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Technology Hardware

Robots! 199

Posted by chrisd from the balance-of-power-subtlely-altered dept.
i4u writes "Sony introduces at the Robodex 2003 it's new version of the humanoid Robot SDR-4X. The Sony SDR-4X was introduced last year. The new version SDR-4X II has improved movement functions, safety functions and conversation capabilities. The new speech processor supports continuous speech recognition with about 20,000 words. The Sony SDR-4X II is about 580x190x270mm in size and weighs about 7kg. Sony Japanse Press-Release. See also the new robot Toshiba announced - the ApriAlpha."
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Robots! More

Robots!

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  • how much - me want! :)
  • with a headline like Robots! who wouldn't want to read? 10 out of 10 for marketing.

  • Fluid motion (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:11AM (#5589439)
    How long before these robots are given fluid motion and balancing? I wouldn't so much care if the robot could walk if it could balance itself in a shifting environ.

    Seems much more humanly adaptable that way.

    • Re:Fluid motion (Score:2, Interesting)

      by dogbox ( 657658 )
      That would be cool if it could have fluid motion and balancing. On the other hand, this is probably not really an option at the moment or even the near future. The market must be very small for so expensive an item (the article says it will cost as much as a luxury car), and if they added something like fluid motion etc. the robot would leave the price-range of a car and enter the price-range of something like a house or possibly even more. The idea is cool, but its not really a possibility for a long ti

      • Re:Fluid motion (Score:3, Interesting)

        by JPM NICK ( 660664 )
        At MIT they are doing experiments with robots to mimic the movements of fish. Scientists studying and building fish robots would like to solve "Gray's paradox," named for James Gray, a British zoologist and specialist in animal locomotion, who theorized that fish are more efficient swimmers than they should be. The "Pike Project" http://web.mit.edu/towtank/www/pike/

  • Asimo touring the us (Score:4, Informative)

    by gad_zuki! ( 70830 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:12AM (#5589440)
    On a related note, Honda's Asimo is touring the US. [honda.com] Asimo groupies you know who you are.
  • Is it just me, or does "The Sony SDR-4X II is about 580x190x270mm in size and weighs about 7kg." Not sound very sexy?

    Something about those measurements...

  • 20k words (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lingqi ( 577227 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:12AM (#5589442) Journal
    in Japanese, right? in which case (if we count kanji characters) is a LOT.

    btw japanese is a pain in the butt compared to english - I think if the robot really manages conversation in japanese, english is cake. Why I say that? most spoken japanese has no subject, object, and ususally can be interpreted in multiple ways based on context.

    lastly, notice all the humanoid robots go around with slightly bent knees. whassup with that? anybody know? I go around with a bent knee because I am bow-legged, but I hardly think the sony robot has that problem.

    • Re:20k words (Score:3, Interesting)

      by gad_zuki! ( 70830 )
      >lastly, notice all the humanoid robots go around with slightly bent knees

      This has to do with balance. A lot of robots have a "backpack" where designers put most of the electronics. By bending at the knee they're less likely to topple.
      • What I mean is that when the robots stand "straight" their knees are still bent; maybe at about 150-170 degrees or so.

        I thought it had to do with having the range for keeping balance (i.e. if legs locks straight, robot falls), but I'm just guessing. looks really silly, though.

    • Re:20k words (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Archon-X ( 264195 )
      Are you joking?
      20,000 words is 20,000 words, english, french or swahili. Kanji is just the script that the words are written in.

      Japanese is one of the most rigourous languages out there. No other language that I know of has ~5 levels of politeness.

      Failproof Japanese sentence syntax:
      Time [de] subject [wa] object [particle] verb [desu]

      And yes, that's very basic, but compared to english, pah!

      Context? You can't muck up - you have particles that you places after words that determine the context. [ie, wo make

      • Re:20k words (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        By context he means that, since Japanese has very few syllables, and shorts words, many words may have differents meanings, depending on what other words they're used with. However I guess the robot recongizes 20000 words but doesn't usually "understand" them.

      • are you making this up? (Score:3, Informative)

        by lingqi ( 577227 )
        hmm. peachy

        until you want to express "the faster the better" (does not translate literally, at ALL), "I bumped my head while entering the bath" (as far as i know there is no expressing for "while entering," as any japanese equivalent to english versions mean "while bathing"), or interpret "yorushiku" or "sumimasen" in their million and half meanings.

        and I havn't even begun to count the thousands of "sound the exact same" words. a simple example might be "kanji," which, depending on the "kanji - chinese ch
        • until you want to express "the faster the better"

          hayai kagiri yoi.

          "I bumped my head while entering the bath" (as far as i know there is no expressing for "while entering,"

          hairu tochuu-- bath ni hairu tochuu atama wo butsukemashita. however, that's poor grammar. bath ni hairu tokoro atama butsukemashita.

          As far as you know-- which doesn't seem to be very far. :-)
          • I was actually thinking (faster the better)

            haykereba hayai hodo ii desu

            which makes no sense grammatically ("if fast then level of fast (is) good").

            as for "while entering," in english it would imply the instance when you are passing through the door. tochuu means "on my way to," which is not precise - it can mean (and actually implies) "from the time I left my house and when I got to the (public) bath." A technically sound translation of "while entering" SHOULD be

            "haite iru toki," (at the time of enterin
            • "Hayakereba hayai hodo ii (or yoi)" does not translate as "if fast then level of fast (is) good".

              It translates as "the faster the better".

              What's the point of translating the individual words, and not the overall meaning?

              (By the way, "I hit my head while entering the bath" would be "furo ni hairou to shitara, atama wo butsuketa".)
              • I know what the phrase mean. I am trying to demonstrate the messiness of japanese grammar. Like I said, the sentense, if decomposed grammatically (following all other established rules of inflection) has no meaning.

                "shitara" would also have multiple meanings that is difficul to distinguish too - another possible meaning is "if I do ___," which is again, grammatically ambiguous.

                Besides the fact that I am very disapponited "haite iru" doesn't mean what I think it should (I mean, wouldn't life be that much e
                • What's messy about the contruction "...kereba ... hodo ii"? It's no messier than the English "the ...er the better".

                  And if you wanted to say "If I do...", that would be "... shiyou to suru to", not "... shiyou to shitara".

                  "...te iru" doesn't mean what you think it means because you're thinking of it as English progressive. It's not. It indicates state, not progression.
                  • the messiness of "...kereba...hoto ii" comes from the fact that you can't make it out from anywhere. "the more ... the better" is an contraction from "the more ... (option) (is) the better (one)." The same cannot be said about the japanese counterpart.

                    you have to admit that "shitara" CAN be part of a conditional form. I believe it is difficult to have a robot parse this correctly without understanding context.

                    "...te iru" is the present perfect tense in japanese. if you want to call it "state," fine. howev
            • I don't claim to be japanese expert, but I am not completely uninformed.

              Gomen-- I didn't mean to be so accusatory and desultory in my comment. I would agree with BJH that we should look to translate phrases, not so much individual words--

        • ... AFAIK french is easy to parse ...

          Academie Francaise -approved prose, perhaps. But understanding what is actually meant is another matter entirely. I worked in Paris for 18 months and picked up pretty easily from where high-school language classes left off, but it still took me ages to realise that "impossible", in French, usually meant "I don't feel like doing this at the moment but I may reconsider if you can make it worth my while."

          Nice city, shame about the people.

        • I know others have corrected your errors already in this thread but I just like correcting twits.

          "the faster the better" -> hayai hodo ii
          "I bumped my head..." -> ofuro ni hairu tokoro atama wo buttobashita

          'yoroshiku' and 'sumimasen' have many possible shades of meaning, just like 'excuse me' and 'please' in English and like similar interjections in other languages.

          By '"sound the exact same" words' I assume you mean homophones. English and Spanish are extremely rich in homophones.

          Kanji are not rel
    • Before I buy one of these things, I wanna know:

      1. I know it listens, but does it talk with a sweet and sexy female Japanese voice like in some subtitled anime?
      2. If yes, are a few of the words it can say "giggles"?

      Ah, maybe I'll quit before I embarrass myself..
      • I actually think you are instead of thinking of something like this [realdoll.com].This model is probably going to be silent for the forseeable future, but I think I'd buy one of that before a cheesy metallic sony-bot.

        actually, to be honest most japanese women sounds about the same (depending on age, anyhow) in the girly tone, as unbelievable as it might seem. I mean, it must not be very good for the vocal cord...

      • Re:20k words (Score:2, Funny)

        by Saeger ( 456549 )
        You should really wait for the next generation of robots; the current ones are full of bugs.

        My fembot struts around the neighborhood chanting, "Panties. Panties. Panties", for some reason I know *nothing* about, and I can't get it to stop!

        --

    • ... lastly, notice all the humanoid robots go around with slightly bent knees. whassup with that? ...
      The designers are fans of Groucho Marx, perhaps?

    • in Japanese, right? in which case (if we count kanji characters) is a LOT.

      Yes, words written with kanji are far harder to hear than words written phonetically.

      most spoken japanese has no subject, object, and ususally can be interpreted in multiple ways based on context.

      Whereas in English there's always a subject, an object, and a single unambiguous interpretation independent of any context information. How fortunate.

      notice all the humanoid robots go around with slightly bent knees.

      The bent knees

  • For fighting off those evil ninja pirates! This thing does have laser eyes and gatling guns mounted on each arm, right? With an option for the shoulder-mounted rocket launcher? Or am I thinking of a different robot?

    • Anime culture... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Op911 ( 593600 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:20AM (#5589474)
      Interesting that from a nation that loves its giant battling robots (as seen in every other anime series from Japan) there is enough desire on the part of the manufacturers to create such robots in real life. And that there is enough demand there to make it worthwhile. They wouldn't be able to make these things if they couldn't sell them; You wouldn't be able to get the vast majority of North Americans to shell out a couple thousand on these things or an AIBO for instance. I'm a geek and I think these are cool but you won't catch me buying one until it's smart enough to get a job and make money to pay for itself. So why do the Japanese love these things so much? Any thoughts?
      • I would tend to disagree with you, in the sense that I think there is a viable market for these "gadgets" outside of Japan, too.

        The reason why the Japanese have built them is that they had the vision, and vision transforms into action directed towards a goal. Those anime cartoons were just a manifestation of this technological vision, but not the only one. If you just visit Japan, you understand how high-tech-centric that society actually is.

        There are other technological visions, too: in Finland, for exam
        • You make some very interesting points, but there is so much unsaid. If you poke below the surface of what you descibe as vision, I think you might hit some of the underpinnings of the actual culture. Just to elucidate on the three cultures you mentioned:

          Japanese: Hi-tech, but also hi-tech dependant. They have a very high population density and need the hi-tech for continued survival. (Food, power, infrastructure.) In some ways they run to stay in place.

          Finland: Lots of communication. Internet, cell phon

          • Excellent points! I agree, of course.
            In fact, in support of your point on Japan, it's well known that Japan as a country has been a rether barren and poor in natural resources. Japan hasn't had a lot of steel, ever, so it seems to be natural that they spent a lot of time to prepare the blade of their katana swords by hammering the blade and then folding it and more hammering and folding, until the crystal structure in the steel would become regular and confer to the blade incredible toughness and maintain t
      • The Japanese seems to have a kind of America-in-the-1950's attitude when it comes to technology. Remember all those old black-and-white film/TV pieces about the Fantastic Future? Jetpacks, flying cars, robotic servants, orbital hotels, the works!

        Japan has that same kind of attitude, except that all those neat things are closer than ever. The robots are real now, and not guys in shiny rubber suits. America's interests have moved on to other things, and has adopted a bit of practical cynicism towards tec
  • ...and it is Sony!

  • Old Glory Robot Insurance (Score:5, Funny)

    by brood ( 126904 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:14AM (#5589451) Homepage
    Don't forget to buy robot insurance! [robotcombat.com] "To protect us from the metal ones".

  • When I was kid... (Score:4, Funny)

    by heldlikesound ( 132717 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:15AM (#5589453) Homepage
    My ultimate dream toy was this big room that had a balcony, in the room would be a scaled down fort, jungle, river, etc... Then, we'd have these little guys that had guns and we could remote control them to fight and have wars and all kinds of cool stuff. Kind of like Rainbow Six, minus the computer part, and scaled down.

    Anyway, these new thing got my hopes up, until I realized that it doesn't even look like it can fire a gun.

    Why the hell would you make a robot that can't fire a gun?

    Let me take that one step further, if you are designing a robot, why the hell would you not just give it guns as hands. ::sigh::

    It better know karate.
    • actually, what you said just gave me a scary thought: Another ten years and we WILL have robots with guns and with all likeliness a new crime problem: remote-controlled robots asking for your wallet, threatening with the gun - caught by the police won't make a difference to the criminal who keeps a radio (or Internet) distance from the crime site . . . and I have no clue how to solve that? The future can be scary sometimes.
    • It's because of people like you that the robots will be able to take over.

      !

    • Re:When I was kid... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by gad_zuki! ( 70830 )
      >Why the hell would you make a robot that can't fire a gun?

      The predator drone fires Hellfire missiles? Hows that grab ya?

      It shouldn't be that tough to build a small stout robot that can shoot a small handgun at a decent sized target using some basic computer vision on a hobbyist's budget.

      I probably shouldn't have said anything. Its going to be scary seeing this on slashdot next week: "Legobot fires .22 pistol. Three geeks injured."
    • They had to remove the guns, when they noticed that the 2000 word vocabulary wasn't enough to understand sentences such as "A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being tocome to harm." and " A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.".

  • This would get 10 for it's gee-whiz cool factor, but a 1 for being utterly useless for over 99% of humanity.

  • For the girlfriend (Score:4, Funny)

    by ahkbarr ( 259594 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:17AM (#5589462)
    The new speech processor supports continuous speech recognition with about 20,000 words.

    Yeah, I'll show it 20,000 continuous words... I usually fade away after around 17,835 continuous words or less. Say A-men, brothers!

    Seriously, it's a good listener. I think I'll get one for the girlfriend, and I can have a nice break.
  • This... is a robot!

    Build Your Own Crow T. Robot [mst3000.net]

  • Genom, boomers, and the Silky Doll pop up now?

  • I want a robot to help me recite lines from "All Your Base" Like.. Me: What happen? Robot: Someone set up us the bomb!

  • Will a SDK be avaiable? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Blaine Hilton ( 626259 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:42AM (#5589537) Homepage
    I hope they offer a SDK to developers, and that it would be free, or at least low cost. I meen the more apps that use their robots the more they sell right?

  • Remember... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by djupedal ( 584558 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:45AM (#5589545)
    During such 'actions' as the war in Iraq, your fancy home robot, with GPS, will be reduced to having a spatial accuracy of 100 meters, not one. You might want to buy a unit that uses sonar and domestic region mapping, in addition to any GPS capability.
  • to protect us all from THE TERRIBLE SECRET OF SPACE!

    However, I believe Grandma's poodle can be protected quite easily. Thank god for small miracles.

  • make a female robot and post an ad on /.

    it'll be sold out in 2 minutes ;)
  • 58cm tall? I'm still not seeing how this is going to help. Maybe keep elderly people company, but couldnt do anything for them physically.
  • God created humans.
    Humans created robots.
    Robots will create _____?

    And isn't it something how humans strive to be like God (ie creating life), while making robots to be more human (Short Circuit and AI come to mind too)? What will be like the robots? Probably whatever the robots create.

  • Babebot (Score:3, Funny)

    by SnuSnu ( 630537 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @04:38AM (#5589665) Homepage
    Me so horny, me love you long time... Prease to insert credit card.

  • Real World Robots (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rpiquepa ( 644694 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @04:49AM (#5589698) Homepage
    Sony is introducing a new robot, but this is only part of the story. Sony is betting its future on robots. Sony believes robotics will be bigger than the computer industry in 30 years. And there are many other robots coming, in hospitals, in New York steam pipes or on the battlefield. Look for example at Elvis, designed by Pyxis, which carries medications, or the future Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Wakamaru, a home caretaker for the elderly. Check this column [weblogs.com] for more details or read this Newsweek [msnbc.com]article.
  • Can I have sex with it? If not I'm not interested :D This is the 21st Century dammit! I want my cars to fly, and my robots to be sex slaves!
  • Like Asimov's three laws of robotics?
    • Asimov was very nice storyteller, but his three laws are unworkable. There are a lot of grey areas where even a human would have trouble if they had to follow those laws. What is more is that the basic premise of rule #1 is wrong. Harming a human is what a lot of upcoming robots will be made to do. Even aside from that, the culpability is wholly in the one who told it do the harm, just like a remote control plane. A robot not meant to harm humans will no doubt be trained/programed not to, but if it does, it
  • Until it comes with the Jet-Jaguar theme song, standard.
  • Robot schmobot.

    I was promised a flying car. Anyone up for a class action law suit against "Popular Mechanics"?

  • ok, let's get this straight (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Ok, let's get straight to the facts.

    We have the technology to make a robot think, computers. We have the technology to create the *way* a robot thinks, programming. We have the technology to dress it, and paint it and make it look cute.

    We even have the technology to make it move.

    BUT, we don't have the technology to make it look *natural* both in the looks and the touch.

    You may think I'm making a lough, but I'm god damn serious.

    We need more technology in the venue of robotic movements and materials it i
  • I'll be interested in getting a robot when it can transform from a jet to giant mech and comes standard with gattling cannon and official Robotech drunken missiles.

  • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • looks like the time is on the horizon when instead of lugging around laptops and mobile phones our prinary computer will walk loyally behind us all day. Stick a touchscreen in its belly and browse the internet fullscreen on the train - of course you'll have to pay for 2 seats (holy cow - imagine the i,pact on trafic cogestion if bums on seats had to double). Overall what with robots and the new tech i'm developing the next decade is gonna be an interesting period to be alive :^)
  • It can sing and dance... hopefully soon it will be able to play baseball, bike ride, and go for hikes so I will have more time to slave away at my meanial labor.

  • If I had one... (Score:3, Funny)

    by batobin ( 10158 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @06:10AM (#5589894) Homepage
    If I had one, I'd program it to recognize my friends. Then if one of them said something mean about my girlfriend, I'd tell my robot, "Say hello to [name].

    The robot would then proceed to the violating friend, begin humping his leg, shouting, "I LOVE YOU ORGANIC MASTER!"

    But that's just me...
  • The new speech processor supports continuous speech recognition with about 20,000 words. ...will it dance if I start singing "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto..."?
  • Currently we use small monkeys to help out the disabled and frail (pray for mojo) if these little robots continue improving they could be a much cheaper and better alternative

    without the fun of drunk monkeys

  • It sounds like a new PDA.

    So, how many contacts can it hold?
  • I have been reading a lot about KizMIT, the "interactive" AI robot experiment at MIT. He is based on the brains of a PowerBook G3 - something that seems to be more unique in the scientific field.

    I recently saw "Robots!" on Modern marvels on the History Channel. Most of the modern robots such as the one seen in the Honda commercial "Asimo", the Sony Robot in this article, KizMIT (who looks like a Jim Henson reject), and another famous pattern recognizing robot were all on the show.

    I heard the Sony CEO say

  • Control Program Supplying media 16MB Memory Stick

    It uses memory stick so it must suck and any decent /.'er will avoid it.
  • Did anoyone else feel sad after looking at the picture of the group of Sony SDR-4Xs [i4u.com]? They already have them looking like N'Sync! Damn Japanese popculture.
  • I'd really love to have 10 of these little guys, But.

    1. Only Bill Gates or someone similarily funded cound afford to ever have this..

    2. It's short 58cm tall.

    3. The old version, on a full charge lasted 20 mins... hopefully fuel cells or micro turbines will solve this problem.

    What I'd really like is a whole army those these guys, only I'd like them to be 6 feet tall and strong enough to do construction work! We could put cute little construction hats on them! Oh wait, I've been watching the animatrix to
  • ...can it appear at press conferences and move its head woodenly while speaking in a flat monotone and spouting pre-recorded clichés about why we are invading foreign countries?

    Until robots achieve that level of verisimilitude, no one will mistake them for, er, um..."humans".

  • Open Pino (Score:3, Informative)

    by SubtleNuance ( 184325 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @01:02PM (#5591838) Journal
    have a look at Open Pino [jst.go.jp] for anyone interested in a Free Software implementation of a Robot - as well as Free (as in speech) design.

    Who would buy a "stop them at the router, stop them at the blah blah" (remember that quote?) product from Sony?

  • Ask Slashdot (Score:3, Funny)

    by njdj ( 458173 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @01:53PM (#5592243)
    When will Slashdot editors learn to spell "its"?

  • Improved safety functions (Score:4, Funny)

    by glwtta ( 532858 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @03:05PM (#5592987) Homepage
    The new version SDR-4X II has improved [...] safety functions...

    What like:

    The SDR-4X II may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

    The SDR-4X II must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

    The SDR-4X II must protect its own existence, except where such protection would conflict with the First or Second Law.

    Or do they mean no sharp edges for when kids try to lick it?
  • "He struck a chord with the voters when he pledged not to go on a killing spree."
    "But like most politicians, he promised more than he could deliver."

    Still, considering all the fuel-cell articles that have been on /. recently, maybe we really *will* have robots that run on alcohol!

    "Yes! In your face, Gandhi!"

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