Robotic Athletes

The way I see it, there are two major aspects of humans that we try to reproduce through artificial intelligence: our mental capabilities and our physical functions. A computer that can play chess is one example of our attempts to artificially replicate the human brain. As a novice programmer, I can say without hesitation that programming chess is no easy task. Sure, you might be able to copy the code from a site online, but producing the algorithm that allows the robot to "think" ahead ten, twenty moves--it's absolutely insane.

However, as impressive as a chess-playing robot is, there are other uses of artificial intelligence that may excite people. For example, wouldn't it be fascinating if a team of robots could coordinate to play against a human team or another team of robots in a game of soccer? Can you imagine how difficult the task would be? Although we often talk about artificial intelligence, we don't often talk about the absurd amount of detail and effort that goes into making it possible. Allow me to discuss some of the difficulties with this task.

Focusing on the large scale, a team of robots would have to be coordinated. That means that they would have to be able to sense each other, the opposing team members, and the boundaries of the field. Setting the boundaries may be easy, but detecting the opposing team members would not (unless you used some kind of tracking device). With what sensors would they be detected? Light and distance (sound) sensors would be rather difficult given the sheer size of the soccer field.

On top of the physical details that we have to account for in designing a soccer playing robot, there has to be a complex algorithm to teach the robot to actually play soccer. When does the robot know how to shoot? How would it dribble? How can robots predict the motion of other players? Would the team of robots communicate over a wireless network to coordinate, or would they work alone to work together? Out of curiosity, just as sports build bonds between players, could robotic soccer further narrow the gap between humans and technology?

In some ways, a team of robots playing soccer is even more impressive than a chess-playing robot. But there are advances in technology toward making such a feat possible. In his TED Talk, Raffaello D'Andrea reminds all of us about the astounding potential of robots. I strongly suggest watching the video. Some of the actions that he has the quadcopters perform are absolutely insane, and he provides strong evidence that robots can replicate human behavior.

You can watch D'Andrea's TED Talk here.