Many Universities in the developing world do not offer courses in Robotics.They usually have a futuristic view on this subject. For instance, last year after I blogged about the robotic age and its ethical problems, I received some great feedback from Prof Emanuele Micheli who works at the School of Robotics in Italy. He was interested in setting up a collaboration project on Roboethics with my University (Malawi). I told him that for a start, roboethics was just too advanced for a developing country like Malawi because robots are not common. I went on to say that, instead, we could concentrate on the application of robotics in a developing country scenario then focus on roboethics in the second phase.
After the email exchange with Prof Michelli, I contacted colleagues at the University of Malawi and a few other Universities in Southern Africa to seek their views and to map out the way forward.I did this because I knew that I was going to leave the country a few months later. Therefore, I felt that this initiative had to be broad based for sustainability purposes.The response was, however very bad, maybe, because most people still think that it is too early for developing countries to go into robotics research. I remember someone saying, “Robotics! Za chani zimenezo?” (Robotics! What for?)
My view is different.Developing countries have to embark on robotics and automation in full force now, not tomorrow, if they really want to transform their economies.Some intelligent students who are interested in robotics and automation are failing to achieve their dreams because of the absence of robotics related courses in the universities’ curriculum. Universities must be on the forefront of robotics initiatives by doing the following:
- Introducing courses in robotics and automation
- Creating links with Robotics research institutions from the developed world
- Participating in Robotics related conferences
- Carrying out consultancy in robotics applications
- Sensitizing the public on the potential of this technology
- Advising government on robotics and automation related issues
I work on Computational intelligence based tools for Communication Networks. But I am seeing myself getting connected with robotics researchers and industrialists more and more. My IEEE mentor is a Robotics/Computational intelligence researcher. Here, in Japan, where I am studying, people start building robots from a very young age. Japan is the Land of the Rising Sun. But it is also a Land Robotics. In our lab, a good number of students are applying computational intelligence techniques to robotics and as result I am somehow flirting with this kind of research. After my current research work, I might end up as a computational intelligence/robotics researcher.
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11 users commented in " Flirting with Robotics Research "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackDeveloping countries have to embark on robotics and automation in full force now, not tomorrow.
Agreed.
They have to become world powers.
They have to start now to grow.
Great Article btw.
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In my country we have small university that has really good robotics program and students achieve good results in international competitions.
I agree that countries in development could catch the developed ones if they would speed up their robotics education and promote this field of studies.
Lets just hope so that many politicians will understand the need for this instead of investing in country defense.
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I agree that incorporating robotics in education is a great idea. Robotics allow students to learn and have great enjoyment in that learning.
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You’re right! universities in my country do not offer courses about Robotics.They are only give brief overview about it. People are very talented, so it is a great idea to allow students to learn new things especially in robots. For me, it is very exciting!!
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Yes, i agree.
We have to focus on robotics for now.
This is robotic era.
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Lets try new things….this is fun robotics give us the opportunity to learn new things
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Robotic Research has been involved in the design and development of Autonomous Mobility software for most autonomous ground robotic systems currently being used in the U.S. Army.
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Though it is amazing how far robotics have come, it is equally amazing how far the technology still has to go.
I hope that developing countries can still get in on the ground floor, before it is too late.
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How broad and common are robots in everyday use for any situation, even in Japan? What I mean is, does every household in Japan or anywhere else have a Rosie the maid from The Jetsons type of a robot doing the cooking, cleaning, dishes, shopping, machinery maintenance & repair, chopping wood for the fire place, etc? If they do, please let me know where I can order a few of them; I could use that for a holiday gift idea here in the U.S. If not, why is it that the concept of a mechanical servant, which has been around for about a century, has not made its way into our lives, yet? We do use them in the assembly line and some people own a Roomba, but it’s not the same. I doubt we will ever have a practical robot that you can buy off the store shelves, at least ones that are anthropomorphic – and this might be the key to the problem; instead of trying to make something anthropomorphic we ought to consider a means that is more practical for the ends. This is why I’m going through so much trouble to patent technology that achieves this very objective. If I were running a college or university anywhere in the world I wouldn’t bother wasting time or money with starting up robotics courses or departments without having a good and practical reason for doing so. Look at what Prof. Mark Yim at the University of Pennsylvania is doing, or look at what Prof. Wei-Min Shen at the University of Southern California is doing. Check out the M-Tran, Victor Zykov’s work, or Prof. Eric Klavins work at University of Washington. Do this if you’re more interested in practical and beneficial uses. On the other hand, if you’re only interested in plastic or metal dolls or crash test dummies then continue to stick to the anthropomorphic approach. I’m not trying to be hostile, I’m just trying to address the underlying problem with this issue as well as give a little nudge of persuasion from my own personal humble opinion.
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In South Africa, robotics is being taught at Universities. The University of Cape Town for example, has a Robots and Agents research group. They also participate in the RoboCup (robot soccer).
Stellenbosch University also has a similar setup. They are very strong in their biomedical robotics research.
Although, I do agree with you. More needs to done. Robotics must go beyond research groups into industry and homes.
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Clement Nyirenda says:
April 14th, 2009 at 9:40 am
@Robots: I saw robots being taught at the University of KwaZulu-Natal when I was doing mt MSc in Computer Engineering. Having come to Japan, I have found that the robots program that I saw in UKZN has so many deficiencies. For RSA Universities to become world class robotics research centres, they need to establish links with some leading Universities in Japan or the US.
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