes—something she hopes that robots will ultimately be able to pick up on too. She is now in the process of parsing that data.
She is also about to stage the first ever "Cyborg Cabaret." The one-night-only live show plays on Friday at the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh. Ms. Knight and Data will help MC.
... but Girls of Steel will be in St Louis ...
Thanks for the heads up, but as noted GoS will be in St Louis (bus leaves VERY early on Wednesday).
However, yesterday CMU did have many robots running around campus:
12 noon - 4pm: Robotics Project Demos - Planetary Robotics Lab Highbay -
1st floor, Gates and Hillman Centers
12 noon - 4pm: Robotics Institute Lab Tours
12 noon - 2pm: MOBOT races - walkway outside of Wean Hall
2 - 3pm: Robotics 101 Presentation with speaker Howie Choset -
Location: Rashid Auditorium - Gates and Hillman Centers 4401
Abstract
There are two kinds of people: those who dislike robots and those who love
them. Those who dislike them tend to take the narrow view that a robot is
a mechanical humanoid creature that will eventually develop the
intelligence and self-awareness to take over the world. Theyre wrong.
Robots come in all shapes and sizes. Those who love robots know this. In
fact, robo-philes are inspired by the variety of robot morphologies and
all of the details required to make each of them work. If Andrew Carnegie
were alive today, he would undoubtedly love robots. This presentation will
tell you why. So, yes, maybe the robots will take over, but instead of
hating them, should we not embrace and love them. This talk will teach you
how.
Howie's biography
Howie Choset is a Professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon.
Motivated by applications in confined spaces. Howies research group
develops mechanisms to thread through tightly packed volumes to access
locations that people and conventional machinery cannot. One such device
is the snake robot that has applications ranging from minimally invasive
surgery to aerospace manufacturing. Recently, Howie applied lessons
learned from search and rescue training to archeology in Egypt, again with
snake robots. A bulk of Howies research group develops the underlying
theory to control these devices, which is challenging because they have
many degrees of freedom. Recently, working with biologists, Howies
students have applied some of the fundamentals of robot planning and
control to model the locomotion of snakes and some lizards. For this basic
science, Howie has received best paper awards and nominations at ICRA,
IROS, RIA, and Biorob, and currently holds a certificate in Excellence in
the Field of Friendship signed by Lisa Minetti and Jodi Forlizzi.
http://biorobotics.org3 - 4pm: MOBOT Award Ceremony and Wrap-Up
Location: Rashid Auditorium - Gates and Hillman Centers 4401
4 - 6pm: ROBOT Reception
Location: Planetary Robotics Lab Highbay - 1st floor, Gates and Hillman
Centers
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