Bangkok--1 Sep--Asian Institute of Technology
The AIT Distinguished Lecture Series kicked of with a inaugural talk on “Living with Robots” delivered by Stanford University pioneer Prof. Oussama Khatib. Traversing the 50-year journey of robots during a lecture delivered at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 26 August 2014, Prof. Khatib highlighted how robotics is entering new frontiers.
“Robotics has come a long way in the past 50 years,” Prof. Khatib remarked, as he narrated how robots have moved from acting as simple locomotives to more complex systems integrating mobility and dexterous movements. Human-robot interaction, and reconstruction of human motion have helped in training robots to perform a wide variety of tasks.
He highlighted the National Robotics Initiative (NRI) unveiled by President Barack Obama, and the emergence of a Global Robotics and Automation Index called ROBO-STOX, which measures the performance of robotics and automation-related companies.
Besides replacing humans in the manufacturing industry, robots are also coming closer to humans and helping them perform a variety of tasks. The combination of skills of both humans and robots have proved to be extremely beneficial in surgery, he said. Citing the example of a robot ironing a shirt, Prof. Khatib quipped that his shirt was the perhaps first-ever to be ironed by a robot.
Wearable robots are another innovation, Prof. Khatib said, as he described the complexities of simultaneous contact and motion control. Among the remarkable work undertaken by robots include underground mining, underwater archaeology, and working in disaster-affected environments. “Safety and performance are always competing with each other,” he averred.
Prof. Khatib also delved on the issue of increasing degrees of freedom and mobility of modern-day robots. The brain of a human and the body of a robot work are working together to create autonomous robotic systems, he added. Another significant challenge for roboticists is getting two robots to cooperate with each other. The concept of Autonomous Robotic Systems, which involves perception, tasks and planning coupled with sensing and execution, remains a major challenge.
An interactive session, emceed by AIT”s Dr. Manukid Parnichkun saw students and researchers pose questions to Prof. Khatib on issues related to robotics.
Prof. Khatib’s lecture was the first of the new series of AIT Distinguished Lectures, which saw a packed AIT auditorium filled with participants from numerous universities, institutions, private sector companies and media. Led by their instructors, a large contingent of 40 engineering students from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Thonburi, made the trek across Bangkok to listen to Prof. Khatib who literally “wrote the book” many students of robotics use as their textbooks.
Prof. Khatib, who visited the AIT laboratories in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) and Computer Science (CS), complimented the Institute for its post-flood recovery. He also paid a special visit to AIT’s intERLab. He interacted with senior members of the AIT Administration including the Vice Presidents and Deans.
AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai welcomed Prof. Khatib and thanked him for being the first speaker at the new AIT Distinguished Lecture Series.
Prior to commencing his lecture, Prof. Khatib expressed his happiness at visiting AIT. He remarked that AIT is the only institute in Thailand where the entire region gets connected through academics and research. “In its mission, AIT is unique,” he added.
Photo caption: Prof. Oussama Khatib