Feds Plot 'Near Human' Robot Docs, Farmers, Troops

Feds Plot 'Near Human' Robot Docs, Farmers, Troops

Feds Plot 'Near Human' Robot Docs, Farmers, Troops


Robots are already vacuuming our carpets, heading into combat and assisting docs on medical procedures. Get ready for a next generation of "near human" bots that'll do a lot more: independently perform surgeries, harvest our crops and herd our livestock, and even administer drugs from within our own bodies.

Those are only a few of the suggested applications for robots in a massive new federal research program. The military's blue-sky research arm, Darpa, is pairing up with four other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Homeland Security, to launch a major push that'd revolutionize robotic capabilities and put bots pretty much everywhere, from hospitals to dude ranches to "explosive atmospheres."

In a single mega-solicitation for small business proposals, the agencies note that robotics technology is "poised for explosive growth," thanks to rapid improvements in microprocessing, algorithms and sensors. Of course, Darpa's been behind much of the progress. The agency has already launched programs to create a real-life C3PO, a bot that can match human intellect and a four-legged BigDog robo-beast. Not to mention the organization's ongoing research into cognition and neural control, including efforts to map monkey minds to yield neurally controlled prosthetics.

Now, other agencies want to capitalize on progress in robotics to transform their own fields. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is after "robotic applications to surgery," as well as "computerized therapist personalities [and] artificial intelligence capable of real time monitoring" along with patient interaction and day-to-day care-taking tasks. And robots won't just be health care providers – the NIH is also interested in organ- and limb-replacement robotics, including advanced prosthetics and "implantable smart robotics for monitoring/drug delivery."

The USDA is looking at an agricultural-bot takeover that would reduce labor costs and streamline production and food-safety checks. The agency wants robots that'd be responsible for crop harvesting, sorting and inspecting, along with "detecting ripeness, physical damage [and] microbial contamination." Robots would also rule over animal herds, taking on tasks like "sorting, vaccinating [and] deworming" large numbers of livestock.

Where national defense is concerned, invincible bots are the top priority. The Department of Homeland Security is looking for beyond-tough bomb-handlers and surveillance bots, capable of carrying 50-pound loads in a single arm, traversing stairs and "corrugated drainage pipes" and working "in an explosive atmosphere" or through tunnels filled with "debris, mud and water."

And while Darpa's innovations are fueling much of the progress in civilian and military robotics development, the agency is harnessing this mega-program to make even more improvements in fundamental robot technology. Along with the National Science Foundation (NSF), they're after bots "that have near-human capability." That means research into mechanical actuators that can "meet or exceed the safety and efficacy of human muscle," as well as better insight into the human brain, to "reverse-engineer" biological processes and then incorporate them into next-gen robots.

Combined, the solicitations are after a sweeping robotic proliferation, including bots that can "safely co-exist in close proximity or in physical contact with humans." It's a freaky prospect, and our robot overlords might take some getting used to. As the solicitation notes, "the creation of trust in human-robot interactions" remains a top priority.

*Photo: 20th Century Fox
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