Robots: Bringing Intelligent Machines to Life

Can we build a robot with humanlike intelligence? What technology is needed to produce the perfect blueprint for the ideal "living" robot? What part will robots play in the future of humanity? Are we risking robot domination of the world? This highly readable volume tells the past, present, and future stories of robots and Artificial Intelligence, more commonly known as AI. Discussed here are the dreams of the pioneers Alan Turing and John von Neumann, who envisioned making computers intelligent when they were first invented. The author also describes in detail the current state of computer and robot technology, and points out the challenges inherent in teaching a machine to "think" and make decisions. Other topics include the life cycle of a present-day robot, raw materials and energy sources required for robot construction, and experimental progress in the field of self-designing robots. This absorbing volume is science fact—not science fiction. It includes more than 200 full-color photos and illustrations.

Ruth Aylett is Professor of Intelligent Virtual Environments with the Center for Virtual Environments in the U.K. She developed expertise in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) while she worked in the micro-computing laboratory at Sheffield University in England. She later assumed a post in the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute at Edingurgh University, Scotland. She currently teaches courses on AI and maintains close links with the National Advanced Robotics Research Center, run by UK Robotics.