Kam: There is a fair amount of romanticism surrounding robots, since the very early days when Karel Capek, a Czech writer, wrote in 1921 a play called R.U.R., and he coined the term robot. Since that time, and even earlier in the Frankenstein stories, we have been fascinated by these humanlike machines. We are primarily fascinated with the thinking that one day we can program them in such a way that they would have intelligence of their own - that they might have emotions like love and hate. Despite the great developments we've had, we're still quite far from this scenario.
Drexel robotics expert sees robots becoming 'partners' with humans
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Q: Do you have a favorite robot?
Kam: Yes, it's a snake robot developed by my former student Richard Primerano. What I like about it is that it is very smart about gaps. When it comes to a gap, it goes into it a little bit to find out if there is enough of a support on the other side to cross over the gap. If it finds that the gap is too big, it retreats and tries to find another way. Otherwise, it moves forward. There are very few robots that can do that without falling over. It has ultrasonic and infrared sensors. We have many robots in my lab, and that one is my favorite.
Contact staff writer Helen Shen at 215-854-4802 or HShen@philly.com
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