Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Robot Librarians In The Stacks
In his 1962 story The Robot Who Wanted to Know, Harry Harrison wrote about robot librarian Filer 13B-445-K, a very curious 'bot:
Several projects are underway to make robot librarians a reality. At University Jaume I in Spain, a prototype robot is trying to get a better grip on books.
A Filer is an amazingly intelligent robot and there aren't many being manufactured. You'll find them only in the greatest libraries, dealing with only the largest and most complex collections... The cataloging of human information has always been an incredibly complex task.
(Find out more about the robot librarian)
(University Jaume robot librarian)
Professor Angel del Pobil sees one of the most difficult tasks ahead for robot librarians is the challenge of mixing with humans - that is, if those pesky bipeds are to be allowed in the stacks at all.
"A library is a semi-structured environment... You can meet other humans, but it is not like an airport or somewhere like that. "So we think it is a good environment in which service robots are out there, working in a human environment, but it is still a controlled one.
The robot is a mobile manipulator with three wheels; its arm has seven joints, a two-fingered gripper and two micro cameras on its wrist. Optical character recognition software is used to read the labels on the books.
(Robot librarian at the University of British Columbia)
The Automatic Storage and Retrieval System at the University of British Columbia is a more structured robotic librarian. Once a student has filled out a request, an ASRS robot librarian trundles through 36,000 meters of climate-controlled stacks to find any of a million and a half volumes stored in 20,000 bins. The robots scan for the barcode that corresponds to the requested book.
Interestingly, the robot Filer from Harry Harrison's story also includes a capacity to suggest related books:
If it was asked for books on one subject, he could think of related books in other subjects that might be referred to.Google Scholar can also help students and researchers find books that are related to the subject at hand.
(Find out more about the robot librarian)
Read more about the Robot librarian at University Jaume, the UBC robot librarian and Google Scholar.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/5/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent (1934)
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...' HG Wells, 1898.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...'
Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late
'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
The Desert Ship Sailed In Imagination
'Across the ancient sea floor a dozen tall, blue-sailed Martian sand ships floated, like blue smoke.'
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
