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Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us
Antitechnologists may shudder at the story line, but readers interested in the astounding possibilities of the digital age will be fascinated by Brooks's vision of what is and what will be.
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Robots Learn to Walk
Pino's Genetic Algorithm in Practice
 
Robots Learn to Walk

The EE Times has a fascinating feature on Pino, the humanoid based on the Open-R architecture -- Pino Robot Teaches Himself to Walk, No Lie. The article mentions that genetic algorithms were used to get him to learn to walk. Essentially, the robot somehow knows what constitutes good movement, and evolves its internal software to control the robotic lims involved (presumably neural network controllers). I was surprised to see that this process didn't involve a simulator at any stage! Online learning with GA takes time, and is not great for guaranteeing good performance. The rest of the text looks into things like production costs and the open source aspect of the project.

On a similar topic, PC World announces that the humanoids at a Japanese exhibition have been very successful, and are selling well. Robots Strut and Sell at Japanese Show. This includes big company bots, as well as experimental ones -- with incredibly odd shapes!

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Thursday 23 May, 18:10
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