THE POPULAR depiction of robots is decidedly wide of the mark. They are usually portrayed as hell-bent on human destruction when in reality they are more likely to be found mowing the lawn.
So says Dr John Kelleher of the School of Computing at Dublin Institute of Technology.
In a presentation for Science Week Ireland to senior cycle students yesterday, Dr Kelleher said that the robots seen in Terminator, Bladerunnerand I Robotall "contrast with the reality" and today's models are "still a long way off having such capabilities".
The title of the talk, Robots are invading our Lives, was accurate however, given robots are becoming much more common as their abilities progress, Dr Kelleher said. The paper was prepared in conjunction with the school's Dr Brian MacNamee.
Dr Kelleher said most robots were deployed to do the jobs we hated, like mowing grass and vacuuming the carpets. "It is the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs we want them to do, the three Ds," he said.
Different kinds of robots are also emerging, ones that can play soccer and others designed to provide companionship to humans.
Dr Kelleher gave details of the RoboCup challenge, an international drive to develop robotic players able to compete and win against a Brazilian side by 2050. This goal was still a long way off, but there were annual competitions featuring the latest efforts.
Then there was the Qrio, a dinosaur robotic companion. Qrio needed attention and food which the owner must provide. It was programmed to react to the human interaction. "There is a social dimension to this as well," Dr Kelleher said.
