An intelligent computer system can go a long way in reducing human labour. But if such a system can be provided with a method of actually interacting with the physical world, its usefulness is greatly increased. Robotics gives AI the means to exhibit real-world intelligence by directly manipulating their environment. That is, robotics gives the artificial mind a body.

   An essential component of robotics has to do with artificial sensory systems in general, and artificial vision in particular. While it is true that robotics systems exist (including many successful industrial robots) that have no sensory equipment (or very limited sensors) they tend to be very brittle systems. They need to have their work area perfectly lit, with no shadows or mess. They must have the parts needed in precisely the right position and orientation, and if they are moved to a new location, they may require hours of recalibration. If a system could be developed that could make sense out of a visual scene it would greatly enhance the potential for robotics applications. It is therefore not surprising that the study of artificial vision and robotics go hand-in-hand.

   The links gathered below fall into two categories. The first deal with both computer vision and robotics, and discuss current research in the areas (including their integration with each other). The second portion, for interest's sake, includes links to some commercial attempts to bring robots into the mainstream.

• Computer Vision Tutorial - This relatively brief tutorial discusses some of the reasons that computer vision is such a sought-after research project, and some of the difficulties that are encountered in attempting to create machines that can do what a human does within weeks of its birth.
• Computer Vision at CMU - Students interested in Computer Vision, a large and difficult section of AI, will find this page an excellent resource. It includes descriptions of current research, software downloads (note, these are mostly concerned with the highly technical problems of computer vision systems, and will not, for the most part, be runnable on a normal PC) and several demos of computer vision systems.
• Robotics Resources - Chris Connolly has compiled a large list of resources, print and multimedia, concerning the development and theory of robotics. Students may find the Robot Movies section of interest.
• Cog - Cog is arguably the most advanced AI/Robotics research program on the planet. Being built at MIT, it is a robot that will, or so the researchers hope, see, smell, touch, hear, move, even understand and emote like a regular person. It's a very ambitious project, but they've already come a long way. To move straight to a brief introduction, click here, for a longer, PDF format overview, click here (PDF files require Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software to read, click here to go to Adobe's site).
• Tele-Robot - The University of Western Australia's page has a large collection of interesting material about robotics research. Perhaps most entertaining though, is the telerobot, a real robot in their lab that Internet users can control through their web page.
• Robotic Soccer at the University of Ulm - the lofty long-term goal of this multi-disciplinary project is to create a team of robots than can defeat humans. Carnegie Mellon University also has a RoboSoccer team , and both compete in the RoboCup, the World Cup for robots.
  

• AIBO - AIBO, the robotic dog, is the newest $2,000 craze. Created by Sony, this robot is preprogrammed with a set of dog-like behaviours, as well as the ability to learn some new things. While many will argue that it falls short of real AI, the creation of a mass-produced, commercial-quality, entertainment robot is very significant in itself.
• The Robot Store - While AIBO is in a field of it's own in terms of quality and cuteness, it is not the only commercially available robot by far. This site is in the business of selling personal robots for convenience, hobbyists, or simple conspicuous consumption.
• The Robonaut is NASA's first attempt to use a humanoid robot on space missions. A large part of the very dangerous 'space walks' astronauts perform involves positioning tools and setting up safety harnesses. By designing a robot with human like appendages that can be controlled remotely, this risk is eliminated. If successful, the robonaut could greatly reduce NASA's expenses for many shuttle launches, since a team of robonauts could be sent up without the oxygen and food requirements of a human crew.