CMSC 150 - Fall 2017 - Studio Robotics

Androids and AI With the recent release of the science fiction film "Blade Runner 2049", many are currently discussing when and how the use of human-like robots will become a reality.  In both Blade Runner films, audiences are introduced to the beings known as replicants, which are artificially intelligent androids that look and behave in the same way as humans.  While a discussion on such a topic would be fascinating, one must first ask, what is artificial intelligence?.  Simply put, artificial intelligence can be defined as “the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems”.  These computer systems are known as neural networks and they allow computers to make connections and “learn”, similar to the human brain.  This concept clearly interested author Mindy Weisberger from Live Science, who was inspired by the replicants of the most recent Blade Runner film to try and attempt to answer questions regarding the likelihood of a

Why Use Robots? Over the course of this blog, you will learn about various types of robots and their relation to computer science.  However, it is first important to understand what a robot actually is and how they can be used.  While many definitions for robot exists, one that seems to be applicable for this blog comes from the English Oxford Living Dictionary, which defines a robot as “A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer.”  With this definition, relation between robots and computer programming is clear.  In the same way that a compram program is an algorithm that computer is capable of performing, one can create a set of actions for a robot to perform in order to achieve a goal or attain a certain outcome.          Nick McCrea the Software Engineer     Now when you hear that Nick McCrea is a software engineer with a background in robotics, what comes to mind?  Based on the definition of ro