[Robotgroup] New Subscriber! :)

[john at cozmicfunk.com]

Les,
This is exactly my point I was illustrating earlier.

>I also maintain that what we call a robot today may not  
necessarily be called a robot tomorrow.<

The definition changes almost on a daily basis depending
on who you talk to. I don't even agree with your definition,
Les...

How many robots to do know of first hand that are 
capable of adapting to its surroundings, learning,
communicating, and changing, among other things?

This sounds more like AI which of part of robotics, 
but is still very far away from being realistically
implemented. MIT is working on such programmes with
a financial resource available to them more than the
collective wealth of most 3rd world countries.
And you expect a club in Austin Texas to literally
compete with that? 

Most people don't understand that Robotics
is one of the last frontiers in human evolution:
to recreate a synthetic thinking adapting being
that is capable of making decisions based on it's
own "Awareness" of it's environment, and do so
in a way that demonstrates dare I say" creativity"!

There are still Human "sheep" out there that can't
demonstrate any creative problem solving unless you
"programed" it for them. The fact that any group is
conscious enough to make an effort in this frontier
mostly afforded to those in higher academia and or
the defense or lets even go out on a limb, NASA
etc. is completely amazing. That you have artists
and designers and coders and musicians all mixing
together to create artistic "Robotic" inventions is
upon itself not enough to warrant "Robot" in the name
of the group?

If this group was only concerned about making robots
that fit your criteria, it would a robot fiction group.
No one would ever get off the drawing board to build
a real robot because that one does not exist yet. 
They only exist in movies like Star Wars and Blade Runner
because someone had the imagination and creativity to
artistically "suggest" what they may be like in a
fictitious universe to start with. I would suggest you
brush up on your fiction, start with RUR, because that
is were robots started in the first place, they were
slaves that replaced humnans...
JPF







Leslie Filip wrote:
> To me it is an electromechanical entity capable of adapting to its  
> surroundings, learning, communicating, and changing, among other  
> things. I also maintain that what we call a robot today may not  
> necessarily be called a robot tomorrow. It is much easier to say what  
> it isn't.
>
> Les
>
>
> On 08 Sep 2007, at 12:27 AM, Edwin Wise wrote:
>
>   
>> On 8 Sep 2007, at 12:02 AM, Leslie Filip wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> I question why the name of the group ever had such a focus on "Robot"
>>> when it  was and is a general arts and technology group.
>>>       
>> What is a "robot" to you?
>>
>> Edwin
>>
>>
>>
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