Self Thinking Robots – Where it Began

Self Thinking Robots

Although that is what they are called, I’m not convinced it is actually thinking. It certainly wouldn’t pass the Turing Test. But I thought this showed a good comparison as to how far the state of the art has come.

 

Lets start off with a look at the very beginnings of software controlled autonomy.

 

Shakey

 

Above we have the first Autonomous Robot, Shakey, that could learn about its surroundings and adapt. Today any Roomba or equivalent can do better. But this is the same time period as we first went to the moon. And I believe my wrist watch currently has more computing power in it than the whole of the 1960s possessed.

 

Handle

And below we have an example of the latest offerings from Boston Dynamics named Handle.

 

Quite a bit different in capability. This might still be a one word robot by name, but you can see a lot of possibilities that weren’t even on the radar back in 1968.

 

Successful Endeavours specialise in Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development, focusing on products that are intended to be Made In Australia. Ray Keefe has developed market leading electronics products in Australia for more than 30 years. This post is Copyright © 2017 Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.