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My Metal Brother


My Metal Brother
Photo Information
Copyright: Lee Sato (ElSato) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 52 W: 1 N: 13] (77)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-06-19
Categories: Daily Life, Architecture, Portrait
Camera: Minolta Dimage A1
Exposure: f/4.5, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Sato: The Mechanical Bride [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2005-06-19 16:05
Viewed: 592
Points: 6
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
We appear to be in the very belly of some mechanical beast, its camera eye having just whipped up the ladder-like structure to peer in our face. But this creature is the brother we built for ourselves, the robot.

Robotics research is in an exciting stage today, with new advances being made daily. In fact, robots are already beginning to look and function more like us than the one in my photo.

We now have robots controlled by cultured rat neurons, artificial muscle-like materials to give our robots strenth, robot “skin" with the ability to sense its surroundings, and robotic digestive systems that allow our robots to actually power themselves by eating.

There are robots of almost endless configurations. Some walk, jump, or even pogo on a single leg, as a visit to the MIT leg lab will show (for online MIT publications on humanoid robots -- commonly referred to as androids -- check here, and for a collection of links devoted entirely to androids, try Android World ). Others have designs based on the common fly, while still others operate in concert, forming swarms, like this one and this one.

Robots are functionally different from one another as well. Some concentrate on mimicking the human head and the perceptual capabilities that go with it, like cog, another MIT project. Others attempt to mimic human emotions, as in the art installation The Smile Project and MIT’s work on Kismet.

Finally, the boundaries between biological creatures and robots are beginning to be blurred, for instance with the development of a technique that allows a monkey to control a robotic arm solely through thought. For more, see Hans Moravec and Ray Kurzweil, both of whose books I recommend.
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To freddd: Thanks Frederic!ElSato 1 09-25 19:04
To alagoa: Hello againElSato 3 06-23 21:35
To wayne: Asimo etc.ElSato 1 06-19 21:33
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • wayne Gold Star Critiquer [C: 316 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2005-06-19 20:55]
  • [+]

Hey man, cool capture. You did not mention one of the most significant developments in robotics - Asimo
It's mind-blowing what this thing can do!

See about it here - http://asimo.honda.com

peace.

first congrats on another fabulous note. Robotics is indeed a fantastic fiels. Now let me tell you that I really love this photo... All those lines and curves really create a complex composition with a strong abstract feel. Wonderful capture Lee! Photo & note combined in a special way ;-)

Very charming metal assembly! Uncommun composition for a great effect. I like it a lot.

  •      
  • Arroyoo Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 136 W: 0 N: 61] (1665)
  • [2007-07-30 19:13]

Great, good composition with the lines. Regards. -Fran

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