World Cup for Robots Teams of robots programmed for soccer go head-to-head in RoboCup 2001.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: This is a show about contests-- contests between machines and between the people, mostly students, who built them. Contests are fun, they're exciting and they're a great way to learn. But as we'll see, the creative edge generated by the very human desire to win is also pushing the development of these machines. And some of them are able to do surprisingly human things. Welcome to the world of robot soccer. WOMAN: Go, go, go, go, go on. Go, go now! ALDA: There he goes. ALDA: We're in Seattle for the finals of RoboCup 2001. Pushed it in with his chest. Pass, pass, pass! Pass it! Go! ( laughing ) ALDA: But we first met the players and their makers a couple of years ago on a visit to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. There the CM United team was being put through its paces by one of the founders of the RoboCup contest, Manuela Veloso. Shoot again, shoot! ALDA: One of the stars of CM United was their goalie. Trying to beat it gave me the chance to find out how the robots know what to do. How is this working? Does that little guy have eyes in his head somehow? No, actually the robot does not have any eyes. There is a camera that is overhead and sees the whole field. ALDA: From the video image, a computer figures out the position of the ball and any robots on the field. Then it predicts the ball's current direction and speed, indicated by the length of the line. The computer does this 30 times a second-- fast enough to cope with all but the speediest shots. VELOSO: There you go. I went too fast, okay. Vision's fine. ALDA: Behind the scene, Peter Stone's running the vision system, while Mike Bowling's laptop is sending wireless instructions to the robots on the field. But during the competition, it's hands off. You're not allowed, by the terms of the competition, to give it any directions from a human during the game. Yes, we cannot give any directions. It all has to be done beforehand as you design the software. Right, and the challenge is that the domain, the task, is very uncertain. So we have to, up front, program or make the robots think about a very large number of situations. ALDA: So success at robot soccer depends not only on the speed and quick reactions of the robots, but on the central computer's ability to read the game and direct the players. VELOSO: There's a pass, perfect. ( cheers ) ALDA: RoboCup 1999 was held in Stockholm. ( whistle blows ) It's the quarterfinals between two of the top teams in robot soccer. Watched by an audience of computer scientists from around the world, the match pits robots from Cornell University against a team from Singapore, and Cornell strikes first. MAN: Oh, yeah! Oh, yes! REFEREE: Three, two, one. ( blows whistle ) ALDA: Cornell's robots are fast and strong, and they convincingly beat the Singapore team, called the Field Rangers. ( applause ) Manuela's CM United has also made it to the quarterfinals. ( whistle blows ) But in this match they are literally getting pushed around by the fast and aggressive robots of another team from Singapore, Lucky Star. VELOSO: Clear. ALDA: This play sums up the match. A penalty attempt by CMU turns into a beautiful goal for Lucky Star... who go on to crush CM United eight to nothing. Very good game, very good game. ALDA: Now it's Cornell's turn to face Lucky Star in the first semifinal. This is the fastest team that we've played against, so that we have to be sure we can cope with their speed. ( whistle blows ) ALDA: Both teams have similar robots-- fast, maneuverable two-wheelers that kick the ball mainly by ramming into it. MAN: Come on, come on,come on, come on! ALDA: After two ten-minute halves of play, Cornell prevails. ( applause ) ( blows whistle ) ALDA: In the final, Cornell is up against a team from Berlin, called the FU-Fighters. ( audience gasps and shouts ) The German team has made it this far thanks largely to a dramatic innovation, a spinning bar that delivers a devastating kick. ( whistle blows ) ( shouts and applause ) In the end, Cornell's superior strategy wins out over the FU-Fighters' kick, and Cornell takes the championship. ( hoots ) VELOSO: And the first prize is for Big Red from Cornell University, U.S.A., who only suffered two goals during the whole tournament. My most excellent congratulations. ALDA: Also making an appearance at Stockholm were RoboCup's first four-legged contestants. The robot dogs were very obviously beginners. Unlike the robots with wheels, each dog is on its own. It has to figure out where it is with the help of a camera in its nose and colored beacons around the field. Go, blue! Go, CMU! ALDA: Goals were scored mostly by walking the ball into the net. ( applause ) And the dogs' walk was slow and ungainly. But this was 1999. And as we said at the outset, nothing pushes innovation like competition. Jump ahead two years to RoboCup 2001 in Seattle. The dogs themselves have undergone a makeover. But much more importantly, most teams-- including Manuela Veloso's Carnegie Mellon team-- have written new software programs for their dogs that make them walk much faster. ALDA: Ah, okay. ( whistle blows ) It sort of crowds the ball into the goal. Yeah. ALDA: The CMU dogs' new and faster walk can pose new dangers for the opposition. ALDA: Oh, oh, it fell over. VELOSO: Right there, it fell. Did your guy knock him over, do you think? I think so. Not on purpose, but it just happened. ALDA: But as the blue team rallies, CMU's goalie, down here at our end of the field, seems to have lost interest in the game. VELOSO: This is actually our goalie. ALDA: He's out to lunch. Yeah, I know. We have a big problem with the goalie, so for the final we have to... Oh, oh, here it comes. Oh, there we go. Oh, but now I think that when it sees the ball it does the right thing. ALDA: Another innovation CMU introduced last year is this elegant head swipe to move the ball up the field. The coolest new move this year is a two-legged kick, which starts as the dog drops to its haunches. ( Alda laughing ) ( whistle blows ) That was a nice goal, huh? That was beautiful. ALDA: Not only has competition sharpened the dogs' skills, so has cooperation. Every year, each team shares its software secrets-- even the computer code itself-- with all the rival teams. The result is that everyone is building on everyone else's breakthroughs. VELOSO: Years ago, they could hardly see the ball. They spent all the time in the field looking around: "Where am I, where am I?" And now we take it for granted. Everybody's improved because you've shared your information, your knowledge. Of course, you wait until after you win the game. That's true, too. ALDA: The team at the forefront of much of this innovation is from Australia's University of New South Wales, here playing in the other semifinal. This year they've introduced another new kick. MAN: When the ball is between the front legs of the robot, if it does a quick turn, that'll give you a flick sideways, which is quite effective, because it gets the ball away from the opposition. ( whistle blows ) SAMMUT: There's a short-range kick, which is a push forward on the chest. And there's another one, which is two legs forward. You'll see other teams doing that because they copied it from us last year. ALDA: There's another new trick in the Australians' play book this year, one that uses the dogs' sense of hearing as well as sight. To avoid teammates scrapping with each other, a robot will back off if it sees a same-color dog with the ball. As it backs away, it whistles, letting the lead robot know where it is. ( referee's whistle blows ) It's a tactic likely to be widely imitated next year, and this year, it's helped the Australians get to the finals, where CMU's goalie still hasn't quite figured out its head from its tail. VELOSO: Ahh, good pass. ( spectators shouting ) ( whistle blows ) ALDA: Final score: UNSW, nine; CMU, two. I'm very proud, very proud. Of course, silver is not gold, but again, you know, gold is just for one. ALDA: It's not just the robot dogs whose skills have improved for RoboCup 2001. Excellent. ALDA: Cornell's wheeled robots-- the current world champions in their league-- can now move in any direction while facing in any direction. D'ANDREA: Now, this is going to be our ball control. This is our... this is the hard test. ALDA: The Cornell robots have also developed a sophisticated passing game, aided by a spinning bar to put backspin on the ball, holding it against the robot while it maneuvers. ( whistle blows ) In their quarterfinal match, Cornell is up against a team from Portugal. The backspinner comes into play at once as a Cornell robot tugs the ball from a corner, turns and passes. D'ANDREA: Nice pass. ALDA: They're really good at passing. Yup. Oh, nice save. ALDA: Portugal is countering with aggressive tackling. ALDA: This other guy seems to be hitting your shins. It is. ALDA: Cornell has already played four games in the tournament, winning them all handily. They seem to have this game under control, too, until after this hard hit in the corner. ( crash ) D'ANDREA: Whoa! ( spectators shout, then cheer ) ( whistle blows ) ALDA: You've never had a goal scored on you? No. Until now? Until now. ( whistle blows ) ALDA: As play resumes, the Cornell robots remain in firm control of the mid-field, thanks to their positioning and passing. D'ANDREA: Whoa... ALDA: Whoa, what a pass. ALDA: But despite Cornell's passing, the Portuguese defense holds them scoreless through the first ten-minute half. ( whistle blows ) Why is this such a tense game? Um, they're a really good team. They're playing our defense perfectly. They had a great opportunity-- our defender was caught out of the zone. The other player came in and very quickly was able to put the ball in. What we play is, um, an aggressive system that attacks the player with the ball soon, and that prevents Cornell from making deadly passes. So, that's the strong point of Cornell; that's the point we eliminated. Can you make adjustments right now or do you have to it until next year? No, we could; that's what we're doing right now. We're analyzing what happened when they scored. And we're making some changes to the gains of the system to change how fast they're moving, accelerating, their thresholds for passing versus shooting, et cetera. Your passing is kind of a dangerous tactic because you're putting the ball out in the open. What's the percentage of successful passes? Have you checked that out? Um, roughly about 80%, 85%. It's pretty high. And it's also, I mean, it's also fun for us to develop that, too. So, you know, part of it is winning; we want to win, but we also want to play very well. You want to look cool, too. Yeah, that's very important... seriously. Yeah, really? Why does that add to it? Um, you know, it's, uh... Part of what motivates us is to come up with a system that is really fun to watch. D'ANDREA: Oh, nice! ALDA: That was great! ALDA: Cornell's mid-field play continues to sparkle. But like many real-life soccer teams, once in the goal mouth, they seem to falter. ( whistle blows ) Then an overaggressive Portuguese robot shoves a Cornell player into the corner, giving up a free kick. ( whistle blows ) ( crowd cheering ) D'ANDREA: Make the pass, make the pass. ALDA: Oh! ALDA: A few minutes later, the same thing happens. ( whistle blows ) There will be a yellow card for potentially damaging a robot. I love this lining it up. ( whistle blows ) ( Cornell team cheers ) ALDA: Final score: Cornell two, Portugal one. We put up a good fight. And I think Cornell also has a bit of learning to do. We didn't think they could score on us. So they really surprised us by getting that goal. But in a sense I'm glad that it happened. Now we know we have a weakness in our defense and we'll fix it for our next game. ALDA: As Raff and his students plan their changes, another quarterfinal is under way. ( applause ) This one is between a Spanish team and the Berlin FU-Fighters-- the robots with the faces. This year the German team, like Cornell, has omnidirectional robots on offense, but on defense, they're relying on the older, hard-kicking machines they introduced in Stockholm two years ago. Like Cornell, the FU-Fighters forwards maneuver more skillfully than the Spanish robots, and their defense is solid. But also like Cornell, the Germans seem nervous in front of the goal mouth. It turns out this is by design. One of the rules of the game is that any contact with the goalkeeper is penalized. ( whistle blows ) REFEREE: Uh, FU-Fighters. It's a free kick for RoGi. ALDA: I saw one of your players looking very nervous-- backing up, moving forward backing up-- it looked like he didn't know what to do. Had you changed his behavior about the goalie at that point? No... uh, yeah, we changed it, yeah... You told him not to get too close. Yeah. ALDA: As the match progresses, the German team tweaks its forwards' behavior to make them a little less concerned about hitting the goalie, and they're rewarded with a convincing win. ( crowd applauding ) Cornell, meanwhile, is in a tense semifinal confrontation with the Field Rangers from Singapore-- the team they beat two years ago in Stockholm. ( crowd exclaims ) Once again, Cornell's dribbling mechanism is setting up promising plays in the opponent's goal mouth. Pass, pass it! Whoa! Whoa! ( robot's parts whirring ) ALDA: But the Field Rangers' reflexes are lightning-fast. ( crowd exclaims ) Yeah... oh! ALDA: At the half, Raff isn't happy. REFEREES: Two, one, time. ( whistle blows ) Okay, I'm going to see if I can figure out what's going on. ( crowd applauding ) Were you able to make a strategic change here? Yeah, what we did is, um... Hopefully, the change that we made will allow us to have this player go into the box so that he can receive the pass and put it into the net. ALDA: The second half features a superb attacking move down the field, setting up the shot Raff is hoping for. D'ANDREA: Here we go, here we go. Here we go. ALDA: Pass, pass, pass... D'ANDREA: He will. ( crowd exclaims ) ALDA: But again, the Field Rangers are faster to the ball. And then the goalie simply steals it away. ALDA: Whoa, he stole it-- look at that. ALDA: Seconds later, a Field Ranger robot makes a brilliant attacking play. ( crowd cheering ) Time out. ANNOUNCER: Three and a half minutes remaining in this match, Singapore now having the lead. ( crowd exclaims ) ALDA: Cornell again sets up what seems like a certain score-- and again is thwarted. ( whistle blows ) ( cheering ) After a three-year undefeated run, Cornell is dethroned. In the other semifinal, Berlin's FU-Fighters get off to a spectacular start against the other Singapore team to be defeated by Cornell two years ago in Stockholm, Lucky Star. ANNOUNCER: It's a shot. How fast is this game going? Artificial intelligence at 100 miles an hour. Look at these guys go. There's no way a human could keep up with this kind of play. It's happening far too fast. ALDA: A free kick for Lucky Star. ( whistle blows, crowd exclaims ) ALDA: And it's the beginning of the end for the FU-Fighters. In the all-Singapore final, it's Lucky Star who'll go on to become the new RoboCup champions. ALDA: What do you think are the next couple of steps that we'll get to with game-playing robots? So, we actually are trying to get to a point where we can play with humans. Play against a human? With or against, yes. So we'll go all the way until we play on a real soccer field with humans. All the way. ALDA: On display in Seattle is a little two-legged robot called PINO, from the same company that manufactures the robot dogs. VELOSO: We are going to have a competition, probably next year, with these little guys playing. They will be able to follow the ball, again, go to the ball and kind of kick it. That's... you do a very funny impersonation of a robot. Well, that's what they will be like. You spend a lot of time with them, you get to... you get to be able to do them, right? That's how they look, right? So far. Right, so far. Right. ( servos whirring )

				Superhuman Subs Design and stamina are put to the test when human-powered subs race for the finish in a giant naval testing tank.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ALDA: Neptune is a submarine, built by students at the University of Michigan. It will soon be filled with water and propelled by human pedal power. ALDA: How many people will be in this boat? There are two people in this boat. And we both pedal. ALDA: And is it the biggest boat here? PILOT: Oh, yes, oh, yes, it gets moving. ALDA: Neptune is one of some 15 boats entered in the 2001 human-powered submarine race. MAN: We ready to race? All right. We're going to do a race right now. ALDA: Okay. ( radios squawking ) MAN ( over radio ): Michigan, Michigan. ALDA: We've strapped a camera on Neptune to get a sense of what it's like to lunge at a fast walking pace through the nearly ink-black water of an immensely long indoor tank. Just outside Washington, D.C, the tank is more usually employed testing new ship designs for the U.S. Navy. Ten years ago, the human-powered sub races were held in the sunny waters off a Florida beach. Pairs of submarines raced each other around a circular course. ANNOUNCER: Okay, I see the first boat coming. It's the Benthos boat. Holy smokes, is it pulling. Whoo-whee! ALDA: Beating most of the opposition was a boat from the Benthos Corporation of Cape Cod-- one of the few boats built by people who construct submarines for a living. ANNOUNCER: And they've passed the finish line now. Divers are trying to grab that sub... One more race, that's all we got, one more race left. If they can get us off the starting block clean tomorrow, we should have a damn good chance at it. ALDA: Most of the other competitors in 1991 failed to complete the course, because of bad luck, bad driving... or bad design. But a boat built by students from Florida Atlantic University put on a flawless performance. As in the Benthos sub, one person steered, while a second person pedaled in the rear. One of the secrets of their success was plenty of practice in ocean conditions. MAN: Up till now we've kind of held back a bit, Made sure we got round the course didn't get tangled in any buoys. Today, we've got to... take a few chances. ALDA: So, into the starting gate for the final go the students of Florida Atlantic University and the professionals of the Benthos Corporation. The race is twice around the track-- a total of one-half mile. ( crowd cheering ) ( crowd cheering ) Let's go, all right, Benthos! ( howls ) MAN: We have launch. ANNOUNCER: They're going into the second turn right now, starting towards the back straightaway. Looks like they're still neck and neck and no more than five feet apart. They're really moving now. ANNOUNCER: At the finish line the the F.A.U. boat is... past the finish line and the other boat's right behind them. Going over the top of me now, they're about... ALDA: It ended in an upset win for Florida Atlantic-- and an opportunity to remember what contests like this are really all about. MAN: We took this... this baby from the... just the basic conception to actually building it and testing it and getting it to run. And that's what engineering's all about, and... So, basically, they're training us to be engineers, and this is the result. Uggy, uggy, uggy! TEAM: Aye, aye, aye! ( all cheering ) ALDA: With the human-powered submarine race now in the calmer waters of the Navy's testing tank, that 1991 race remains vividly in the mind of one of today's contestants. MAN: Back when I was younger, about nine or ten years old, I watched the program on Scientific American Frontiers about the initial races, and just being a scuba diver then and seeing what they were doing, became highly interested. It really played into which colleges I chose and I actually went and interviewed with those teams to see how organized the teams were and which one I'd want to join. You picked the school according to their chances for the race. I wanted to be with a good team. Isn't that great? The team that Justin eventually joined-- and now leads-- is from Virginia Tech University. Their boat, the Phantom, is very different from the subs of a decade ago. Most significantly, it's both powered and steered by only one person, making it much smaller, sleeker and faster than the subs of old. ANNOUNCER: V-Tech, V-Tech, V-Tech, V-Tech. ALDA: The race is different, too. It's now a pure time trial, the subs sprinting one at a time along a straight 100-meter course. The emphasis is on raw speed. In the early races it was rare for a sub to go faster than three knots. Justin is hoping to take the Phantom up to as much as six knots. MAN: Nice... pan right... good, hold. ALDA: The critical part of the course is the speed trap in the middle, a ten-meter section marked with illuminated white poles. MAN ( over radio ): Phantom coming to the final trap right now. MAN: There he goes. MAN: Got him. ALDA: At the end of the 100 meters, a team of Navy divers helps slow the subs to a halt. MAN: 4.161... ALDA: Justin's time on this run is still well short of the six knots he's hoping for. 1/60th of a second we can time it down to. So we're giving very accurate, you know... So somebody could win by a 60th of a second? Yes. ALDA: During the five days of the meet, everyone gets to take as many runs down the course as they can. While many of the subs here are single-person, like the Phantom-- and this one, the Bulldog, built by a high school team-- there are still a few two-person boats. Most of them are steered by one diver and pedaled by another in the rear, making them not much faster than the subs of a decade ago. An exception is the University of Michigan's Neptune, in which both divers pedal. This makes the Neptune quicker than the other two-person subs, but also harder to control. This isn't the first time that Neptune has ended a run by ramming into the side or bottom of the tank. How'd you do? MAN: Well, looks like we lost control. ( laughing ) What happens to you when you see you're going to crash? Uh... I prepare to crash. I know the bottom's coming, I dump my regulator, kind of back out of the way and... watch the nose cone implode into my face. You know, I've been asking people all day, why they do this, but I think you're the best one to ask because you have your face up in the nose... ( all laughing ) and you're liable to crash at any moment. Why do you do it? Put on my, uh... crash helmet. These guys thought I needed a crash helmet for all the crashing I've been doing this week. But, uh, I do it... I guess for the competition of it. And just... I'm one of the naval architects on the team and this is what we do, so... ALDA: Not everyone here is an engineering student pushing for raw speed. Bob Golobic, for instance. ALDA: Hi, can we talk to you for a second? Are you getting ready to go now? No, I'm in the queue. Oh... when do you go? Ah, like about last. ( both laughing ) How long have you been in training with this little boat? Uh, I've been training for 30 years. Did you build it? Yes, I constructed it in my garage. Do you have anything special about this that you think is a design feature that may put you ahead of other people? Uh, no. ( Alda laughing ) If I had electric motors, perhaps. ( both laughing ) ALDA: Bob's sub is called the Reef Cruiser, an elegant twin-propeller design built more for comfort than speed. ALDA: There he is, there he is. MAN: Come on, Reef Cruiser! ALDA: Bob's goal is simply to complete the course. Over to the right now. Everybody's cheering him on. "Come on, you're almost there." MAN: Come on, Reef Cruiser. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... ALDA: He's got a few feet to go. He's twisting and turning. MAN: Give him a push! No... go straight. ALDA: After six starts, Bob finally finishes. ( crowd cheering ) ALDA: Do you have your breath? Oh, absolutely. Do you want to hold on? Yeah, I would like that. Good for you. That was fantastic. Did you go past the finish line backwards? No, no-- sideways, sort of. Sideways. Yeah, sort of sideways. ALDA: At the other end of the spectrum from Reef Cruiser is this slender, torpedolike submarine from the University of Quebec. MAN ( over radio ): Omer, Omer. ( radio beeping ) ALDA: Omer-4 seems hardly big enough even to contain its driver, let alone allow him to pedal. It leaps out of the starting gate and streaks down the course a good two knots faster than any other team here is even dreaming of. On this run, it sets a new world record. ( cheers ) ( crowd cheering ) ANNOUNCER: ...at 7.019 knots. ( both cheer ) ( crowd cheers and applauds ) Bring it home, baby, bring it home. ALDA: As well as its sleek hull that minimizes the drag of the water, Omer-4 has a unique design breakthrough in its tail-- a computer that can change the pitch of the propeller. As the sub's speed picks up, the bite the propeller takes of the water is gradually increased. In effect, the computer matches the pitch of the propeller to the speed of the sub, producing maximum thrust no matter how fast the sub is moving. Is the main thing that's helping you get that fast the ability to control the... the propellers? With the variable pitch, what it does it enables us to generate thrust even at speed zero, so it still can move forward. So as the pitch varies, we increase our speed more rapidly than other teams. ALDA: The Quebec team came with two pilots for their sub. This run is being taken by the junior of the pair, Jeremy Lebel. Wow, he's going fast. Where are you now? What was your speed? That... that race, it was 7.19. That one's not bad. So now... that's now the top speed for a human-powered sub? Exactly. ALDA: While Omer-4 has been steadily breaking records, another one-person sub has also been a surprise. It's manned by 18-year-old Logan Rainard. ALDA: Did you build this yourself? Yeah, I designed it last summer, and my neighbor and my friend Ed Liebolt, who's an ocean engineer here at David Taylor, and is right behind me... Ed, stop eating and come here. Hi. How you doing? Congratulations. Yes. He... he helped me build it. Probably built about... he built half and I built half. How you doing? How long did it take you? Oh, we started in January and we were finished in... it was in the water and running in April, so... ALDA: That's fast, huh? We built it really fast. RAINARD: Like any ship, you design it around the... the power plant of the boat, and the power plant is me in this case. ANNOUNCER: Scuba-Doo, Scuba-Doo. ALDA: Over the five days of racing, Logan's Scuba-Doo has completed every run it's taken, and on one run it's posted a speed of 5.088 knots, second only to Omer-4. The other boat competing for second place is Virginia Tech's Phantom, Justin Hlavin's boat. This run is being taken by the crew's female pilot, Dotty McDowell. A few runs before this one, Dotty broke the woman-powered submarine record with a speed of 4.348 knots. ALDA: How'd you do? Pretty good, a little faster this time. Worn out after that? Yeah. When did you give it everything you got? Usually by the time I can see any kind of light up in front of me, because they light the ten-meter section. Yeah. ( pants and chuckles ) You can... ( chuckles ) I need to catch my breath a minute. ALDA: Justin Hlavin has been hoping to push Phantom as fast as six knots. But he's using a makeshift propeller-- actually the tail rotor of a helicopter-- because the planned propeller didn't get made in time. So Justin's team has asked to borrow a propeller from Logan's Scuba-Doo. There is a propeller. Let's see if this'll work. ALDA: You're using a propeller that you borrowed from the... the high school team? Yes. They are going faster than us. We asked them to borrow it. We just want to see what we can do. That... the hull shape itself is a very fast hull shape. It was specifically designed to go above six knots. We just need to find the power to do it now. ALDA: With Logan's propeller providing the power, Justin's run was just seven one-hundredths of a knot slower than Logan's. ALDA: Justin, you looked like you were flying. HLAVIN: It's the prop that made the difference. I was very conservative on that run just trying to figure out what it could do. And now that I know how to control the boat and how that prop feels, I'm prepared to let her loose, see what she can do. ALDA: But Justin never did attempt another run, not wanting to use Logan's own propeller to snatch away his second place. We're still second place as it is right now by very, very, very close. And Michigan is in the process of going right now and they're looking pretty fast, too. So, I'm a little worried but there isn't anything I can do about anything right now except sit here and watch the... watch the times come up. ALDA: With time left for one last run, the huge Michigan sub containing 1 1/2 tons of water as well as its two-man crew, slowly accelerated away. Unlike most of the other subs, Neptune takes much of the 100-meter course to reach its top speed. But when it did... That was a great run. 4.9. Yeah. Wow. Great. Best one ever. ALDA: Best one ever at 4.905 knots,but still not quite enough to overtake Justin Hlavin's Phantom in third place or Logan Rainard's Scuba-Doo in second. Omer-4, over two knots faster than the rest of the field, remas the boat to beat in the next human-powered submarine races set for the year 2003.

				Teetering to Victory MIT students build machines that battle for supremacy on a giant seesaw.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: Three, two, one-- go! ALDA: It's time again for the granddaddy of all the student engineering contests-- the annual battle of machines built by sophomores at MIT. MAN: MIT, yeah! ( crowd applauding ) Now comes the fun part-- calling my mom. ( applause ) CROWD ( yelling ): Double win, double win. ALDA: This year's contest, hatched six months earlier, involves a teeter-totter beam and a swinging eight-pound ball. The challenge is to build a machine that starts out sitting on the beam, and that after exactly 45 seconds has managed to tilt its side of the beam down, working against an opponent trying to do the same thing. There's a ten-pound weight limit for each machine and a box of parts to make it from. MAN: A bunch of structural materials that they can... ALDA: Each of the hundred-plus students in the contest-- which is actually a course in mechanical engineering-- gets an identical kit of stuff, including several electric motors from home power tools, as well as things that seem like mechanical leftovers. ALDA: What would you do with this? Nobody in the class knows what that is. ( laughing ) We had a... Is that true? You don't know what this is? No one knows how they're going to use it. Usually people just do this: pop it in, take the motor and do something with the motor and then toss that back in there. What it is good for is... It is a mistake to toss that away. ( all laughing ) ALDA: After several weeks of brainstorming and designing their machines on paper and computer, the class sets to work manufacturing them. And it's now that some of the strategies the students have come up with begin to be tested. Grinding sharp spikes is Jessica Baker, one of several with a plan to have their machines reach down and grab the carpet underneath the beam. Alex Slocum is the professor running the course and one of a dozen MIT staff helping the students translate their designs into reality. So that's about ten or 15 pounds up... from one tooth. Just imagine if you had 20 teeth. When they build a machine, if they do the calculations right, the machine works and you get this intense ( grunts )-- just, like, a geek-asm from knowing that what you created in your mind and on the computer is actually doing what you told it to do. It's going to be dropped from up above there by the strings. And these things grab into the carpet, theoretically. If I grip the carpet well enough, I can harness the full power of the motors. ALDA: Here's another plan to pull the beam down. MAN: This locks on to prevent the whole mechanism from falling off the beam once it drives to the end. It takes about 15 seconds. ALDA: This is Will Lark. ( clatters ) LARK: Once it's flipped open, this rock, which represents the car, will drive over here, attach with magnets and reel the beam in. ALDA: In contrast to Jessica and Will's plan to tug the beam downwards, Nick Martin intends to jack it up. It will drop off the beam, drive over to the opponent's side, and then raise the jack to raise the beam, thus changing the angle. ALDA: Ernesto Blanco has been helping students in this course for over 20 years. The contest changes, but not its intent. Practically everything in mechanical design is involved here. And we're very happy to be able to give the students that kind of an experience. And at the same time, a little bit of frustration. It's an awesome class. It's... it's very, very productive and I've learned so much in this course. It's amazing. But it's also very stressful. And then it goes there... ALDA: It's now just a few days before the contest and a hundred machines are taking shape. WOMAN: It can go in here. ( machine whining ) About midyear there were some worries that maybe the contest was a little too complicated, and, "Oh, my goodness, the students are having a really tough time." But in reality, what they were doing is they were hidden in their warrens, working away on solutions that, when they surfaced-- just "Whoa!"-- blew our minds with how elaborate and cool they were. Folks, it's two days before delivery time, so let's see what you got. So the plan is, this guy, all he does is he goes from here to here and then these syringes apply 500 pounds of force to this... ALDA: Eric Varady has a plan similar to Will Lark's. And it clamps down so it can't be moved. ALDA: He drops a car off the beam and uses it to place magnets on a metal strip. The magnets anchor a string, allowing him to winch the beam down. The car is then free to roam. VARADY: If there's any other robots on the ground, which is what I'm really afraid of, it can take them out. ALDA: Nick Martin, meanwhile, has almost finished his mobile jack. The goal is to drop the robot off the beam onto the ground, drive to the other side of the beam, and then raise this jack, and push their side of the beam up. His strategy of winching to... to the magnets will produce a lot of force. I'm worried about robots like his. I'm worried about him, so hey! ALDA: Jessica Baker's carpet grabber is also almost done and testing well. ( machine whirs ) I think I need to perfect that carpet grabber so it digs in more. But I'm happy with how the rest of it works. ALDA: Sarah Mendelowitz's machine is designed to give her opponent a jolt... then, like Jessica's, drop a carpet grabber to the floor. A winch then hauls the beam down. ( laughing ) Hey, we're going to have a run. ALDA: Will Lark, meanwhile, has built his car but dropped the idea of using it to place magnets. Now he plans to simply drive away, pulling out telescoping rods to maximize his leverage. TEACHER: We have a winner against the brick. ( cheers and applause ) ALDA: After 14 weeks of design, construction and testing, the machines faced one last hurdle. Fit it in the box, however you can get it in. ALDA: To qualify for the contest, every machine must fit within the box its parts came in. Does that go straight? Yeah. There. All right, put the lid on, please. Woo-hoo! The machines must also weigh no more than the ten-pound limit. MAN: Excellent. Oy! MAN: What can you get rid of? I can drop one of these clamps. Do whatever you have to. You've got less than two hours. Yeah. ALDA: Kateri Garcia's machine just slips in under the weight limit-- as does, eventually, Eric's. Yes! Yes! Everybody has to put their machines away with the lock placed backwards, so they know that you've been impounded. And you're not allowed to touch your machine until Tuesday morning, the morning of the competition. At that point you can decorate or do whatever you want, as long as you don't change any of the mechanics of your machine. So... I'm glad it's out of my hands and I'm really excited for the competition. ALDA: It's now the first of two days of head-to-head competition-- with no second chances. One loss, and your machine is eliminated. I'm nervous and that's, like... I'm a little stressed out by that because, I mean, it's all fun, but I invested so much time in this-- so much time-- that, uh, you know, I want my money's worth. ALDA: Before an expectant crowd in MIT's ice-hockey arena. SLOCUM: Three, two... one, go! ALDA: Nick Martin's machine, flawless in tests, doesn't give him his money's worth. ( crowd cheering, whistling ) MARTIN: It fell over. That was kind of depressing. I'd never seen that before. I mean, I tested it, ran it, but... you know, I guess that's what engineering's all about. SLOCUM: Go! ALDA: Nick's isn't the only machine to dash weeks of hard work in a few seconds of competition. Her opponent's crash means that Kateri Garcia's machine this round simply has to cling on. ( applause ) SLOCUM: Three, two, one... ALDA: Sarah Mendelowitz's jolting mechanism fails to flip open. ( crowd cheering ) But her carpet grabber takes a firm grip and pulls her to an easy victory. ( crowd cheering ) MAN: All right! ( applause ) Let's hear it for Sarah. ( applause, cheering ) MAN: Sarah, Sarah! WOMAN: Yeah, Sarah! ALDA: Will Lark's already made it through a couple of easy wins, and again his machine works as advertised-- almost. His car never really finds its feet, but still pulls the telescoping rods out far enough to get the leverage to win. ( applause ) SLOCUM: Two, one... ALDA: Here's the view from above the beam, featuring a robot that's using a bulldozer technique: shove the opponent off the beam, then drive back to your end to tilt the beam down. The bulldozing robot was built by Malima Wolf. WOLF: It's a pretty powerful robot, and it's pretty simple, but, like, it doesn't have the problem of falling off the beam, which a lot of the robots do. So, it works. It's simple. ALDA: Here's another mobile jack. Dropped off the beam, it drives over to the opponent's side and smoothly lifts it into the air. ( crowd cheering ) Will DelHagen is the piston's designer and builder, and it's obviously a machine to be reckoned with. ( applause ) Now watch carefully. See that projectile flying over the yellow ball? It's attached to a string from a robot that's just been bulldozed off the beam. Oh, my... ALDA: But Alison Wong's not out of it yet. By grabbing the pendulum, Alison manages to keep most of the weight of the whole system on her side of the fulcrum-- and pulls off a win that seems to surprise her more than anyone. ( applause, cheering ) SLOCUM: Three, two... ALDA: Eric Varady's already breezed through several early rounds. The magnets and the winch have provided all the power he's needed. ( winch motor whirring ) So far, his car has had no opponents needing to be harassed. It worked perfectly. So, you know, if it keeps it up, I got a real good chance. ALDA: Jessica Baker's also been doing well with her carpet grabber. But this time it's up against another of those mobile jacks, and before Jessica has a chance to do any serious winching... ( cheering ) ( winch motor whirring ) ( crowd excitement builds ) ( crowd shouts in disappointment ) BAKER: He had a really nice machine. I was hoping to get down there really fast and lift up the carpet so he wouldn't be able to drive over there, but he got over there too fast. ALDA: While Jessica had the bad luck to face a jack, Sarah's carpet grabber has been having a fairly easy time. This round her opponent's magnets fail to get a grip. ( applause ) Nice job. MENDELOWITZ: I seemed to have gotten lucky a lot of times-- I haven't had to go up against a jack yet, and so I think it's a lot of luck who I've picked. But I'm glad that things are working well, and so far, so good. I'm excited that I've gotten this far. SLOCUM: Two, one... ALDA: Malima and her bulldozer are up again, this time against another pendulum grabber. SLOCUM: She's got to winch and hope that she doesn't get off the beam. ( crowd cheering ) ALDA: But Malima simply goes into reverse, dragging everything with her. SLOCUM: Oh, no! Oh! Oh! ( cheering ) Amazing! Absolutely amazing! It works pretty well right now, and it seems to be making it. It hasn't broken yet. ALDA: Now, here's a confrontation we've been waiting for: Sarah's carpet grabber against Eric's magnets and car. Sarah gets a grip and yanks so hard she makes Eric's magnets lose their grip, leaving them dangling helplessly. Now Eric's only hope is his car. ( cheering, shouting ) But Sarah hangs on and Eric's streak is over. ( applause ) It's all good, she deserved to win, that was awesome. That was my toughest match so far, so I'm looking good. I'm really excited. SLOCUM: One, go! ALDA: This is the first match-up we've seen between mobile jacks. One jack maneuvers into position more quickly than the other. ( crowd gasping ) SLOCUM: He may have it. Don't get greedy. ALDA: The faster jack is driven by Alex Jacobson. Jacks that work well, like Alex's, are beginning to look unbeatable. ( applause ) Here's another face-off that promises to be fun: Will's drive-away car against Malima's bulldozer. As long as the front part stays on, it should be fine. I think I can do it. I think I can do it. I don't know-- who knows, we'll see. ALDA: Malima's bulldozer attacks-- but it's stopped short by Will's lock-on clamp. Will's heavyweight car does its thing, and its extra leverage keeps Malima's bulldozer hanging high. ( cheering, applause ) Way to go. That was good. ( applause ) Excellent. Oh, man! ( crowd gasping ) ALDA: Only a few machines now remain in the running. One is the mobile jack built by Will DelHagen. SLOCUM: All right. ( cheering ) ALDA: Alex Jacobson has the other-- almost identical-- jack, here literally ripping a carpet grabber out of the contest. ( cheering ) MAN: Wow! ( winch motor whirring ) ( cheering ) ALDA: Kateri Garcia's bulldozer has been steadily plowing its way through the opposition. ( crowd gasping ) It does it again. ( cheering ) But as time is about to expire... ( screaming ) ( crowd ohs ) No! No... ALDA: With both machines off the beam, it ends up a tie. GARCIA: The controls are really touchy and this thing likes to take off and I shouldn't have touched it, I should've left it alone. ALDA: So there's a rerun. This time Kateri's bulldozer fails to dislodge her opponent, whose carpet grabber clings on. SLOCUM: Look at the climb on that, that's an amazing angle! There she goes-- up, up, up and away! ALDA: But Kateri's heroic climb isn't enough to dislodge the carpet grabber. ( applause ) Congratulations! You killed my machine. I have never seen-- literally in seven years-- any student design a machine to go up about a 45-degree angle, almost. ( cheering, applause ) ALDA: Will Lark's car is still going strong, this time pulling the telescoping arm as far as it will go. ( cheering, applause ) With this win, he's in the semifinals. Whew-- I've got to take a breather for a second. ALDA: Sarah's luck, meanwhile, seems to have run out, as she finally confronts Will DelHagen's all-powerful jack. SLOCUM: It's the carpet grabber... ( cheering, applause ) MENDELOWITZ: I did a lot better than I thought I was going to do. I just came up against a tough opponent. I don't know if there was much I could do. So, I did my best. Having it done on time and having the opportunity to practice really helped a lot. I think that was a big part of how well I did. You will rerun. ALDA: But then, an unexpected reprieve from the judges. ( giggling ): Okay.? So now I guess I'm rerunning since my control system stopped working again. So they're going to let me rerun. ALDA: Remember Jessica Baker's plan to try to pull up the carpet before the mobile jack could get into position? ( crowd erupts ) It looks like Will DelHagen's jack has finally met its match-- until Sarah gives one last tweak on the controls. She tries to recover, but it's too late. MAN: Yeah, go, go, go! ( crowd gasps ) ( cheering, applause ) Good job! Uh! MAN: You were so close! I know! I got too greedy, I think. I didn't want him to get underneath and I popped off. So... I think if I'd not been so greedy, I might have been able to beat him, but it was really close. It was a good... ( chuckling ) ALDA: The first semifinal. And now it's Will Lark's turn to face Will DelHagen's jack. ( cheering, shouting ) Almost before the car has even jumped off the beam, the jack is hoisting it up. All Will DelHagen has to do is stand by and watch as Will Lark's car desperately tries to hook around the jack and yank it away. Winch it! SLOCUM: Six, five, four,-0 three, two, one... ( applause ) ALDA: For Will Lark, it's the end of a great run. ( applause ) That's my only... way I could have got him, was try to mess him up, so... MAN: That was a great idea. SLOCUM: Go! ALDA: The second semifinal. It's Alex Jacobson's mobile jack against a simple extender that has quietly made it through round after round. For a moment it looks like Alex has gotten trapped by the corner. But then... Up, up, up-- yeah! ALDA: So for the finals, it's mobile jack against mobile jack. There's a lot of things I didn't get done that I wanted, but everything I needed I guess I finished, so. ALDA: We tracked Alex down behind the scenes, where, it turned out, he'd been conspiring with Will. SLOCUM: Go! ALDA: Good friends who have been comparing notes ever since the class began, Will and Alex now plan a final collaboration. Alex! Come on! SLOCUM: Up, up and away! ALDA: Carefully choreographed, the two robots jack the whole apparatus an inch off the ground-- with the beam dead level. ( crowd cheering boisterously ) The result is a tie. Double win! CROWD ( chanting ): Double win! ALDA: Or, in MIT-speak, a "double win." CROWD ( chanting ): Double win! Double win! This has never, ever happened before, d we're so happy it did, because we like doing things different. CROWD ( cheering ): Double win! Double win!

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				Go, Team! Robot soccer teams test their mettle in RoboCup 99. In these games, speed and strategy are the keys to victory.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: I HAVEN'T PLAYED THAT PART BEFORE. Alda: WHAT'S MORE, I SUSPECT THE ROBOT DUCKLINGS KNOW IT. IT'S CRAWLING UP MY LEG. YES, I HOPE YOU CAN EXPLAIN THIS. THERE'S A VERY LARGE GAP BETWEEN THESE TWO SONARS AND WHEN AN OBJECT IS AT PRECISELY THIS ANGLE THE ROBOT HAS A LOT OF TROUBLE SENSING IT. LOOK AT THIS. THEY KEEP STANDING ON MY FOOT. WHAT IS HE DOING? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? Alda: AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN LOS ANGELES MAJA MATARIC AND BARRY WERGER ARE TRYING TO GET ROBOTS TO BEHAVE LIKE ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN SOCIAL GROUPS-- DUCKLINGS, FOR EXAMPLE. MY STATUS AS MOTHER DUCK IS CONFERRED BY THE ORANGE TUBE TAPED AROUND MY LEG. HE'S STILL SENSING ME, ISN'T HE? WHAT IS IT, THE LITTLE CAMERA ON TOP? Mataric: YES, THE CAMERA SEES YOUR LEG SEES THE ORANGE AND IT SAYS, "MOMMY, I'M LOST IN THE GRASS! " Alda: WHILE THE CAMERA IS LOOKING FOR ME THE SONAR ON EACH ROBOT IS CHECKING FOR OBSTACLES. WHAT'S AMAZING IS THAT WHILE THE PROGRAMS BARRY HAS WRITTEN FOR THE ROBOTS' COMPUTERS ARE VERY, VERY SIMPLE THE ROBOTS' BEHAVIOR IS ANYTHING BUT. HE WENT AROUND THE TREE AND FOUND ME AGAIN. THIS IS REALLY GOOD. IS HE TUNED IN PRIMARILY TO THE CAMERA SO HE'S TRYING TO FIND THE CAMERA? THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ROBOT THAT'S TRYING TO FIND YOUR LEG IS COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT FROM THE PART THAT'S TRYING TO AVOID THE OBSTACLES. THEY BATTLE IT OUT INSIDE THE ROBOT'S BRAIN TO DECIDE WHO'S GOING TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE ROBOT. SO THE PRIORITY ALWAYS GOES TO THE OBSTACLE BECAUSE THAT'S THE DANGER. WHEN SOMETHING IS IN ITS WAY IT ALWAYS DOES WHAT IT TAKES TO NOT HIT SOMETHING. AND THEN, IF IT'S NOT ACTIVELY AVOIDING SOMETHING THEN IT GOES TOWARDS THE OBJECT OF DESIRE. YOU MIGHT ASK WHY WE DO IT THIS WAY. WHY DON'T WE JUST PUT ONE BIG PROGRAM THE WAY PEOPLE TRADITIONALLY USED TO DO IN ROBOTICS? AND THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT WE'RE BEING BIOLOGICALLY MOTIVATED. SO IN BIOLOGY, WE KNOW THAT THE BRAIN IS DISTRIBUTED AND THERE ARE COLLECTIONS OF DRIVES SOME VERY, VERY OLD DRIVES LIKE RUN AWAY FROM WHAT'S ATTACKING YOU OR GO FOLLOW THE MOTHER. THAT'S THE DRIVES WE'RE MODELING HERE. Alda: MANY LIVING THINGS ACT COLLECTIVELY COOPERATING TO ACHIEVE TASKS LIKE GETTING FOOD. IN THIS EXPERIMENT, MAJA AND HER STUDENTS STUDY DIFFERENT WAYS A GROUP OF ROBOTS CAN COLLABORATE TO GATHER UP HOCKEY PUCKS AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE. Mataric: THAT'S THE QUEEN BEE. SHE TAKES CARE OF JUST THE HOME REGION AND THEY TAKE CARE OF THE REST OF THE WORLD AND SEE, THEY'RE DOING A GOOD JOB. THERE'S ALMOST NOTHING LEFT. Alda: AGAIN, LIKE THE ROBOT DUCKLINGS THESE MECHANICAL BEES ARE FOLLOWING VERY SIMPLE RULES. ( crowd cheering ) AMONG HUMANS, SOCCER IS A GAME IN WHICH SIMPLE RULES AND BRILLIANT TECHNICAL SKILLS CAN COMBINE TO PRODUCE DAZZLING COMPLEXITY... AS IF THE TEAM SHARES ONE BIG MIND. Alda: THERE HE GOES, THERE HE GOES. Alda: A FEW YEARS AGO A SMALL GROUP OF ROBOT RESEARCHERS BEGAN ARGUING THAT GETTING ROBOTS TO PLAY SOCCER WOULD BE WHAT MAJA LIKES TO CALL "THE GRAND CHALLENGE. " Mataric: IT WAS NOT AT ALL WIDELY ACCEPTED. PEOPLE SAID, "OH, THIS IS JUST FUN AND GAMES. "WHAT'S SOCCER? "BIG DEAL! YOU JUST MOVE AROUND AND KICK THE BALL. " TURNS OUT IT'S REALLY, REALLY HARD FOR TWO REASONS BECAUSE AT THE LOW LEVEL YOU HAVE TO FIND THE BALL, KICK THE BALL-- YOU KNOW, SURVIVE-- AT A VERY, VERY FAST CLIP. THAT'S VERY HARD SO ROBOTICS CANNOT DO THAT YET. AND THEN ON ANOTHER LEVEL YOU HAVE TO HAVE STRATEGY. YOU HAVE TO INTERACT WITH YOUR TEAM FIGURE OUT WHO SHOULD DO WHAT. Woman: OH, THERE WE GO! ( Alda laughing ) Alda: SPEED AND STRATEGY-- THOSE ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS IN ROBOT SOCCER. AND FEW GROUPS HAVE DONE MORE TO ACHIEVE THEM THAN THE RESEARCH TEAM AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY IN PITTSBURGH HEADED BY ANOTHER OF THE ORIGINATORS OF ROBOT SOCCER MANUELA VELOSO. SHOOT AGAIN, SHOOT! Alda: ONE OF THE STARS OF C. M. UNITED IS THEIR GOALIE. TRYING TO BEAT IT GIVES ME THE CHANCE TO LEARN SOME OF THE SECRETS OF THE TEAM'S SUCCESS. HOW IS THIS WORKING? DOES THAT LITTLE GUY HAVE EYES IN HIS HEAD SOMEHOW? NO, THAT ACTUALLY... THE ROBOT DOES NOT HAVE ANY EYES. THERE IS A CAMERA THAT IS OVERHEAD AND SEES THE WHOLE FIELD. Alda: FROM THE VIDEO IMAGE A COMPUTER EXTRACTS THE POSITION OF THE BALL AND ANY ROBOTS ON THE FIELD. IT THEN PREDICTS FROM THE MOVEMENT OF THE BALL ITS CURRENT DIRECTION AND SPEED--- INDICATED BY THE LENGTH OF THE LINE. THE COMPUTER DOES THIS 30 TIMES A SECOND-- FAST ENOUGH TO COPE WITH ALL BUT THE SPEEDIEST SHOTS. THERE YOU GO! I WENT TOO FAST. VISION'S FINE. Alda: BEHIND THE SCENES, PETER STONE'S RUNNING THE VISION SYSTEM WHILE MIKE BOWLING'S LAPTOP IS SENDING WIRELESS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ROBOTS ON THE FIELD. BUT DURING COMPETITION, IT'S HANDS OFF. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED BY THE TERMS OF THE COMPETITION TO GIVE IT ANY DIRECTIONS FROM A HUMAN DURING THE GAME? YES, WE CANNOT GIVE ANY DIRECTIONS. IT ALL HAS TO BE DONE BEFOREHAND AS YOU DESIGN THE SOFTWARE. RIGHT. AND THE CHALLENGE IS THAT THE DOMAIN, THE TASK, IS VERY UNCERTAIN. SO WE HAVE TO, UP FRONT, PROGRAM-- OR MAKE THE ROBOTS THINK ABOUT-- A VERY, VERY LARGE NUMBER OF SITUATIONS. ( Alda chuckling ) Alda: ONE OF THE THINGS THE ROBOTS THINK ABOUT IS WHEN AND WHERE TO PASS. Veloso: THIS IS A PASS. Alda: YEAH, YEAH. THAT WAS A REAL PASS. IT'S ACTUALLY TRYING TO PREDICT WHERE THE BALL IS GOING TO BE. SO IT NEEDS TO THINK ABOUT WHERE IS THE BEST POINT WHERE IT SHOULD INTERCEPT THE BALL. DOES THAT HELP YOU TO ACTUALLY THINK OF THEM AS THINKING AND BEING CONFUSED? BECAUSE IS THAT A REAL DESCRIPTION OF WHAT'S HAPPENING, DO YOU THINK? WE WANT TO BUILD ROBOTS, BUT WE ARE HUMANS, RIGHT? SO WE CAN ONLY BUILD THEM AT THE... SIMILAR TO HOW WE THINK OURSELVES. SO THAT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, FORMATIONS CAME ABOUT ROLES COME ABOUT, YOU KNOW, STRATEGY COMES ABOUT IS THINKING HOW WOULD YOU DO? Alda: FOR INSTANCE IF YOU'RE A DEFENDER FACED WITH TWO ATTACKERS WHEN AND HOW WOULD YOU CLEAR THE BALL? THE C.M.U. DEFENDER IS PROGRAMMED TO CHECK THE GAP BETWEEN THE ATTACKERS TO MAKE SURE IT'S WIDE ENOUGH BEFORE KICKING THE BALL BETWEEN THEM. IF THE ATTACKERS ARE TOO CLOSE THE DEFENDER CLEARS THE BALL TO THE SIDE. WITH FOUR MONTHS TO GO BEFORE THE ROBOT SOCCER CONTEST THE C. M. UNITED TEAM IS IN GOOD SPIRITS. NOW, IT'S UP TO THE ATTACKERS TO GET THE BALL BACK. THERE'S A PASS! PERF... AHH. YOU'RE NOT... SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT! Alda: EVEN DURING PRACTICE SCRIMMAGES, MANUELA FINDS IT HARD TO CONTAIN HER COMPETITIVE INSTINCTS. LOOK, YOU DESIGNED THIS. YOU... HOW CAN YOU BE TALKING TO IT AS IF IT COULD UNDERSTAND YOU-- "SHOOT, SHOOT, GO, GO"? I DON'T KNOW! ( laughing ) OH! OH! Alda: C. M. UNITED'S SPEED AND STRATEGY HAVE ALREADY WON PAST ROBOT SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS. BUT IN THIS YEAR'S CONTEST, TO BE HELD IN STOCKHOLM THEY'LL BE UP AGAINST SOME FORMIDABLE OPPONENTS. Alda: DO YOU THINK YOU'LL WIN IN STOCKHOLM THIS YEAR? SO LET ME TELL YOU. I MEAN, PROBABLY WE WILL. I'M NOT SURE. BUT IF I ASK MIKE AND SORIN AND HUAN AND PETER... WE WIN. SORIN SAYS WE ARE GOING TO WIN. I ALWAYS THINK WE ARE GOING TO WIN, SO... WE DID TWO TIMES... YOU ALWAYS DO, RIGHT? Alda: STOCKHOLM IN AUGUST. OUTSIDE, THE TEMPERATURE IS IN THE 80s. Referee: THREE, TWO, ONE... ( blows whistle ) Alda: INSIDE, IT'S EVEN HOTTER AS TEAMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD COMPETE BEFORE AN AUDIENCE OF COMPUTER SCIENTISTS IN ROBOCUP '99. IT'S THE QUARTERFINALS-- A MATCH BETWEEN A TEAM FROM SINGAPORE AND ONE FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY, AND CORNELL STRIKES FIRST. OH, YES! ( cheering ) Referee: THREE, TWO, ONE... ( blows whistle ) Alda: ALONG WITH C. M. UNITED CORNELL'S TEAM, BIG RED, IS A FAVORITE TO WIN. FAST AND STRONG ITS ROBOTS CAN PLAY DIFFERENT ROLES AT DIFFERENT TIMES. THIS IS A VERY GOOD ROLE FOR US. IT'S CALLED "CORNER SHOOT. " IF WE HAVE THE BALL IN THE CORNER AND WE NOTICE THAT THE GOALIE IS SLIGHTLY OUT IN THE FIELD WE JUST DO A QUICK SPIN HOPING TO PUT IT ACROSS THE CREASE AND THAT EITHER ONE OF OUR PLAYERS RUSHES IN OR THAT IT ACCIDENTALLY GOES OFF THEIR PLAYER WHICH IS WHAT HAPPENED. THREE, TWO, ONE... ( blows whistle ) D'Andrea: IT'S ALL BASED ON THE POSITION OF THE PLAYERS AND THE POSITION OF THE BALL. WE HAVE ANOTHER ROLE CALLED "JAM AND SHOOT. " IF IT SEES THE BALL AND THERE IS NO OPPONENT NEARBY AND THERE'S A CLEAR LINE TO THE NET IT JUST RUSHES IT AND GOES FOR THE NET. ( whistle blows ) ( onlookers groan ) Alda: SORIN ACHIM FROM C. M.U. WATCHES ANXIOUSLY AS SINGAPORE'S ONLY GOAL COMES FROM A PENALTY... ( applause ) AND CORNELL SWEEPS ON TO A CONVINCING WIN. ALSO WITNESSING THE VICTORY, BOTH AS COMPETITOR AND MENTOR IS C.M.U.'s MANUELA VELOSO. D'Andrea: WE, IN FACT, INVITED PROFESSOR VELOSO TO GIVE A TALK AT CORNELL BECAUSE THEY'RE RIGHT AT THE FOREFRONT OF A. I. RESEARCH AND WE WANTED PROFESSOR VELOSO TO TELL US WHAT STRATEGIES THEY TOOK AND WE BASED A LOT OF OUR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON WHAT THEY'VE DONE. SO WE DEFINITELY BORROWED FROM OUR COMPETITORS. I LOST MY CONFIDENCE. I GUESS IF WE GET TO THE FINAL AND PLAY AGAINST CORNELL WE NEED A LOT OF LUCK TO WIN. Alda: IN FACT, C. M. UNITED'S LUCK IS TO RUN OUT WELL BEFORE THE FINAL. ( whistle blows ) AFTER EASY WINS IN THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS C. M.U.'s ROBOTS, IN THEIR QUARTERFINAL MATCH SEEM HESITANT AND CONFUSED. Veloso: CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR NOW! Alda: AGAINST THE FAST AND AGGRESSIVE ROBOTS OF ANOTHER TEAM FROM SINGAPORE, LUCKY STAR THE C. M.U. TEAM IS GETTING LITERALLY PUSHED AROUND. Referee: CHARGING. YELLOW CARD FOR ROBOT NUMBER THREE. AND IT'S A FREE KICK FOR C. M.U. Alda: THIS PLAY SUMS UP THE MATCH. A PENALTY ATTEMPT BY C. M.U. TURNS INTO A BEAUTIFUL GOAL FOR LUCKY STAR... ( whistle, cheering ) WHO GOES ON TO CRUSH C. M. UNITED 8-0. VERY GOOD GAME, VERY GOOD GAME. WE ARE SAD. BUT IT'S SOMEHOW... WE DID NOT CHANGE ANY OF THE HARDWARE SO IT'S THE SAME ROBOTS OF '98. TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES EVERY YEAR. THEY CAME WITH ROBOTS MUCH FASTER THAN OURS AND DEFINITELY WE WERE STILL ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT STRATEGY AND NOT IN MAKING THE ROBOTS FASTER. SO... THEY JUST WON! Alda: NOW IT'S BIG RED'S TURN TO FACE LUCKY STAR IN THE FIRST SEMIFINAL. THIS IS THE FASTEST TEAM THAT WE'VE PLAYED AGAINST SO, UM, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN COPE WITH THEIR SPEED. ( whistle blows ) Alda: AND IT'S IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE A MATCH BETWEEN TWO SUPERBLY SKILLED TEAMS. D'Andrea: COME ON, COME ON, COME ON, COME ON! Crowd: OH! ( whistle blows ) Alda: CORNELL STRIKES FIRST-- AND MORE OFTEN. BIG RED'S ROBOTS MORE THAN HOLD THEIR OWN IN BOTH SPEED AND STRATEGY TO WIN THE FIRST SEMIFINAL 6-2. ( whistle blows ) ( applause ) Alda: IN THE OTHER SEMIFINAL A TEAM OF JUST THREE AMAZINGLY SPEEDY AND MANEUVERABLE ROBOTS FROM KOREA FACES THE STOLID BUT POWERFUL MACHINES OF THE "FOOFIGHTERS" FROM THE FREE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN. THE FOOFIGHTERS' WEAPON IS A DEVASTATING KICK... Crowd: WHOA! Alda: DELIVERED BY ROTATING PADDLES AT THE FRONT OF EACH ROBOT. THEIR SHOOTING SKILLS WIN THE GAME... ( whistle, applause, cheering ) AND CAUSE THE CORNELL TEAM TO MAKE SOME LAST-MINUTE ADJUSTMENTS BEFORE THE FINAL. D'Andrea: WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE ALWAYS MADE SURE THAT WE POSITION OUR MID-FIELDER ALWAYS BETWEEN THE BALL AND THE GOAL AT A SLIGHT OFFSET AND THE GOALIE WILL TAKE UP THE REST. ( whistle blows ) ( cheering ) Alda: THE PLAN SUCCEEDS BRILLIANTLY. THREE, TWO, ONE... ( blows whistle ) Alda: BIG RED'S DEFENSE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO STOP THE POWERFUL SHOTS OF THE FOOFIGHTERS AND CORNELL'S ATTACKING GAME IS RELENTLESS. ( onlookers groaning ) ( whistle, cheering ) ( whistle ) ( whistle, cheering ) FINAL SCORE: 15-0. Veloso ( over microphone ): AND THE FIRST PRIZE IS FOR BIG RED FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY, U. S.A. WHO ONLY SUFFERED TWO GOALS DURING THE WHOLE TOURNAMENT. MY MOST HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS! Alda: CORNELL'S WIN WAS IN ONE OF NO LESS THAN FOUR DIFFERENT ROBOT CATEGORIES AT ROBOCUP '99. IN A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME ONE OF THE OTHER CATEGORIES WAS FOR TEAMS OF FOUR-LEGGED ROBOTS. THE ROBOT DOGS ARE VERY OBVIOUSLY BEGINNERS. BUT LIKE ALL THE OTHER ROBOTS IN THE CONTESTS THEY'RE ON THEIR OWN ONCE PLAY BEGINS. ALL THEIR PROGRAMMERS CAN DO IS CHEER THEM ON. GO BLUE! Alda: FOR MANUELA VELOSO AND HER COLLEAGUES IN ROBOTICS RESEARCH THE CHALLENGE OF CREATING ROBOT TEAMS GOES FAR BEYOND THE SOCCER FIELD. ( applause ) THEIR GOAL IS TEAMS OF AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS COOPERATING ON COMPLEX TASKS LIKE SEARCH-AND-RESCUE MISSIONS OR BUILDING SPACE STATIONS... EVEN CLEANING HOUSE. MEANWHILE, THE ROBOCUP ORGANIZERS HAVE THEIR OWN DREAM: A TEAM OF HUMANOID ROBOTS TAKING THE FIELD AGAINST THE WINNERS OF THE SOCCER WORLD CUP IN THE YEAR 2050. COME VISIT US ONLINE. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN FRONTIERS CAN BE FOUND ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT THE ADDRESS ON YOUR SCREEN. THIS LABORATORY MOUSE HAS LIVED MUCH LONGER THAN NORMAL.

				Roboflyers Students compete to build a flying machine capable of autonomous flight.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: IT'S A CONTEST BETWEEN FLYING ROBOTS. HERE'S THE TASK. WITH NO ONE AT THE CONTROLS, EACH ROBOT MUST TAKE OFF FROM ONE CORNER OF A 60- x 120-FOOT FIELD THEN FIND AND FLY TO A RING CONTAINING SIX METAL DISKS. STILL WITHOUT HUMAN CONTROL IT MUST PICK UP THE DISKS, ONE AT A TIME AND CARRY THEM OVER A THREE-FOOT BARRIER TO A SECOND RING, WHERE THE DISKS ARE DEPOSITED. IN FIVE YEARS OF COMPETITION NO ROBOT HAS EVEN COME CLOSE TO COMPLETING THE MISSION. FIRST ON THE FIELD THIS YEAR IS A BLIMP FROM THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN, GERMANY. Alda: HAVE YOU TRIED THIS OUT ON A FIELD BACK HOME? YEAH, BUT INSIDE. YEAH, IT'S WORKING VERY WELL INSIDE. WE STILL HAVE SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE WIND. Alda: LIKE ALL THE ROBOTS HERE, ONCE IT STARTS, IT'S ON ITS OWN. OKAY, NOW WE ARE AUTONOMOUS. WE ARE AUTONOMOUS. Alda: AND AT ONCE THE BERLIN BLIMP DEMONSTRATES WHY THE CONTEST IS SO DIFFICULT-- ESPECIALLY FOR BLIMPS. ITS SIX BATTERY-POWERED PROPELLERS TRY HARD TO STEER IT TOWARD THE RING BUT THE GENTLE DAWN BREEZE WAFTS IT AWAY. Alda: HAS IT LOST CONTROL-- DO YOU THINK IT'S...? NO, NOT COMPLETELY. Alda: AS MARION DASHED OFF TO HELP RESCUE HER BALLOON I SOUGHT OUT THE CONTEST ORGANIZER, ROB MICHELSON. Alda: WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED THERE? THEY HAD THE PROPS GOING AS HARD AS THEY COULD DOWN, AND THEY CAUGHT IT BEFORE IT HIT THE POWER LINES. BUT THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH A BLIMP. Alda: TAKING A RADICALLY DIFFERENT TACK IS THE NEXT ROBOT. THIS IS THE FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON HAS ENTERED WHAT AMOUNTS TO A FLYING PROPELLER. JUST FROM YOUR PREVIOUS YEARS' EXPERIENCE WHAT'S IT LIKE ONCE YOU THROW THE SWITCH AND THE THING STARTS TO GO ON ITS OWN? ALL THE WORK YOU PUT INTO IT MATTERS BUT YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING AT THAT POINT. THIS YEAR, DIFFERENT FROM THE PREVIOUS YEARS I'M REALLY, REALLY NERVOUS BECAUSE THIS IS THE CLOSEST WE'VE EVER BEEN. ( loud buzzing ) Alda: THE FIRST YEAR OF THE CONTEST THE TEXAS TAILSITTER WAS ONE OF THE FEW MACHINES EVEN TO GET OFF THE GROUND-- BRIEFLY. LAST YEAR, AFTER THREE YEARS OF IMPROVING ITS CONTROL SYSTEMS THE TAILSITTER FLEW BEAUTIFULLY. THE PROBLEM WAS STILL THE LANDING. Judge: THE FIRST THING I NEED YOU TO SHOW ME IS HOW YOUR EMERGENCY SHUT-OFF WORKS. Alda: THIS YEAR THE JUDGES ARE TAKING NO CHANCES. HE WANTS TO SEE THE EMERGENCY SETUP FIRST THING. I WANT TO SEE THE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES, TOO. I'LL BE OVER HERE. Alda: WHAT HAD CAUGHT MY ATTENTION WAS WHAT LOOKED LIKE A GIANT INFLATABLE PIG. IT TURNED OUT TO BE ANOTHER BLIMP-- FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. ARE YOU ABOUT TO TAKE OFF FOR THE FIRST TIME NOW? WE WERE FLYING EARLIER. WE'RE GOING TO TRY A MANUAL FLIGHT JUST TO SEE THAT OUR SYSTEM IS WORKING WHICH IT ISN'T. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS? NO, WE HAVE... ENGINE TROUBLE. Alda: THE ENGINE GOT FIXED, BUT THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM INVOLVING A VIDEO CAMERA WATCHING THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE BLACK SPOTS GOT CONFUSED BY A GLINT OF SUNLIGHT AND THE CANADIAN ROBOT WALTZED OFF THE FIELD. MEANWHILE, LAST YEAR'S BEST PERFORMER-- A HELICOPTER FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-- WAS ALSO HAVING A BAD MORNING. Man: WE CRASHED LAST NIGHT ABOUT 4:00 IN THE MORNING. IT WAS FLYING GREAT, THINGS WERE LOOKING GOOD. WE COULD HAVE REPEATED AS CHAMPS. WE CRASHED, AND SOMETHING MECHANICALLY IS WRONG WITH THE CRAFT-- IT'S NOT FUNCTIONING RIGHT. Alda: DESPITE IMPROVISED REPAIRS AND LAST-MINUTE ADJUSTMENTS THE U.S.C. COPTER SIMPLY COULDN'T GET OFF THE GROUND. AAAAGH! MAN! Man: YOU LOOK AND THINK "GEEZ! " YOU PICK UP A DISK, AND CARRY IT ACROSS THE BARRIER. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? BUT WHAT'S VERY EASY FOR HUMANS IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT FOR ROBOTS. YOU HAVE SENSING PROBLEMS. YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH DISTURBANCES SUCH AS WIND AND IT'S NOT A VERY TRIVIAL PROBLEM AT ALL. IT SHOWS HOW FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTIVE HUMANS ARE. Alda: I REALLY LIKED THIS LITTLE DEVICE DESIGNED TO PICK UP THE DISKS WHEN DANGLING FROM ITS HELICOPTER. Alda: WHOA! ... AND PICK HIM UP. THAT WORKS REALLY SMOOTHLY. Alda: THE PROBLEM WAS, IT WASN'T QUITE SO SMOOTH ONCE ITS HELICOPTER WAS CARRYING IT. BUT NOW THE TEXAS TAILSITTER WAS TAKING OFF GUIDED BY SCANNING LASER BEAMS. ( buzzing loudly ) IT SEEMED TO BE FLYING VERY NICELY BUT IT MADE NO ATTEMPT TO GO PICK UP ANY DISKS. EVERYONE SEEMED VERY PLEASED WHEN IT LANDED WITHOUT TOPPLING OVER. I WAS A BIT PUZZLED BY ALL THE EXCITEMENT. WHAT HAPPENED? THAT WAS... THAT WAS A COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT AND WE TOOK OFF, HOVERED AND LANDED COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUSLY. Man: THAT'S WORLD HISTORY FOR THIS COMPETITION. THAT'S THE FIRST TIME THAT'S EVER BEEN DONE. WE'RE PUMPED NOW; THE NEXT STEP IS A DISK. Alda: BUT NOW STANFORD UNIVERSITY WAS TAKING THE FIELD. THESE GUYS LOOKED LIKE PROS-- WITH A NAVIGATION SYSTEM TO PROVE IT EMPLOYING THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT'S GLOBAL POSITIONING SATELLITE SYSTEM. WHAT IS THAT THING OVER THERE? THAT IS A G. P.S. ANTENNA. THAT IS OUR GROUND STATION. THAT G. P.S. ANTENNA SEES SATELLITES IN THE SKY AND WE BASICALLY FLY TO THAT REFERENCE STATION. WE HAVE FOUR OF THOSE LITTLE ANTENNA ON BOARD THE HELICOPTER AND WITH THIS NEW G. P.S. TECHNOLOGY WE'RE ABLE TO TELL YOU WHERE EACH ONE OF THESE LITTLE ANTENNA IS TO WITHIN A CENTIMETER. A CENTIMETER! A CENTIMETER. Alda: ONCE THE HELICOPTER LOCKED ONTO THE SATELLITE... THE FLASHING RED LIGHTS MEANS THAT EVERYTHING'S WORKING. Alda: THE STANFORD ROBOT TOOK OFF WITHOUT A HITCH. THIS IS FLYING UNDER COMPLETE COMPUTER CONTROL RIGHT NOW. Alda: UNLIKE THE OTHER TEAMS IT DIDN'T BOTHER WITH PRELIMINARIES. Alda: ARE YOU JUST GOING FOR AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT? NO, WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO PICK UP A DISK. WE'RE FLYING THE WHOLE TRAJECTORY. Alda: TO PICK UP A DISK, THE MACHINE SIMPLY TRAWLS WITH A MAGNET. Men: WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Man: WE'RE CLOSE-- HE GOES INTO A SEARCH PATTERN SO THERE'D BE RANDOM MOTION HERE WHERE WE'LL TRY TO DRAG IT AROUND HOPING THAT WE'LL BUMP ONTO A DISK. Alda: IT LOOKED TO ME AS IF THE HELICOPTER WAS FLYING TOO LOW TO DRAG THE MAGNET AROUND THE WHOLE CIRCLE. I FOUND MYSELF MAKING AN ACUTE OBSERVATION. THE PROBLEM IS YOU NEED TO SHORTEN THE STRING. HIGH-TECH SOLUTION-- MAKE THE STRING A LITTLE SHORTER. OH, THEY GOT ONE! Alda: THE ROBOT FINALLY GOT A DISK BUT THEN IT PICKED UP ANOTHER ONE AND THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES. BUT THE STANFORD TEAM STILL HAD PLENTY OF TIME. FOR THE TEXAS TEAM, THOUGH, TIME WAS RUNNING OUT. AND THEIR TAILSITTER WAS HEADING THE WRONG WAY. FOUR MINUTES, GUYS. THINK QUICKLY. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO COME UP WITH? WE'RE TRYING TO ADJUST AS THE INSTRUMENTS WARM UP. Alda: BUT THE DRIFT PROBLEM AFFECTING THE TAILSITTER PROVED UNFIXABLE. AT LEAST THIS YEAR THE TEXAS ROBOT DIDN'T SCATTER ITSELF ACROSS THE FIELD. Alda: THE GERMAN TEAM WAS ALSO COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE. YOU GOT UP JUST BARELY. YOU HAVE TO BE UP OFF THE GROUND BEFORE YOU LEAVE THAT SQUARE, HUH? YES. Alda: SAILING SERENELY AND AUTONOMOUSLY THE BLIMP HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION... OH, IT'S CLOSE, IT'S CLOSE! LOOK AT THIS, LOOK AT THIS! Alda: ONLY TO OVERSHOOT. Alda: IF IT JUST GETS A LITTLE CALM AIR IT MIGHT BE ABLE TO SETTLE INTO THAT... OH, NO-- OUTSIDE. OKAY-- SO WE HAVE TO PUT IT AGAIN. Alda: 45 SECONDS LEFT-- WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT! Alda: THE BLIMP HAD BEGUN ITS DAY BATTLING THE BREEZES. Man: 20 SECONDS! 20 SECONDS. Alda: AND IT WAS THE BREEZE THAT FINALLY DEFEATED IT. I THINK ONE COULD SEE THAT WE COULD MANAGE WITH A LITTLE LUCK AND WITH LESS WIND. YEAH-- CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU. Man: ALL RIGHT, DAVE-- TRY IT. Alda: ANOTHER BLIMP WAS HAVING SIMILAR PROBLEMS. BUT THIS ONE-- WITH A DISTINCTLY HOMEMADE LOOK-- TURNED OUT TO BE THE WORK NOT OF A COLLEGE TEAM BUT OF STUDENTS FROM THE THOMAS WOOTEN HIGH SCHOOL IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND. WHEN YOU HAVE SCHOOL HOW MUCH TIME CAN YOU SPEND ON THIS? WE WOULD SPEND UNTIL MIDNIGHT. WE WOULD SPEND FIVE, SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON IT. AND, I MEAN THAT BAG, EVERYTHING HERE IS HOMEMADE. WE DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, BOUGHT. Man: GO THAT WAY! I'M GOING, I'M GOING. Alda: THE WIND IS TOO STRONG FOR YOU, HUH? YEAH, IT'S TOO STRONG. JUST A SLIGHT WIND THROWS EVERYTHING OFF FOR THE BLIMP, AT LEAST. THAT'S WHY A LOT OF THESE COLLEGES HAVE HELICOPTERS. THE OTHER TWO BLIMPS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS. Alda: UNDER DIRECT RADIO CONTROL THE HIGH SCHOOL BLIMP WASN'T EVEN TRYING TO FLY AUTONOMOUSLY. AH, YOU'RE IN, YOU'RE IN! NOW, OKAY. CONCENTRATION, PEOPLE. IT'S NOT WORKING, MR. BEST. Alda: BUT JUST BY BEING HERE AND FLYING THE THOMAS WOOTEN STUDENTS HAVE LED THE CONTEST ORGANIZERS TO CONSIDER A HIGH SCHOOL VERSION OF THE CONTEST IN THE FUTURE. MOTOR'S DEAD. Woman: WHAT? MOTOR'S DEAD. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? THE BIGGEST THING I'VE LEARNED IS THAT EVEN THOUGH WE'RE A HIGH SCHOOL TEAM WE CAN OVERCOME WHATEVER CHALLENGE WE NEED TO OVERCOME. IT'S AMAZING-- I CAME HERE THINKING "WOW, WE'RE OUT OF OUR LEAGUE. " AND COMING TO SEE THAT THEY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS WE DO IT'S, IT'S... IT'S KIND OF A RELIEF, YOU KNOW? YEAH, YEAH-- GIVES YOU CONFIDENCE. Alda: THE HIGH SCHOOLERS HAD DEVISED FROM A CYLINDER AND A MAGNET A CLEVER DEVICE FOR PICKING UP AND DROPPING THE DISKS-- A SYSTEM THAT MADE STANFORD'S METHOD LOOK PRIMITIVE. HOW MUCH SHOULD WE SHORTEN THE STRING? OH, ABOUT THAT MUCH. Alda: BUT NOW THAT THEY'D TAKEN MY ADVICE AND SHORTENED THEIR STRING, STANFORD TOOK OFF AGAIN. ( loud droning ) Man: HANDS OFF. Alda: OH, YOU GOT IT, YOU GOT IT! YOU'VE GOT IT. ( applause ) Man: OKAY, LET'S NOT GET ANOTHER ONE. Man: WHOA, WHOA! IF WE CAN JUST MOVE IT TO THE CENTER FENCE, WE GET POINTS. Alda: THE HELICOPTER, ALL ON ITS OWN, DID EVERYTHING IT COULD TO COMPLETE ITS MISSION. ALL RIGHT, THAT'S IT! Alda: BUT THE ONE THING ITS DESIGNERS DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO INCLUDE WAS A WAY TO DROP THE DISK ONCE IT HAD REACHED ITS TARGET. IRONICALLY, WHAT THEY'D PLANNED TO USE WAS A DEVICE USING A MAGNET AND A CYLINDER. USING THAT CYLINDER SEEMS TO BE THE WAY THE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM SOLVED THAT PROBLEM, TOO. IT'S ALMOST AN IDENTICAL SOLUTION. THEY'VE GOT A REAL NEAT LITTLE SYSTEM. IS THAT AS WELL AS THAT'S EVER BEEN DONE? THAT'S THE BEST IT'S EVER BEEN DONE IN THE HISTORY OF THE COMPETITION. IF THEY JUST HAD AN INTELLIGENT DEVICE TO LET GO OF THE DOGGONE THING THEY WOULD HAVE TOTALLY COMPLETED THE MISSION. Alda: IN THE FINAL SCORES, THE TEXAS TAILSITTER TOOK THIRD PLACE. THE BERLIN BLIMP WAS SECOND. AND THE STANFORD HELICOPTER-- SO CLOSE TO COMPLETING THE MISSION-- CAME IN FIRST. FIVE YEARS AGO, THE MISSION SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE. NEXT YEAR IT WILL PROBABLY BE ACHIEVED. AND IN THE FUTURE? Alda: DO YOU THINK 20 YEARS FROM NOW THERE WILL BE SOME AERIAL ROBOT THAT WILL BE... WORKING, AND DOING SOMETHING? WHAT DO YOU THINK IT'LL BE DOING? IT WILL PROBABLY BE DOING WHAT WE CALL "D-CUBED" WHICH IS DULL, DIRTY AND DANGEROUS JOBS. THE DULL JOBS ARE JOBS WHERE YOU GO OUT AND INSPECT THINGS FOR HOURS ON END. THEY'RE VERY EXPENSIVE TO PUT A MAN IN A HELICOPTER TO GO LOOK FOR BEETLE DAMAGE IN PINE TREES. BUT YOU CAN SEND ONE OF THESE VEHICLES OUT AND LET IT FLY ALL DAY LONG TAKING DATA, LOOKING FOR DEAD PINE TREES. THE DIRTY PART HAS TO DO WITH GOING INTO PLACES WHERE YOU DON'T WANT TO SEND A MAN-- SAY INTO AN AREA LIKE THREE MILE ISLAND OR CHERNOBYL TO GET AIR SAMPLES. OR TO RESCUE SOMEBODY. OR TO RESCUE SOMEONE. SO "DULL, DIRTY AND DANGEROUS" I THINK EMBODIES THE KIND OF MISSIONS THAT WE'LL SEE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES DOING IN THE FUTURE. PRESENTATION OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN FRONTIERS

				Mazes and Squiggles The world’s best robots compete to navigate mazes and chase after tennis balls, to test out the latest artificial intelligence programs.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: Robot: I am looking for tennis balls. Alda: WE'RE ON THE TRACK OF ROBOTS WITH A MIND OF THEIR OWN. WHY DID HE STAY IN WITH IT? IN CASE IT GOES WILD. WHAT, WAS IT LIABLE TO ATTACK US? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Alda: AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONVENTION IN PORTLAND, OREGON, ROBOTS ARE COMPETING TO SHOW HOW THEY CAN RECOGNIZE AND MANIPULATE THINGS AND HOW THEY CAN FIND THEIR WAY IN A MAZE OF CORRIDORS AND ROOMS. IT'S A FORUM FOR SOME OF THE WORLD'S TOP ROBOT SCIENTISTS TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN DO. HERE WE ARE AT THE PRELIMINARIES OF THE MAZE CONTEST. ( faint beeping and static ) I have arrived at conference room one. Alda: THINGS ARE ALREADY GETTING TENSE. IT'S DOING BETTER THAN I AM. I FEEL LIKE I'M ABOUT TO PASS OUT. If there is someone here they are probably pacing up and down giving a talk. This room is occupied, excuse me for interrupting your meeting. Alda: IN THE MAZE CONTEST ROBOTS HAVE TO START IN THE DIRECTOR'S OFFICE FIND WHICH ONE OF TWO CONFERENCE ROOMS IS EMPTY SET A MEETING TIME, INVITE TWO PROFESSORS TO IT AND THEN RETURN TO SUMMON THE DIRECTOR EXACTLY ONE MINUTE BEFORE THE MEETING. THE ROBOTS ARE GIVEN THE ROUGH LAYOUT BUT NOT THE EXACT SIZES. THEY'VE GOT TO FIND ROOMS AND DOORWAYS FOR THEMSELVES AND WATCH OUT FOR THE FOYER-- A NOTORIOUS TRAP. IN THE PRELIMINARIES, THE FOYER WAS AMELIA'S DOWNFALL SHE THOUGHT IT WAS A ROOM AND GOT STUCK. THE TEAM WILL WORK ON IT TONIGHT. ONE MORE CHANCE. Alda: MOST ENTRIES ARE SINGLE ROBOTS BUT IN THIS INNOVATIVE APPROACH, TWO SMALL ROBOTS FIND THE ROOMS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A CENTRAL PLANNING COMPUTER. THEY USE A SYSTEM LIKE THE INTERNET TO TALK TO EACH OTHER-- AT LEAST THAT'S THE THEORY. D. D.A., IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HE'S GOT THE RIGHT PLAN HERE AT ALL. IT'S JUST MORE THAN TWICE AS HARD TO DO TWO ROBOTS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO COORDINATE THEM AND COMMUNICATE BETWEEN THEM. BUT IT'S PUSHING US. Alda: NOW THE FINALS. EARLY ON, THE PACE IS SET BY KANSAS STATE. I am inside the room I am now going to search for people in the room. Alda: THROUGHOUT THE CONTEST, THE JUDGES WILL DEMONSTRATE THAT CONFERENCE ROOM ONE IS BUSY. Exiting the room, going through the door. HOW DID HE KNOW THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE IN HERE? THIS IS ONE OF THE TEAMS USING THE CAMERA TO FOLLOW MOTION. IN SUCCESSIVE FRAMES OF THE CAMERA THEY'LL SEE A CHANGE AND DETECT SOMEBODY MOVING IN THE ROOM. Alda: ROWS OF SONAR RANGE FINDERS ARE USED BY ALL THE ROBOTS TO SENSE THEIR SURROUNDINGS. NOT HITTING OBSTACLES IS A CONTEST REQUIREMENT. STOP, STOP. WHAT IF IT HADN'T STOPPED? THAT WAS INTERESTING. HE CAME VERY CLOSE. Alda: KANSAS STATE BREEZES THROUGH THE FOYER, FINDS CONFERENCE ROOM TWO SETS UP THE MEETING TIME AND ALERTS THE PROFESSORS. The meeting will be in conference room two. The meeting will be held two minutes and 31 seconds two minutes, 31 seconds. I am now headed for the director's office. Alda: THE FINAL ARRIVAL IS PERFECTLY TIMED. Excuse me, director, the meeting will be in conference room two. The meeting is in one minute. THEY HAVE THE FASTEST TIME OF ANY ONE ROBOT ENTERED-- NINE MINUTES AND 25 SECONDS-- AND THEY HAVE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE POINTS-- 295 POINTS SO GIVE THEM A LARGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE. Alda: THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THIS SCORE IS WITH SPEED. THERE'S A 50-POINT BONUS FOR THE FASTEST ROUND. ON YODA, THE CAMERAS ARE NOT WORKING. ( woman's voice ): Conference room one-- ( child's voice ): the next landmark after moving. ( with accent ): Found the landmark. ( Alda giggling ) THIS ROBOT HAS MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER-- EVERY TIME IT TALKS, IT'S GOT A DIFFERENT VOICE. Is there anybody in the room? Please come and get some M & M's. Alda: TO DETECT MOTION YODA HAS TO ENTICE PEOPLE WITHIN RANGE OF HIS SONAR. Thank you. OH, THANK YOU. ( all laughing ) SO FAR, THIS IS MY PERSONAL FAVORITE. Alda: YODA ALSO MAKES A FLAWLESS ROUND. Director, the meeting starts in one minute. Alda: PERFECT TIMING, TOO BUT YODA TOOK TWICE AS LONG AS KANSAS STATE. S. R.I.'s MULTI-ROBOT STRATEGY HAS THE GREATEST SPEED POTENTIAL SIMPLY BECAUSE TWO TRAVELING ROBOTS CAN GET DONE IN HALF THE TIME. BLUE MOVES OUT TO CHECK CONFERENCE ROOM ONE WHILE RED HEADS IMMEDIATELY TO CONFERENCE ROOM TWO. Alda: HE'S PASSING RIGHT BY THE... OH, NO, HE SAW THE DOORWAY. Alda: S. R.I. IS PREPARED TO TAKE A TEN-POINT PENALTY FOR DEMANDING RED SHORTS ON THE JUDGE. IT'S EASIER FOR THE CAMERA TO DETECT. WAS HE TOLD BEFOREHAND TO FIRST GO TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM AND THEN THE PROFESSOR'S ROOM? HE WAS TOLD TO GO TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM AND CHECK IT AND THEN CHECK BACK AND SEE WHAT TO DO NEXT. Alda: AT THE SAME TIME RED WAS DISCOVERING THAT CONFERENCE ROOM TWO WAS FREE. BOTH ROBOTS NOW TALK TO THE CENTRAL COMPUTER WHICH SETS THE MEETING TIME AND SENDS EACH ROBOT TO A DIFFERENT PROFESSOR'S OFFICE. NOBODY GETS LOST AND THE TOTAL TIME IS LESS THAN HALF OF KANSAS STATE'S. IT'S OVER NOW-- THEY DID IT, HUH? AND THE TIME IS INCREDIBLE. THAT'S AMAZING. Alda: POOR OLD AMELIA IS OFF TO A BAD START. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, JUST GO BACK AND RESTART. WHAT HAPPENED THERE? ONE OF THE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS CRASHED-- SOMETHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED TO US BEFORE. IS THAT IT NOW? ARE YOU... WELL, WE'RE GOING TO RESTART. HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU ALLOWED TO RESTART? I THINK AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT BUT YOU GET POINTS DEDUCTED EACH TIME YOU RESTART AND THIS IS A FAIRLY MAJOR HIT. Alda: ONCE RESTARTED, AMELIA IS FINE AT THE FIRST CONFERENCE ROOM AND SHE HEADS ACROSS THE DREADED FOYER. IT LOOKS LIKE THE SAME PROBLEM AS IN THE PRELIMINARIES BUT WITH OVERNIGHT SOFTWARE CHANGES AMELIA CAN NOW RECOVER IF SHE GETS LOST. Alda: AMELIA, COME BACK. AMELIA IS HEADSTRONG HERE. COME BACK, YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR. Alda: SHE GETS OUT OF THE FOYER AND SLOWLY FIGURES OUT WHERE SHE IS. Alda: TURN LEFT. AHHH. THAT PROCESS WAS REALLY FASCINATING. I MEAN, THAT WAS LIKE THINKING PRACTICALLY. Alda: BUT IT'S ALL TOO MUCH FOR AMELIA. SHE CRASHES FOR THE SECOND AND LAST TIME. WITH THEIR TIME BONUS S. R.I.'s MULTIPLE ROBOTS CAME FIRST BUT THAT'S NOT REALLY THE POINT. PUSHING THE STATE OF THE ART IS WHAT COUNTS AND BY THAT MEASURE, EVERYBODY WON. IT'S HARD TO SAY WHERE RESEARCH LIKE THIS WILL LEAD BUT THIS CAN GIVE YOU AN IDEA. MANY MACHINES CAN BE HARD FOR PEOPLE TO HANDLE ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE NEW AT IT. I'M NOT TRYING TO DO THIS. I SWEAR, I REALLY... I'M NOT TRYING TO CRASH. ( laughing ) ( groans in exasperation ) Alda: NOW LOOK AT THIS-- SAME WHEELCHAIR BUT WITH A ROBOT NAVIGATOR ADDED. IT WON'T LET ME RACE AS FAST AS I WENT BEFORE. Man: RIGHT, WELL, PART OF IT IS THAT THIS IS A CROWDED ENVIRONMENT AND IT... IT REDUCES THE SPEED IN PROPORTION TO HOW CROWDED ITS SURROUNDINGS ARE. Alda: YEAH, I'M DRIVING AS WILDLY AS I DID BEFORE BUT IT'S NOT LETTING ME. Alda: BASED DIRECTLY ON THE SYSTEMS IN THE CONTEST IT'S A FIRST GLIMPSE INTO A WORLD WITH ROBOTS WHERE HUMANS AND SMART MACHINES COOPERATE. FOR THE SECOND CONTEST IT'S ANOTHER DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE TASK-- FIND TEN TENNIS BALLS SPREAD AROUND THE COURT PICK THEM UP, PUT THEM IN THE CORNER. PRECISE BUT SLOW-MOVING MACHINES LIKE THIS WILL HAVE A HARD TIME BECAUSE THERE'S A TEN-MINUTE TIME LIMIT... PLUS A COUPLE OF MOVING SQUIGGLE BALLS FOR AN EXTRA BONUS. ( buzzing ) HAND-EYE COORDINATION IS AN INTELLIGENT THING AND IF YOU CAN GET THE ROBOTS TO DO THAT THEN WE'RE ADVANCING THE STATE OF THE ART. IT COULD PICK UP TRASH ON A CLUTTERED DESK OR MANEUVER AROUND VARIOUS OBJECTS ON YOUR DESK. SO IF YOU SAID, "WHILE YOU'RE AT IT CATCH MY TWO-YEAR-OLD"-- FORGET IT. Alda: SMALL, AGILE ROBOTS ARE THE FAVORITES IN THIS CONTEST. HERE THE WALLEYE TEAM HAS OPTED TO PAINT THE BALLS BLACK SO THEIR BLACK AND WHITE CAMERA CAN SEE THEM. THERE'S A 20-POINT PENALTY, THOUGH. Man: WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO CATCH THE GRIPPER ON THE WALLS. OKAY, THERE IT GOT IT. Alda: IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES, THE FIRST LOAD IS DELIVERED BUT THEN... UH, IT LOOKS LIKE IT JUST WENT DOWN. Alda: YOU JUST KNOW IT'S GOING TO CRASH AT THE WORST POSSIBLE MINUTE. RESTART AND THEN TRY AGAIN. ALL RIGHT, WE'RE READY TO START UP AGAIN. Alda: RIGHT OFF THE BAT THE WALLEYE TRAPS AND CAPTURES A MOVING SQUIGGLE BALL WORTH 50 POINTS... THEN ANOTHER CRASH. THIS NEVER HAPPENED IN PRACTICE SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON HERE. Alda: AT THE SECOND RESTART, THE TEAM LEAVES THE BALLS IN THE GRIPPERS BUT AFTER RESTARTING THE ROBOT THINKS IT HAS TO START LOOKING AGAIN. IT'S NOT SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW IT'S ALREADY LOADED UP. ( laughing ) THIS MACHINE IS A GLUTTON. Alda: AS IT GRABS ITS SIXTH BALL, IT FINALLY REACHES OVERLOAD AND STOPS FOR GOOD. THIS ROBOT IS BASED ON A POWERFUL CARRYING PLATFORM USED IN HOSPITALS. I am looking for tennis balls. Alda: IT EFFICIENTLY GATHERS TENNIS BALLS BUT IT'S TOO SLOW TO GET SQUIGGLE BALLS. IN A PIECE OF LUCK, IT RUNS INTO ONE BY ACCIDENT. THEN, AGAINST ALL ODDS THE SECOND SQUIGGLE BALL RUNS INTO THE COLLECTOR AS WELL. THAT'S THE SECOND ONE THAT JUST CRAWLED IN. ACCIDENT OR NOT, IT'S WORTH POINTS. Man: THEIR GATE IS SUCH THAT IT WON'T GET OUT. NEXT UP, A ROBOT USING A POWERFUL COMBINATION OF A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH PATTERN WITH A TV CAMERA BALL SPOTTER. AMAZINGLY, FIRST OFF THERE'S ANOTHER LUCKY SQUIGGLE ENCOUNTER. AND THEN YET ANOTHER. IT'S ANNOYING FOR THE TEAM, BECAUSE THEIR EFFICIENT MACHINE CAN TRACK AND CATCH SQUIGGLE BALLS ON ITS OWN. AND IT HAS A SPECIAL STRATEGY FOR THOSE HARD-TO-GET BALLS PLACED ALONG THE EDGE BY THE JUDGES. Man: THE STRATEGY NOW IS TO UNLOAD AND IT'S GOING TO DO THIS PERIODICALLY. Alda: IT'S AN ALMOST PERFECT SCORE. Alda: SO NOW IT'S GOING TO TRY TO FIND ANY MORE WITH THE SAME PATTERN? YEAH, BECAUSE THE TENNIS GAME COULD GO ON AND THERE COULD BE NEW BALLS. Alda: YOU MEAN YOU PICTURE SOMEBODY PLAYING TENNIS IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS WITH THIS THING ROAMING AROUND UNDER YOUR FEET? Alda: THEY SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST. Alda: ALL RIGHT, THERE IT GOES! Alda: AT LEAST THE MOST ENTERTAINING. Man: SO THE ROBOT, IN FACT, WITH ITS CAMERA CAN SEE ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE RINK. Alda: THIS LITTLE GUY REALLY SEEMS ALIVE. HELPED BY A SUPER-FAST COLOR VISION SYSTEM CHASING DOWN A SQUIGGLE BALL IT'S LIKE A CAT CHASING A MOUSE. ( crowd laughing ) ( cheering ) WHAT SEEMS LIKE A VICTORY DANCE IS ACTUALLY A QUICK SEARCH FOR THE DUMPING CORNER, NOW TOO FAR FOR THE ROBOT TO SEE. SO IT DECIDES TO FOLLOW THE WALL ALL THE WAY AROUND. Man: IT SPUN AROUND A BIT. IT WAS TRYING TO SEE THE GATE. Alda: AFTER DELIVERING THE FIRST SQUIGGLE BALL IT QUICKLY SPOTS ANOTHER. IT'S SINGLE-MINDED IGNORING A LOW-VALUE TENNIS BALL FOR THE BIGGER PRIZE. THAT'S SENSATIONAL! Alda: THE ROBOT MAKES QUICK WORK OF NINE OF THE TEN TENNIS BALLS ON THE COURT. Man: AND THOSE WILL ACTUALLY CATCH ON THE BAR. Alda: THEN IT'S FACED WITH A SERIOUS PROBLEM. THERE'S JUST ONE BALL LEFT BUT IT'S IN THE DEAD CENTER OF THE COURT JUST OUT OF RANGE OF THE ROBOT'S CAMERA-- A CAMERA THAT THE TEAM HAD TO ANGLE DOWNWARD TO AVOID THE GLARE OF THE CONVENTION HALL'S LIGHTS. ( crown groans ) Alda: OH, NO, IT'S GOING TO MISS IT NOW. Man: THE BALL IS EXACTLY WHERE IT HAS TO BE SO IT CAN'T BE SEEN BY THAT FIELD OF VIEW FROM AROUND THE WALLS. IT JUST HAPPENS TO BE JUST EXACTLY THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES TO BEAT THIS MACHINE. Alda: UNTIL, THAT IS, THE ROBOT TURNS IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT PLACE. OH, OH, OH, OH! ( wild applause ) Alda: IT WAS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, OR A. I. AS THE SCIENTISTS SAY BUT IT SURE SEEMED ALIVE. OH, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THESE ROBOTS. IT'S TRUE, YOU KNOW, WHEN THAT MACHINE CAUGHT THAT TENNIS BALL AT THE LAST SECOND WHEN I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS GOING TO GET IT AND IT DID IT, IT WAS LIKE ROCKY. I WAS CHEERING FOR IT. AND THE COMBINATION OF A. I. AND A MACHINE THAT ALMOST SEEMED TO HAVE A HUMAN WILL WAS EXCITING AND THAT ALONE CAN MAKE PEOPLE, I THINK WANT TO DO MORE IN BOTH THESE FIELDS. Alda: ROBOTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ARE THE TWO FRONTIERS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT'S GOT TO BE THE ROBOT PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE MOST FUN. ( applause and laughter ) HELLO, CYBOT. Would you like a drink? YES, PLEASE. ( laughs ) SO, UH, YOU HERE FOR THE WHOLE CONVENTION? Alda: I GUESS THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE STRANGEST THINGS I'VE EVER TAKEN A RIDE IN. NOBODY SEEMS TO BE IN CHARGE.

				Roboroach Cockroaches and crickets serve as blueprints for agile robots that may one day explore inhospitable regions of the Earth or other planets.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ABOUT TO MEET SOME CREATURES THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE LIFE BEGAN BUT HAVE BEEN HERE WAY TOO LONG FOR ME-- 300 MILLION YEARS, IN FACT, GIVE OR TAKE A MILLION OR TWO. OH, MY GOD! YOU GOT TO GET IN CLOSE. WAIT A MINUTE. OH, JEEZ, PUT IT BACK, PUT THE LID ON. WHOA, I BACKED INTO SOMETHING. THEY'RE ALL OVER THE PLACE. SO THIS IS BLABERUS GIGANTIUS. ( screams in disgust ) Alda: CONFIRMING MY OPINION OF COCKROACHES IN GENERAL THIS ONE IMMEDIATELY SETS ABOUT CLAWING THE HAND THAT FEEDS HIM. HE AND I WOULD BOTH FEEL BETTER IF YOU PUT HIM... DO YOU WANT TO PET HIM? DO I WANT TO PET HIM? NO. PUT HIM BACK AND YOU'LL MAKE US BOTH HAPPIER. YOU CAN'T GET RID OF HIM. WELL, THEY HAVE VERY EFFICIENT CLAWS THAT THEY ENGAGE JUST LIKE CAT'S CLAWS. WHILE WE DISCUSS THIS, COULD YOU PUT THE LID BACK? WELL, YOU LOOK REALLY HAPPY TO BE IN YOUR ELEMENT HERE. WHY ARE YOU STUDYING COCKROACHES LIKE THIS? COCKROACHES ARE INCREDIBLY GOOD LOCOMOTORY ANIMALS. THEY RUN, THEY JUMP, THEY TURN... I'VE NOTICED THAT! IF WE CAN GET A ROBOT TO WALK HALF AS WELL AS A COCKROACH, WE'LL HAVE THE BEST ROBOT IN THE WORLD. Alda: ROY RITZMANN ONCE STUDIED COCKROACHES SIMPLY OUT OF HIS MISPLACED ADMIRATION... THIS IS ROGER QUINN. HI, ROGER. Alda: BUT FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS HE'S BEEN WORKING WITH ENGINEER ROGER QUINN TO MAKE A GIANT ROACH ROBOT. YOU SEE IT'S VERY MUCH LIKE A COCKROACH. SO, WHAT? -- YOU PUT OUT A GIANT CRUMB OF COFFEE CAKE AND IT MOVES, OR WHAT? I WISH IT WAS THAT SIMPLE. ( mechanical buzzing ) OH, WHAT... WHAT'S HAPPENING? IF YOU WANTED TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT WAS LIKE A COCKROACH YOU SUCCEEDED. YOU SCARED ME JUST AS MUCH AS THE REAL COCKROACH DID. WELL, AT LEAST IT DIDN'T BITE YET. Alda: POWERED BY COMPRESSED AIR THE ROBOT IS AS PERFECT A SCALED-UP IMITATION AS ROY AND ROGER CAN DEVISE OF A COCKROACH CALLED BLABERUS. BACK IN ROY'S LAB, I KEEP MY DISTANCE AS A BLABERUS IS ANESTHETIZED WITH CARBON DIOXIDE. BOY, THAT'S FAST. SO I TAKE IT TO THE EXTENT THAT HE CAN FEEL ANYTHING HE'S NOT FEELING ANYTHING RIGHT NOW. NO, HE'S COMPLETELY OUT. Alda: WHEN IT WAKES UP THIS BLABERUS, LIKE HUNDREDS BEFORE IT WILL BE GOING FOR A RUN ON A COCKROACH TREADMILL. SILVER DOTS ON THE ROACH EQUIVALENT OF HIPS, KNEES AND FEET WILL HELP KEEP TRACK OF EXACTLY HOW ITS LEGS MOVE. AND WIRES FINER THAN A HUMAN HAIR WILL RECORD FROM MUSCLES IN ITS LEGS JUST WHEN AND HOW STRONGLY THEY CONTRACT. I'M GOING TO TRY AND KEEP IT OVER... Alda: WITH A LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT THE COCKROACH PUTS ON A FINE DISPLAY OF SPEED. SCALED UP 25 TIMES TO THE SIZE OF THE ROBOT THIS WOULD BE LIKE RUNNING AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. A VIDEO CAMERA RECORDS THE RUN. BY TRACKING THE WHITE DOTS FROM FRAME TO FRAME ROY HAS PLOTTED THE EXACT POSITION OF EACH LEG AND THE EXACT ANGLE OF EACH OF ITS JOINTS AS IT WALKS, RUNS AND CLIMBS. AND SO EVERY ONE OF THE JOINT ANGLES THAT THE ROBOT USES TO DO THIS KIND OF WALKING AND CLIMBING HAS BEEN MATCHED TO WHAT WE GOT OUT OF THE COCKROACH. SO WE MEASURED THEM, THEY SCALED IT UP AND MADE THE COCKROACH SO THAT THE JOINT ANGLES ARE THE SAME. Alda: THE ROBOT'S FRONT LEGS, FOR EXAMPLE CAN MOVE THROUGH THE SAME RANGE OF MOTIONS AS THE ROACH'S FRONT LEGS. BUT JUST KNOWING HOW THE LEGS MOVE ISN'T NEARLY ENOUGH. THE TRICKIER QUESTION IS HOW THEY'RE CONTROLLED. THAT'S WHERE THE WIRE ELECTRODES COME IN PICKING UP THE ELECTRICAL SIGNALS THE COCKROACH GIVES TO TELL THE MUSCLES WHEN AND HOW MUCH TO CONTRACT. IT CHANGES FROM MOTION TO MOTION-- DEPENDING ON WHERE HE'S GOING, WHAT HE'S DOING-- IT CHANGES WHEN HE GIVES THAT SIGNAL? THAT'S RIGHT. HE'S GOING TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE JUICE HERE A LITTLE BIT LESS THERE SO THAT HE'LL BE ABLE TO GET OVER THINGS OR ELSE TURN AND STUFF LIKE THAT. SO YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW THAT TO GET A ROBOT TO BE AS EFFICIENT AND AS AGILE AS ONE OF THESE INSECTS. EXACTLY, EXACTLY. Alda: THE TEAM ESPECIALLY WANTS THE ROBOT TO BE AS AGILE AS THE ROACH IN CLIMBING OVER THINGS. SO THEY COPIED THE WAY THE COCKROACH USES EACH OF ITS THREE PAIRS OF LEGS DIFFERENTLY TO GET ITSELF UP AND OVER AN OBSTACLE. FOR CLIMBING, THE FRONT LEGS CAN COME WAY UP HERE AND GRAB ONTO SOMETHING. BUT THEY'RE NOT AS STRONG, SO IT WOULD BE BETTER TO ACTUALLY PITCH THE BODY UP WITH THE MIDDLE LEGS AND THAT LIFTS THE BODY UP? AND THEN PUSH AND THE WHOLE BODY CAN PITCH UP LIKE THIS. NOW IT'S IN THE RIGHT PLACE FOR THE BIG, OLD REAR LEGS TO GIVE A MIGHTY SHOVE THAT WAY AND DRIVE THE ROBOT RIGHT OVER THE OBSTACLE. Alda: THE CASE WESTERN RESERVE ROBOT IS FAR FROM THE FIRST TO BORROW FROM INSECTS THE IDEA OF HAVING SIX LEGS. OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, ROBOTS SMALL AND LARGE HAVE EXPLOITED THE FACT THAT SIX LEGS ENABLE YOU ALWAYS TO KEEP THREE ON THE GROUND AND SO AVOID FALLING OVER. BUT NONE OF THESE ROBOTS HAS COME EVEN CLOSE TO BEING AS AGILE AS AN INSECT BECAUSE THEIR LEGS DON'T MOVE LIKE AN INSECT'S. THE LEGS OF THE ROACH ROBOT, ITS MAKERS HOPE, ONE DAY WILL. WHAT DO YOU SEE THIS DOING WHEN IT CAN CRAWL AND CLIMB AND MANEUVER REALLY WELL? THIS IS STILL A RESEARCH VEHICLE BUT WE CAN SEE VEHICLES LATER TAKING WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT HOW TO DO THIS LOCOMOTION AND, FOR EXAMPLE, GOING TO MARS. UNMANNED MARS MISSION WOULD BE FANTASTIC-- YOU COULD CLIMB UP MOUNTAINS AND GO PLACES THAT WHEELED VEHICLES JUST CAN'T REALLY HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH. IT COULD CLIMB INTO CRATERS HERE ON EARTH, TOO, COULDN'T IT? LIKE SOME VOLCANIC... OR GOING THROUGH JUNGLE TERRAIN TO FIND LAND MINES. THE PROBLEM IS PEOPLE WHO PUT THOSE OUT THERE ARE... THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO FIND THEM SO THEY DON'T PUT THEM ON FLAT SURFACES. THEY PUT THEM IN ROUGH TERRAIN WHERE WHEELED VEHICLES MIGHT HAVE A HARD TIME GOING. COCKROACHES WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM AND PRESUMABLY THIS THING WOULD NOT HAVE MUCH OF A PROBLEM IF IT WALKED LIKE A COCKROACH. IT'S GREAT-- NATURE WORKS ALL THOSE YEARS TO MAKE A COCKROACH THAT WE DON'T LIKE AND WE WORK TO MAKE A COCKROACH THAT WE CAN REALLY USE. THAT'S WONDERFUL. Alda: BUT WHILE I WAS THERE THE ROACH ROBOT BARELY MANAGED TO LURCH TO ITS FEET AND LOOK BELLIGERENT-- AS IF TAUNTING ROY AND ROGER WITH THE DIFFICULTY OF THE TASK THEY'VE SET FOR THEMSELVES. FOR NOW AT LEAST, REAL ROACHES ARE PRESERVING THEIR 300-MILLION-YEAR LEAD. ANOTHER CREATURE ROBOT BUILDERS ADMIRE AND ENVY IS THE TUNA. LIKE THE COCKROACH, IT'S BEEN HONED BY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS OF EVOLUTION

				Swim Like a Fish Scientists learn about the hydrodynamics of swimming from robots modeled on tuna and pike.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: TO COMPLETE MASTERY OVER ITS ENVIRONMENT. AND AGAIN LIKE THE COCKROACH IT, TOO, NOW HAS A MECHANICAL RIVAL. NOW, WHY DID YOU PICK A TUNA TO STUDY HERE? THE TUNA IS THE CHAMPION OF SWIMMERS. IN WHAT WAY? IN THE SENSE THAT THEY ARE VERY POOR AT CAPTURING PREY SO THEY HAVE TO GO BIG DISTANCES. SO THEY HAVE TO GO VERY FAR AND DO THEY HAVE TO BE FAST? AND THEY HAVE TO BE FAST SO THEY CAN COVER BIG DISTANCES AND ENCOUNTER THINGS. AND THEY HAVE TO SWIM ALL THE TIME. Alda: THIS ROBOT TUNA SWIMMING LANGUIDLY DOWN THE TOW TANK AT M. I.T. IS HELPING MICHAEL TRIANTAFYLLOU AND HIS STUDENTS UNDERSTAND JUST WHY TUNA ARE SUCH CHAMPION SWIMMERS. A FLUORESCENT DYE REVEALS ITS SECRET: CIRCLES OF WATER-- VORTICES-- FLIPPED BY ITS TAIL INTO ITS WAKE. OKAY, SO I SEE THESE GREAT CIRCLES COMING OFF IT. THOSE ARE THE VORTICES? Triantafyllou: THOSE ARE THE VORTICES THE CIRCLES THAT YOU SEE SPINNING ONE ON ONE SIDE, ONE ON THE OTHER SIDE. Alda: THESE VORTICES THE M. I.T. GROUP DISCOVERED ACT TOGETHER TO PROPEL A SWIMMING FISH THROUGH THE WATER. THE VORTICES ARE CREATED AS WATER DRAGS ALONG THE SIDE OF THE MOVING FISH. WHAT MAKES THEM SO POTENT IS THE FLAPPING TAIL WHICH FLIPS EACH VORTEX OFF TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE. THEIR SPINNING NOW COMBINES TO PUSH A STREAM OF WATER AWAY FROM THE FISH, MAKING IT IN EFFECT JET-PROPELLED. THIS INSIGHT GAINED FROM STUDYING LIVE FISH AS WELL AS THE ROBOT TUNA IS HELPING DESIGN A NEW GENERATION OF SWIMMING MACHINES. SO THIS IS A PIKE YOU GOT HERE? YEAH, IT'S A ROBOPIKE WHICH IS KIND OF BASED ON A SMALL PIKE WHICH IS A FRESHWATER PREDATOR AND THEY TURN AND SWIM, LIKE, START REALLY WELL BECAUSE THEY HIDE IN THE MUD AND THEN THEY COME OUT AND GRAB THE LITTLE FISH. THIS FISH IS MORE AGILE THAN OTHER FISH? YEAH, IT'S INCREDIBLY AGILE. THEY'VE PUT ACCELEROMETERS ON THESE THINGS AND THEY'VE MEASURED ACCELERATION RATES THAT ARE JUST ABSURD, LIKE 24 Gs. Alda: JOHN KUMPF'S ROBOPIKE HAS AN EXTERNAL SKELETON OF PLASTIC RIBS, HOUSING THREE MOTORS THAT BEND AND FLEX ITS BODY. IT'S CONTROLLED BY A COMPUTER IN ITS HEAD. Kumpf: I'M GOING TO GIVE THAT A TRY. Alda: THE HEAD IS ALSO THE ONLY PART OF THE ROBOT THAT NEEDS TO BE WATERPROOF. JOHN HAS EXPERIMENTED WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT SKINS FOR THE BODY, AND THIS ONE IS BRAND NEW. HAVE YOU EVER MADE THIS SWIM WITH THIS SKIN? THIS IS GOING TO BE THE FIRST TIME? THE VERY FIRST. GOOD LUCK. AFTER AN UNEASY MOMENT... OKAY, YOU'RE GETTING RID OF THE AIR NOW? YEAH, BECAUSE THE BACK HALF IS FLOODED. AND THIS WIRE ON HERE... AH, THERE WE GO. OH, LOOK, IT'S RIGHT SIDE UP. THIS WIRE JUST SUPPLIES POWER-- YOU'RE NOT CONTROLLING THE FISH'S MOVEMENT WITH THIS, RIGHT? EXACTLY. I THINK THAT'S WORKING. LET'S GIVE THIS A TRY AND SEE IF IT'S STILL SWIMMING. Alda: ONE THING I'M LEARNING ABOUT ROBOT RESEARCHERS IS THAT THEIR CREATIONS ARE NEVER ACTUALLY FINISHED. AH, HERE, IT'S WIGGLING. Kumpf: IT'S WIGGLING? Alda: THEIR ROBOTS ARE ALWAYS BEING TAKEN APART TWEAKED HERE AND THERE, THEN THEY'RE PUT BACK TOGETHER TO SEE IF THEY'VE IMPROVED. WHAT ALL THIS MEANS IS THAT VISITORS LIKE ME OFTEN TURN UP AT JUST THE WRONG MOMENT... Kumpf: I'M WORRIED THAT THERE'S A LEAK IN THE NOSE CONE. SEE ALL THE BIG AIR BUBBLES COMING FROM THERE? SO I'M GOING TO TAKE IT OUT IN A SECOND. YEAH, SEE HOW HEAVY IT IS? Alda: SO A SINKING ROBOT PIKE JOINS THE STUBBORN ROBOT ROACH IN DEMONSTRATING JUST HOW HARD IT IS TO COPY MOTHER NATURE THOUGH IN THIS CASE THE PROBLEM'S STRAIGHTFORWARD: A LEAKY HEAD GASKET. THERE'S THE WATER COMING OUT OF THE COMPUTER. Alda: A BRAIN DRAIN AND A SLOW BAKE IN A LOW-TEMPERATURE OVEN ARE ALL IT TAKES FOR THE ROBOPIKE TO SWIM AGAIN. BUT IT'S CLEAR THAT IT WILL NEED MANY MORE UPGRADES BEFORE IT CAN COMPETE WITH ITS ROLE MODEL. MEANWHILE, ANOTHER MECHANICAL FISH HAS ALREADY MADE IT OUT OF ITS HATCHERY. THIS ROBOT TUNA WAS BUILT BY A TEAM HEADED BY JAMIE ANDERSON. AH, YOU GOT THE TAIL OFF, HUH? THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE UNDERNEATH? THAT'S WHAT'S POWERING THE FISH. WE HAVE FOUR HYDRAULIC CYLINDERS ONE ACTIVATING EACH LINK. SO WHAT-- IT BENDS RIGHT THERE? YEAH, YOU CAN SEE THE FOUR PIVOTS. THERE'S ONE HERE-- WE CALL IT THE HIP BECAUSE IT'S THE MOST POWERFUL JOINT. THERE'S ONE RIGHT HERE-- IT'S KIND OF STIFF RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT'S FULL OF HYDRAULIC FLUID. THERE'S ONE HERE. AND THIS ONE ON THE END WHERE THE CAUDAL FIN HOOKS ON. THESE FLIPPERS DOWN HERE DON'T LOOK BIOLOGICAL TO ME. NO, THOSE ARE CONVENTIONAL ENGINEERING-STYLE CONTROL SURFACES. THIS IS THE SAME TYPE OF SURFACE YOU WOULD HAVE ON AN UNDERWATER VEHICLE LIKE A SUBMARINE OR TORPEDO. WE DESIGNED THESE TO BREAK AWAY SO IF THE FISH ACTUALLY HIT A WALL OR A ROCK OR SOMETHING IT WOULD NOT DAMAGE THE PRESSURE HULL. WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE? RIGHT NOW WE'RE PULLING ON THE NEOPRENE SKIN. YOU SEE THIS JOINT RING HERE WILL ENGAGE THE BACK OF THE PRESSURE HULL AND THAT IS SCREWED ON IN A NUMBER OF PLACES. AND THEN WE SECURE THIS FLAP OF SKIN DOWN SO IT HAS A VERY SMOOTH HYDRODYNAMIC WATERTIGHT SURFACE. Alda: THE ROBOTUNA IS ABOUT TO GO SWIMMING IN THE TEST TANK OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE BUT IT WAS BUILT BY JAMIE AND HER COLLEAGUES AT THE DRAPER LAB IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. WHAT'S THIS CABLE HERE? THAT'S AN UMBILICAL THAT ALLOWS US TO UPDATE THE PROGRAM THAT RUNS INSIDE THE FISH TELLS IT WHAT TO DO AND WHERE TO GO. SO YOU'RE SENDING DATA FROM THE COMPUTER THROUGH THIS NOW? CORRECT-- WE'RE DOWNLOADING A MISSION SCRIPT THAT TELLS THE FISH WHERE TO SWIM AND HOW FAST TO SWIM. IS IT OKAY IF I UNPLUG THIS NOW? SURE. WHAT DO I DO? PULL STRAIGHT UP. STRAIGHT UP. THERE YOU GO. OKAY, I'VE TAKEN ITS BRAIN OUT. Alda: APART FROM ITS BRAIN, THE ROBOTUNA IS SELF-SUFFICIENT. THE PRESSURE HULL THAT'S THE FRONT TWO-THIRDS OF ITS BODY HOUSES BATTERIES AND MOTORS TO ACTIVATE THE HYDRAULIC LINKS THAT FLAP ITS TAIL. ITS SPEED RIGHT NOW IS LIMITED TO ONE BODY LENGTH PER SECOND-- ABOUT HALF THAT OF A CRUISING TUNA AND ONLY A FRACTION OF THE SPEED OF A TUNA GOING FLAT OUT. BUT SWIMMING WITH IT, IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE IT ISN'T ALIVE. WHEN I SWAM WITH... WITH SEALS IN THE GALAPAGOS IT WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT BECAUSE THEY PLAYED WITH ME BUT THIS GUY SWAM AS IF HE HAD A MIND OF HIS OWN AND HE WAS JUST IN THE WATER SWIMMING. I MEAN, IT WAS LIKE THAT'S WHAT HE DOES. THAT'S WHAT HE DOES. AND IF YOU CHANGE WHAT'S IN HIS BRAIN HE DOES SOMETHING ELSE. Alda: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO PUT IN HIS BRAIN NOW? Man: WE'LL HAVE HIM SWIM STRAIGHT DOWN THE LENGTH OF THE POOL AND THEN TAKE A HARD TURN AT THE END. OKAY, YOU PUT THIS CABLE IN? YEAH. THANK YOU. I THINK I KNOCKED OFF HIS FLIPPER AGAIN. WE'LL FIX THAT. Alda: WHAT MAKES A ROBOT FISH ATTRACTIVE AS AN UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLES IS THAT IN PRINCIPLE IT'S MUCH MORE EFFICIENT THAN A CONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE. THE INVISIBLE VORTICES STREAMING OFF ITS TAIL PUSH IT ALONG WITHOUT ALL THE WASTEFUL CHURNING OF A PROPELLER. AND IT CAN TURN ON A DIME. Anderson: WHAT THE TUNA WOULD DO FOR YOU IS IT WOULD GIVE YOU INCREASED MANEUVERABILITY SO YOU'D BE ABLE TO GO INTO PLACES WHERE YOU WOULDN'T NORMALLY FIT. SAY YOU WANT TO SWIM UP A PIPE TO CHECK THE SEWAGE OUTFALL OR GO INTO WAVES, INTO A HARBOR. THIS ENABLES YOU TO GO POTENTIALLY FARTHER, FASTER AND BE MORE MANEUVERABLE WHEN YOU GET THERE. Alda: IF YOU WANTED, I SUPPOSE SOMEDAY YOU COULD MAKE A TUNA THAT COULD HOOK UP WITH A SCHOOL OF TUNA AND FIND ABOUT HOW THEY OPERATE ALL AROUND THE WORLD. THAT IS A WONDERFUL MISSION. IN FACT, THERE IS VERY LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT TUNAS BECAUSE THEY SWIM FOR A LIVING, IT'S HARD TO KEEP UP WITH THEM SO SCIENTISTS WOULD LOVE TO HAVE AN IMPOSTOR IN THE SCHOOL JUST TRACKING THEIR MOVEMENT. WE'VE GOT TO COME BACK AND DO A STORY ABOUT THAT. I HOPE WE GET TO THAT POINT. IT WOULD BE REALLY FUN TO SEE HOW THEY ACCEPT IT. MAYBE THEY'D KIND OF LIKE IT, YOU KNOW, A SPECIAL TUNA-- "LOOK, HE'S ALREADY IN THE CAN!