fischertechnik COMPUTING ROBO MOBILE SET 8 Mode D'emploi page 32

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Why Do We Need
Robots?
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■ Carel Capek coined the term robot in his 1923 novel "Golem". This artificially created figure was
designed to take over human labor with his abilities.
In the 30's and 40's of the last century the robot became more of an automaton. Today we can look back
and smile at the different attempts to divest it with human characteristics such as a head with blinking
lights as eyes, etc. These machines showed little sign of intelligence or even mobility. Since the
principle of control has great influence on the robotics, the design of robots became more realistic with
the advent of electronic circuits. Even today, the question of the "intelligence" of the robot is subject of
much research and fact-finding in many companies, institutes and universities.
■ So called cybernetics offered the first promising approach to the problem. The term "cybernetics" is
derived from the Greek word kybernetes. The kybernetes was the navigator on Greek ships. He had to
determine the ship's position and chart the course to the destination.
Clearly cybernetics was supposed to make the robot "intelligent". But what would such intelligent
behavior look like?
We shall try to illustrate this using a thought experiment. Everybody has probably observed a moth's
behavior in the light of a lamp. The moth detects the source of the light, flies toward it, and then avoids
hitting the lamp at the last moment. It is clear that in order to exhibit this behavior, the moth has to
detect the source of light, plot a course there and then fly toward it. This ability is based on instinctive
intelligent behavior patterns of the insect.
Now lets try to apply these abilities to a technical system. We have to detect the source of the light
(optical sensors), execute a movement (operate motors) and we have to establish a meaningful
connection between the detection and the movement (the program).
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■ It was the Englishman Walter Grey who put the thought
experiment described above into practice in the 1950's.
With the help of simple sensors, motors and electronic circuits he
created a variety of "cybernetic" animals that displayed the very
specific behavior of, lets say, a moth. The photograph shows a
replica of the "cybernetic" turtle, exhibited at the Smithsonian
Museum in Washington.
Based on these ideas we will create similar "patterns of behavior"
for our robots and will try to communicate them to the robot in the
form of programs.
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