[Engineering Feature]
To Be Almost Human Or Not To Be, That Is The Question
Researchers are developing robots that will assist the elderly and disabled, but the vote is split on how human-like they should become.
ASIMO FOR THE ELDERLY AND DISABLED Robots must take on some human characteristics to deliver the kind of care a human counterpart provides.
"We are making a humanoid robot instead of one that runs on treads or wheels to deal with steps, doorknobs, and so on, so it can operate effectively in our world. Therefore, it needs to reflect a human form," says Keeney.
ASIMO was created with human-like arms, legs, feet, hands, and digits so it could do things like turn a doorknob to answer the door, bend its legs to lift a patient from his wheelchair, and climb stairs to find a medicine bottle—feats that robots of old couldn't accomplish.
"We are not trying to limit ourselves in the number of ways ASIMO can help," Keeney says. "ASIMO is not supposed to be a replacement for human caregivers. If you want to reach the mass market, it must be affordable. Our objective is to help people that are disabled or those who may need extra help."
While ASIMO's capabilities increase daily, such a robot is not yet within financial reach. "A lot will depend on the momentum with which technology continues to improve," says Keeney.
"As memory becomes cheaper and technology gets scaled down, ASIMO will be cheaper to manufacture. ASIMO must be smart enough to carry out commands, and we have a lot of work on artificial intelligence (AI) to make ASIMO useful in a home or hospice environment. We are probably more like 40 to 50 years from the ASIMO that can take over the household," he notes.
For now, though, Honda expects a useful version of ASIMO to be made available in about 10 years.
FUTURE CHALLENGES Honda's goal is to establish a database that contains all of the necessary information for ASIMO to function as an assistant. Most likely, such a database would include terabytes of information that would enable ASIMO to recognize voice commands and rationalize thought processes.
"The more we study AI, the more we learn what we don't know about the human brain. Every day, new challenges are emerging. We are so much in the infancy that I don't even know where to begin," says Keeney. "The more that you think about even the simplest of processes, the more you realize we rely on past experiences and common sense, and how do you write code for that?"
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