Citation
(2002), "Whatever became of robotics research?", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2002.04929fab.011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
Whatever became of robotics research?
Whatever became of robotics research?
As I see it, the Robotic Industries Association is finding it hard to locate research worthy of being honored. Worthy, that is, in promising some utilitarian benefit (Plate 2).
Somehow giving robots facial expressions, the ability to walk, or yet another navigation algorithm does not measure up. No, and gladiatorial skill at mangling other robots is not helping the robotics industry. Paper after paper has no more utility than a place in the bibliography of a subsequent paper.
And, there are academic gurus who blithely forecast what is in store for robotics 40 years from now, without contributing anything to the real world 2-5 years hence.
Plate 2
Joseph F. Engelberger, “Father of Robotics”
Some of the blame can be laid upon the leading robot manufacturers. They should know where the research opportunities lie; but, in the face of market softness, longer range R&D is abrogated. They battle mightily for conventional applications when future leadership will be borne of current R&D.
Meanwhile professors, unfettered by reality, create projects for students who have no goals other than Master’s and Ph.D. theses.
What to do? Perhaps it would be worthwhile for key members of the industry to help RIA amass a list of worthy R&D goals. From there, the membership could provide seed funding to research shops like Carnegie Mellon, MIT and SRI. Don’t we all need better scene analysis, end effectors and judgment for our robots?
Suppose the research is directed toward service applications, which have the potential for swamping industrial robot volume. My cause célèbre, a personal robot caregiver for the elderly and infirm, is a case in point. Right now it needs more D than R, but it is a here and now opportunity.
We see Fraunhofer in Germany and METI in Japan focusing on personal robots. So far their objectives are murky and limited, yet they will persist. RIA should remember the Damon Runyon admonition, “The race is not always to the swift or the battle to the strong; but, brother, that’s the way to bet!”
Reprinted with permission by Robotic Industries Association, www.roboticsonline.com