Are We Ready for Robots?
Special | 2m 49s | Video has closed captioning.
Steve Goldbloom visits Stanford University's Salisbury Robotics Lab and meets some frighteningly advanced robots...and their creators.
Aired: 04/26/15
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Finally tonight, living in a world of robots.
GPS (PHONE): [inaudible] your destination is on the left.
I think it says here.
CAMERAMAN: Do you want to text them?
So you're running the show.
This is your-- This is my lab.
This your headquarters.
Yeah.
OK. Yeah.
How long have you been obsessed with robots?
Obsessed?
I was probably about this tall.
Yeah?
I think.
I built motors when I was in sixth grade.
This fellow is my original hand, whose name was Ralph.
How old were you when you put those together?
Yeah, probably 25.
I hate to tell you what Bill and I were doing at 25.
It probably was a pretty big deal when you made this.
Yeah, but I didn't realize it.
General Motors came to me and they said, we want one of your hands.
NASA has a couple of them that they use to experiment with-- Wait, so then NASA and GM, did they end up buying it from you?
Did they-- Yeah.
So this is designed to control a remote manipulator.
Now, hold old were you when you-- well, this is part of the phase.
This is 25.
No, younger.
This is probably 20.
When did you finish high school?
This is a simulation that we've developed for doctors that lets you feel virtual things and, in our case, train surgeons how to do delicate operations.
Oh, man.
Oh, I just took off the-- [laughs] What did I do here?
Now you've got the nerve and he's bleeding like crazy, so [inaudible].
Totally.
What should we do?
Now the guy's blind.
OK.
Personal robot here.
Is there a name for the-- DR KENNETH SALISBURY: We like to call her Rosie.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: OK. Kind of a nod to "The Jetsons."
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: I have a little fear of robots myself.
DR KENNETH SALISBURY: It knows that.
Can it sense fear?
No.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good.
That's good.
Yeah.
One of my projects has been to get this robot to get Ken a cup of coffee.
I had the same internship at PBS.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
[laughs] And I never outgrew it, actually.
They still, when I go back, they say-- they say, go get coffee.
We don't want to teach people in the coffee shop about robotics.
We just want them to hand things to the robot as if it's another person.
So what I want you to do is hand the robot the dinosaur.
OK. Yeah.
Good grip.
And you know the robot's got it.
Now it wants the dinosaur again?
Yes you can if you would like.
OK.
I think that's enough.
ROSIE: Please pass me the dinosaur.
Well, just listen to that.
One of the great things about robots is they're infinitely patient.
So the robot's gonna keep doing this until he gets the darn dinosaur.
It's certainly persistent.
ROSIE: I don't think I got the dinosaur.
OK, he's really obsessed with the dinosaur.
[laughs] Yeah.
You would be obsessed with the dinosaur too if you were running an infinite loop-- That's true.
No, no, no.
I know.
I know.
Yeah.
---while [inaudible] doing nothing but hear about dinosaurs.
Ken, thank you very much.
Good.
Appreciate it.
Good to meet you.
And tell Rosie thanks.
Thank you.
OK. She says I'll be back.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Great.
