A new exhibit has appeared in the National Science Museum of Japan - an android named Alter. He is very reminiscent of the heminoids of the great guru of robotics, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, but in terms of technology is much more complex machine. The fact is that the android works on the basis of a neural network that allows it to move independently. For the movement of arms and head, 42 pneumatic actuators are used, the management of which is entrusted to the central generator of ordered activity.
At the core of this android model is a digital unit that simulates the work of neurons, as well as a set of sensors and sensors that collect information about the distance to objects, the surrounding temperature and humidity. Thanks to this, the robot can independently move its arms and head. Of course, the movements of the robot are far from the smoothness of human movements, however, such an unusual set of technologies integrated into this machine, for some reason, makes others see it as something that really is alive.
This project is an attempt to build a link between the programming of robot movements and the possibility of their independent movements. Nevertheless, the current level of neural networks makes the movements of the robot too sharp and, as the researchers say, “chaotic”. It is actually not surprising, because the movements of the hands and the head Alter produces at will.
The neural network responsible for the movement has to process simultaneously many parameters and already on this basis independently choose among two modes of movement: longer and smoother or chaotic, which we talked about above. The decision on the choice is largely based on information received from the sensors. They calculate what is happening around the robot, and transmit signals to the digital neural unit. In fact, all these sensors behave like a robotic version of the skin. They copy the work of our senses, although, of course, on a much, much more primitive level. For example, if the sensors detect the presence of a large crowd of people near the robot, then the reaction of the robot to the environment will be torso movements.
Android Alter can "sing." The truth is that singing can only dream in nightmares. Imagine a sort of metal siren singing (not of security systems, but of mythical creatures), which is accompanied by movements of all moving parts of the machine at once.
The principle of operation of the generator of the ordered activity of this android is based on the mathematical model of Izhikevich’s neural activity, which works according to the principle of “impulse behavior”.
“When something happens near, the system creates a pulse signal that spreads through other neurons like a chain.”
Professor Ikea of the University of Tokyo describes the work of a generator as an “ordered pendulum” in which one ball hits another, which in turn hits third, fourth, and so on, creating motion for the entire system. And although in the case of the robot, the movements do not have the same balance of rhythm as in the case of the pendulum, Alter works in its own rhythm. Here the movements are not set by robotics. The robot makes movements independently.
Kukhei Ogawa of Osaka University, previously working on models of humanoid androids in the Hiroshi Ishiguro laboratory, comments:
“Alter does not look like a man. He does not move like a man. However, the robot definitely carries a sense of presence. He really feels like something alive, as if it was not a robot, but at the same time not a person. ”
“Until now, the principle of interaction between the robot and the outside world was programmed manually. Just imagine how hard it is to program an android for adequate interaction with the environment for at least 10 minutes. Alter, in turn, moves independently. His movements are not programmed by the person. ”
In the Japanese museums of Tokyo and Osaki, the robot will be shown to the public during the week. During this time, scientists are hoping to get some really interesting ideas from visitors about what you can still teach the android Alter.
The article is based on materials .
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