Jason J. de Charleroy
STS 1999 Project: Robotics and AI

This subject has been an interest of mine for some time, so I figured I would provide a review of some interesting topics.  Though the following is only an outline, it gives you an idea of what the finished project will cover.  Oh, by the way, you may want to check out this article I found on the WebMind.


I.    Introduction
    A.    Artificial Intelligence
        1.    Visit the AI Lab at MIT.
II.    Artificial Intelligence in Robotics
    A.    Present Work
        1.   COG is making headway in research at MIT.
               a)    The idea behind COG is to create a human-like robot by giving it human-like experiences with its environment.
           b)    What have we learned from COG?  View the project publications.  Also, check out some of the footage.
        2.   Object tracking robots are being used to clean up tennis courts.
        3.   Navlab Project robots are being used for automobile navigation and highway design.
        4.    The UNH Robotics Lab is producg robots that are learning to walk.
           a)    Their biped robot uses neural network learning.
    B.    Eyes on the Future
        1.   Nanotechnology
           a)    What is nanotechnology?
                    1)    The key is in building the right tools.
                    2)    Nanotechnology can change our future in many ways.
                    3)    What is the dark side to nanotechnology?
                    4)    Extensive research is going on now in nanotechnology to prepare us for the future.
        2.    Robotic Evolution
               a)    Robots are designing LEGO structures on their own.
               b)    Digital organisms are being used to study evolution and genetics.
        3.    Military and Government Robotics
           a)    Micro-Air Vehicles
               b)    NASA robots for planetary exploration
III.    Analysis
    A.    Rule based AI in robotics versus neural network technology
    B.    More future uses
IV.    Conclusion