Knitware is always interested in finding out about new technologies and how they can effect us in our day to day lives.
Magnus Ivarsson, lives and works in Sweden and has been creating robots that can be controlled through the web, it seems like a cool area to explore … so let’s do it!
Hey Magnus, thanks for taking time to talk, can you tell me a little bit about your background and interests? Imagine we’re on a technology blind date ;-).
Magnus: I have a MSC in Engineering Physics and have been para shooting and hang-gliding … but now I understand that hobby’s like that can hurt you … bad. Don’t worry I managed to keep all bones intact and in the right place.
My main interest is in tele-robotics … it’s possible to build the Internet R/C equipment quite cheaply ($200). The big cost is the mechanics of the robot or what ever ‘machine’ you want to control.
I have built one robot with a paint-ball gun and people from the other side of earth have logged in and hunted me and my pets with it. I guess I am the first person in the world who has been shot from the other side of the planet.
I just think its awesome … it can be done so easily (cheaply) and in such an advanced way.
Doc: Your web site is pretty impressive, I especially like the little robot fella, is he real or a future project?
Magnus: Thanks. Well, if I had the funds I could make it because most of this advanced tech is available now. Some people have already made a combination of gyro and acceleration chip from Analog Devices and with that you can build these amazingly stable balancing systems … like one ball balancing robots and so on
Doc: OK let’s get a little serious … communicating and controlling stuff over the Internet, on the surface seems straight forward. What, in reality are the problems when trying to do this?
Magnus: The main problem with this whole concept is … delay … … …
It’s caused by satellite links mostly, especially if you are more than about 1242.74 mi = 2000 km away. So to make this possible from longer distances it needs an Internet connection where the signal can be controlled not to go via satellites.
I have had people controlling my robot from Sweden, USA and China with a delay under 0.5 sec but that is possible only when they get a ‘direct’ link. Satellite links can add a delay of about 0.5 sec and from the other side of earth you could get as many as three to six satellite links, if you are really unlucky.
If I have my robot on a fiber connection close to the main Internet grid and another person controlling it is also on a similar connection then there is almost no delay at all (up to 1242.74 mi = 2000 km distance). It’s also important to have a good graphics card to be able to get the pictures to build up as fast as possible. Basically you need a good fps and minimal delay. But today most people have a ‘games’ PC and so there’s no problem in that area.
Doc: Is there an ultimate goal for all this experimentation?
Magnus: Yes, I sincerely believe that robots will never be able to help people in there homes or at work … well at least for another 100 years or so. They just can’t get a computer to work as well as a human helper.
So I think this will be a first step into our houses for robot kind, way before the computer can do it alone. The plan would be to build robots that can walk on two legs and balance for themselves and then the rest of the robot will be controlled by a real person (potentially from anywhere in the world).
The robot could be small, five inches high (3.28 ft = 1 m high or 32.81 ft = 10 m high) or so. You have a few of these robot at home and when you need help you just call the company and ask for a plumber, car mechanic, doctor, dentist, gardener, painter and so on. Then a licensed person will log in and help you by controlling the robot over the Internet, simple!
The robots will have two cameras and stereo mics and the user will have a video feed with earphones. Logging in he will see and hear just as if he is the robot. He can log in at night when you sleep and clean the house, service the car or drive it to a garage where there could be additional equipment and robots to help fix it.
There are many other possibilities … drive and buy food or other supplies you might need. Tend the garden and whatever else the robot is capable of doing mechanically. They could have night vision allowing them to function in the dark or low light.
The other idea is you can be anywhere in the world in thirty seconds … but as a robot. Start with a walk in the pyramids or log into a different robot in Peru for a walk in the jungle … you would see and hear as if you were there.
When you pick up an object you would control a robot arm that moves just as your own arm and hand does (I call it cheap teleportation). All you have to do is build tourist robots and place them around the world.
Control could be through gloves with equipment like a Wii style hand control, this will register your body, arm and hand posistion along with the movements. All this tech exists today but no one has put it together in a humanoid robot. I hope to be a part of the development of it.
Doc: Do you have any video exclusives of your projects?
Magnus: There are some simple videos on my site www.gamereality.se from the simple robot with paint-ball gun. But its controlled from Australia and there is some delay (so his moves are a bit slow).
There’s also a website about me with some nice pics (link here).
Doc: If a brand came to you with an idea would you consider helping them out?
Magnus: Yes, if the project was interesting.
Doc: I always like to ask what sites or blogs inspire you?
Magnus: I read most tech sites but my favourites are (first two are Swedish) …
http://news.google.com/news?topic=t
Doc: Thank you Magnus, good luck with your experiments!
Magnus: Thanks.
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