The robots of the future - dogs, mules and giant buildings

We are used to thinking of the world in terms of living, growing and inanimate. In recent years, however, we are beginning to see more and more deviations from the status quo - starting with relatively small robots that are able to move on their own, and ending with huge buildings that respond to the environment

Seven years ago, the robot known as Bigdog - a large dog - was presented to the general public for the first time. The 'dog' is actually about the size of a small mule, and boasts four legs that give it the ability to walk on solid ground, in snow, on ice, and even run and climb steep inclines that ordinary mules would have difficulty standing. All this, while carrying up to 150 kilograms of cargo.

To understand the scope of his capabilities, you are invited to watch the following video, which demonstrates them well. If you don't have the strength for the whole video, you can skip to 1:45, and watch the robot jump and gallop like a little horse, still keeping its balance.

The uses of the canine robot for the military are self-evident. Infantrymen, who in the past had to carry heavy loads on their backs, or hope to drop loads from a helicopter, will be able to benefit from the services of the motorized dog that will faithfully accompany them anywhere with a lot of weight on their backs. The new and more sophisticated version of Bigdog, known as Alpha-Dog, has become more massive and threatening, but the main innovation is a pair of eyes, located on top of a monstrous head at the front of the body, which allow the robot to follow its owner and avoid obstacles such as trees and large rocks on the way.

alpha dog Source: DARPA

The main interest in the robot, for me, lies in the fact that its head is located in front of the body. We already know that evolution in different animals finds similar solutions. And truly, to this day we see that the sensory organs of every living creature that has passed the jellyfish stage are located in the direction of the body's progress. This is not a surprising phenomenon, because the closer the sensing and processing organs are to the centers of occurrence of the interesting things, the faster they can receive information, process it and bring about a quick reaction in the mouth area. For example, this –

It is interesting to see how well-thought-out, well-planned, man-made engineering reaches the same conclusions reached by a blind process of randomness and natural selection. On the other hand, one must be careful not to follow existing concepts and blindly accept that the place of the head is actually in the front of the body. In fact, it is quite possible that robots do not need a head containing a processor. The reason is that the transmission of information through biological nerves is relatively slow, compared to the speed of information transmission through electric cables and optical fibers. There shouldn't be any obstacle, therefore, to place pairs of eyes around the entire body, and to fix the main processor precisely in the protected belly of the robot. Such design problems will surely be solved as the robot progresses and is perfected over the years.

In the coming years, I assume that we will see the Alpha-Dog come into widespread use in the United States Army, and by extension - perhaps in the IDF as well. From there, the road to the civilian market is short. Will our shopping carts have legs? Big doubt. On a flat floor, legs have no advantage over wheels. I expect that similar robots will come into use mainly in construction sites and other areas where robots moving on wheels are unable to function. And if you are wondering how such a large robot will manage to fit into the civilian landscape, you can relax: there is already a version with only two legs.

Alpha-Dog and Big-Dog are just one example of how robots will be integrated into our lives in the future. But they are perhaps the most marginal example. If we try to go in the direction of the biggest robots, we will probably end up with a robot that is actually a building for everything: the dynamic skyscraper currently being built in Dubai. The building consists of dozens of floors, each of which is able to rotate in relation to the second at an angular speed of 6 meters per minute, which will not cause those present to feel the movement. The movement will be noticeable mainly from the outside, because the building will constantly change its shape, just like a living being. And like a living being, it will also be able to extract energy from the environment. Large wind turbines will be placed between the floors, which will use the air flow to generate energy that will be used to drive the building, and possibly also to supply electricity to the building itself and the areas surrounding it.

Perhaps the only problem I can see is the loud noise that wind turbines tend to make while operating. However, it is hard not to appreciate the creativity of the designers and their willingness to dare. There is also no real physical obstacle to the existence of the building, although it is difficult for us to think of a structure that behaves and moves like a living creature of immense dimensions.

This, then, is the environment of the future that we see in ten years. Huge buildings that respond to the environment and integrate with it. Robots that move on four legs and two legs, and function in front of humans as faithful companions. And the most amazing fact is that when we get to that future, it won't seem any more strange to us than today's iPhones seem to us, or the fact that we are able to call a friend on the other side of the planet at almost the speed of thought. Because we will still, despite everything, continue to be human beings.

(Or not, and I talk about this point in some of my lectures to the general public...)