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Flesh and Machines

Author : Rodney Brooks

Publisher : Vintage

Page : 274 pages

File Size : 31,18 MB

Release : 2003-02-04

Category : Technology & Engineering

ISBN : 037572527X

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Book Description

Are we really on the brink of having robots to mop our floors, do our dishes, mow our lawns, and clean our windows? And are researchers that close to creating robots that can think, feel, repair themselves, and even reproduce? Rodney A. Brooks, director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory believes we are. In this lucid and accessible book, Brooks vividly depicts the history of robots and explores the ever-changing relationships between humans and their technological brethren, speculating on the growing role that robots will play in our existence. Knowing the moral battle likely to ensue, he posits a clear philosophical argument as to why we should not fear that change. What results is a fascinating book that offers a deeper understanding of who we are and how we can control what we will become.



Gods and Robots

Author : Adrienne Mayor

Publisher : Princeton University Press

Page : 294 pages

File Size : 22,64 MB

Release : 2020-04-21

Category : History

ISBN : 0691202265

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Book Description

Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.



Living with Robots

Author : Ruth Aylett

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 309 pages

File Size : 44,11 MB

Release : 2021-09-21

Category : Technology & Engineering

ISBN : 0262365472

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Book Description

The truth about robots: two experts look beyond the hype, offering a lively and accessible guide to what robots can (and can't) do. There’s a lot of hype about robots; some of it is scary and some of it utopian. In this accessible book, two robotics experts reveal the truth about what robots can and can’t do, how they work, and what we can reasonably expect their future capabilities to be. It will not only make you think differently about the capabilities of robots; it will make you think differently about the capabilities of humans. Ruth Aylett and Patricia Vargas discuss the history of our fascination with robots—from chatbots and prosthetics to autonomous cars and robot swarms. They show us the ways in which robots outperform humans and the ways they fall woefully short of our superior talents. They explain how robots see, feel, hear, think, and learn; describe how robots can cooperate; and consider robots as pets, butlers, and companions. Finally, they look at robots that raise ethical and social issues: killer robots, sexbots, and robots that might be gunning for your job. Living with Robots equips readers to look at robots concretely—as human-made artifacts rather than placeholders for our anxieties. Find out: •Why robots can swim and fly but find it difficult to walk •Which robot features are inspired by animals and insects •Why we develop feelings for robots •Which human abilities are hard for robots to emulate



Robots

Author : Ben Russell

Publisher : Scala

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 44,32 MB

Release : 2017

Category : Art

ISBN : 9781785510687

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Book Description

Explores the surprisingly long history of our obsession with creating machines in human form, from 16th-century mechanized monks to the 'tin man' robots of the 1950s and cutting-edge robots from today's research labs



Robot-Proof, revised and updated edition

Author : Joseph E. Aoun

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 221 pages

File Size : 12,37 MB

Release : 2024-10-15

Category : Education

ISBN : 0262549859

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Book Description

A fresh look at a “robot-proof” education in the new age of generative AI. In 2017, Robot-Proof, the first edition, foresaw the advent of the AI economy and called for a new model of higher education designed to help human beings flourish alongside smart machines. That economy has arrived. Creative tasks that, seven years ago, seemed resistant to automation can now be performed with a simple prompt. As a result, we must now learn not only to be conversant with these technologies, but also to comprehend and deploy their outputs. In this revised and updated edition, Joseph Aoun rethinks the university’s mission for a world transformed by AI, advocating for the lifelong endeavor of a “robot-proof” education. Aoun puts forth a framework for a new curriculum, humanics, which integrates technological, data, and human literacies in an experiential setting, and he renews the call for universities to embrace lifelong learning through a social compact with government, employers, and learners themselves. Drawing on the latest developments and debates around generative AI, Robot-Proof is a blueprint for the university as a force for human reinvention in an era of technological change—an era in which we must constantly renegotiate the shifting boundaries between artificial intelligence and the capacities that remain uniquely human.



Tales from a Robotic World

Author : Dario Floreano

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 281 pages

File Size : 13,96 MB

Release : 2022-09-27

Category : Technology & Engineering

ISBN : 0262371790

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Book Description

Stories from the future of intelligent machines—from rescue drones to robot spouses—and accounts of cutting-edge research that could make it all possible. Tech prognosticators promised us robots—autonomous humanoids that could carry out any number of tasks. Instead, we have robot vacuum cleaners. But, as Dario Floreano and Nicola Nosengo report, advances in robotics could bring those rosy predictions closer to reality. A new generation of robots, directly inspired by the intelligence and bodies of living organisms, will be able not only to process data but to interact physically with humans and the environment. In this book, Floreano, a roboticist, and Nosengo, a science writer, bring us tales from the future of intelligent machines—from rescue drones to robot spouses—along with accounts of the cutting-edge research that could make it all possible. These stories from the not-so-distant future show us robots that can be used for mitigating effects of climate change, providing healthcare, working with humans on the factory floor, and more. Floreano and Nosengo tell us how an application of swarm robotics could protect Venice from flooding, how drones could reduce traffic on the congested streets of mega-cities like Hong Kong, and how a “long-term relationship model” robot could supply sex, love, and companionship. After each fictional scenario, they explain the technologies that underlie it, describing advances in such areas as soft robotics, swarm robotics, aerial and mobile robotics, humanoid robots, wearable robots, and even biohybrid robots based on living cells. Robotics technology is no silver bullet for all the world’s problems—but it can help us tackle some of the most pressing challenges we face.



Trajectory Planning for Automatic Machines and Robots

Author : Luigi Biagiotti

Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media

Page : 515 pages

File Size : 45,47 MB

Release : 2008-10-23

Category : Technology & Engineering

ISBN : 3540856293

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Book Description

This book deals with the problems related to planning motion laws and t- jectories for the actuation system of automatic machines, in particular for those based on electric drives, and robots. The problem of planning suitable trajectories is relevant not only for the proper use of these machines, in order to avoid undesired e?ects such as vibrations or even damages on the mech- ical structure, but also in some phases of their design and in the choice and sizing of the actuators. This is particularly true now that the concept of “el- tronic cams” has replaced, in the design of automatic machines, the classical approach based on “mechanical cams”. The choice of a particular trajectory has direct and relevant implications on several aspects of the design and use of an automatic machine, like the dimensioning of the actuators and of the reduction gears, the vibrations and e?orts generated on the machine and on the load, the tracking errors during the motion execution. For these reasons, in order to understand and appreciate the peculiarities of the di?erent techniques available for trajectory planning, besides the ma- ematical aspects of their implementation also a detailed analysis in the time and frequency domains, a comparison of their main properties under di?erent points of view, and general considerations related to their practical use are reported.



Robot Rights

Author : David J. Gunkel

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 253 pages

File Size : 45,89 MB

Release : 2018-11-13

Category : Philosophy

ISBN : 0262348578

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Book Description

A provocative attempt to think about what was previously considered unthinkable: a serious philosophical case for the rights of robots. We are in the midst of a robot invasion, as devices of different configurations and capabilities slowly but surely come to take up increasingly important positions in everyday social reality—self-driving vehicles, recommendation algorithms, machine learning decision making systems, and social robots of various forms and functions. Although considerable attention has already been devoted to the subject of robots and responsibility, the question concerning the social status of these artifacts has been largely overlooked. In this book, David Gunkel offers a provocative attempt to think about what has been previously regarded as unthinkable: whether and to what extent robots and other technological artifacts of our own making can and should have any claim to moral and legal standing. In his analysis, Gunkel invokes the philosophical distinction (developed by David Hume) between “is” and “ought” in order to evaluate and analyze the different arguments regarding the question of robot rights. In the course of his examination, Gunkel finds that none of the existing positions or proposals hold up under scrutiny. In response to this, he then offers an innovative alternative proposal that effectively flips the script on the is/ought problem by introducing another, altogether different way to conceptualize the social situation of robots and the opportunities and challenges they present to existing moral and legal systems.



Moral Machines

Author : Wendell Wallach

Publisher : Oxford University Press

Page : 288 pages

File Size : 34,18 MB

Release : 2010-07-15

Category : Computers

ISBN : 0199737975

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Book Description

"Moral Machines is a fine introduction to the emerging field of robot ethics. There is much here that will interest ethicists, philosophers, cognitive scientists, and roboticists." ---Peter Danielson, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews --



DK Eyewitness Books: Robot

Author : Roger Bridgman

Publisher : Penguin

Page : 66 pages

File Size : 35,3 MB

Release : 2004-03-01

Category : Juvenile Nonfiction

ISBN : 0756667968

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Book Description

Take a detailed look at the fascinating world of robots - from the earliest single-task machines to the advanced intelligence of robots with feelings. Young readers will be amazed to learn all that robots can do: perform delicate surgical operations, clean city sewers, work as museum tour guides, or even battle each other in combat. Find out how humans have created these mechanical minds and bodies. The most trusted nonfiction series on the market, Eyewitness Books provide an in-depth, comprehensive look at their subjects with a unique integration of words and pictures.