Moravec credits Sony with building a sophisticated machine, but says his vision technology is for more practical uses. "They're building a toy at this point," he said. "I'm looking for a utility product." Moravec initially hopes to attach his vision system to existing industrial robots. With the gift of sight, those workhorse robots will be more effective, he argues. In general, Moravec says the technology will allow robot buyers to avoid installing items such as reflective tape or bar code signs on walls that many robots need in order to get their bearings. He isn't alone in working on computer vision. Other firms tackling the topic include a Californian company called Tyzx, Vancouver-based Point Grey Research and California-based Videre Design. The 3D grid distinguishes his system from these other efforts, and that it is better suited to handling complex, cluttered environments or those with unreliable range measurements, such as the blank wall example, Moravec says. Another method for robotic vision now used involves laser range-finders, which measure the distance between the robot and objects by timing how quickly light bounces back. But Moravec says his technology will be less expensive in the long run. He estimates his system costs $5,000 (£3,100), but should decrease to $1,000 in three years thanks to ever-cheaper computer chips. "The expensive part is the computing," he said. "But the computing is falling in cost at a very predictable rate." Moravec has teamed with a small company called Botfactory to seek about $5m in investment capital to build a prototype robot "head." So far, he says he's found some interest from US industrial products company FMC Technologies and German company Karcher, which makes floor-cleaning machines. Joe Engelberger, who developed the first industrial robots for General Motors in the 1960s and built the HelpMate machine, said Moravec's work could be an important step toward robots that serve people directly. "If anyone contributes a great vision system, that's a dramatic improvement," he said. "It's probably the most important sensory capability in the robot." But Engelberger, who's trying to build a robot to take care of the elderly, says identification technology is crucial along with vision. In other words, a useful service robot will not only observe and avoid obstacles, but recognize them. "If I say to a robot, 'Get me a beer,' I would hope it doesn't bring me back a Coke," he said. Object recognition is on Moravec's "short list of next steps." He says the grid again can help with this task. "A simple approach for solid objects that have a known fixed shape would be to scan a 3D template of that shape through the 3D grid, measuring statistical correlation," he says. "There would be a big spike in correlation when the template passes an object that matches its shape." Moravec envisions more observant robots as just the beginning of an imminent robotic era. In his book, "Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind," he speculates that robots will eventually displace humans from essential roles. But Moravec isn't terribly alarmed by the thought of robots taking over. "I consider these future machines our progeny, 'mind children' built in our image and likeness," he wrote. "Ourselves in more potent form."
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