Intelligent design of the future

There’s an interesting article in today’s New York Times about a humanoid robot called Simon that is “being developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology for the purposes of exploring intuitive ways for people and machines to live and work alongside one another.”

Article Talking, Walking Objects, by Carla Diana: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/our-talking-walking-objects.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130127

But the article itself, written by Carla Diana, the designer of Simon’s shell, focuses not so much on the robot, but on how it is designed to appeal to the humans it will be interacting with. Ms. Diana, who is described as “a product designer and creative consultant focused on bringing objects to life electronically,” says that there will be a variety of ways that robotic gadgets and appliances will interact with us, for example through a system of lights, sounds and movements. Many appliances available today already have these features.

She writes, “Whereas designers typically use form, color and materials to make an object express some human element (a drill handle may have a pattern that looks aggressive, a toaster might have knobs and dials that seem friendly), we’re entering a time when sound, light and movement are equally important parts of the creative palette. Everyday objects whose expressive elements have long been static will now glow, sing, vibrate and change position at the drop of a hat.”

Many of the concepts discussed in the article would be interesting to engineering students, since these aspects of design are not only aesthetic, but practical and psychologically effective as well.

As she says. “… the future will be rich with sensor-based, animated objects using expressive sound, light, motion and screens to praise, encourage, advise and comfort us.”

In an accompanying video on the website (time 1:44), Ms. Diana describes the kind of robotic appliances that will be available in the future, and how they will be designed so that they appeal to humans.

A Day in the Near Future

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/01/26/opinion/100000002026745/a-day-in-the-near-future.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130127#100000002026745

The video is an animated presentation of a “typical” day in a future with interactive devices. It begins: “Another Monday morning. My lamp has just gone from dim to bright. I try to turn over, but it rotates to follow me. I stumble into the bathroom; I brush one side for a while. Bzzzzt. The toothbrush vibrates, so I know it’s time to switch to the other side. Now I’m really awake. The bathroom mirror says, ‘Nice job on your weight. But your heart rate is a little higher than yesterday.’”

It would be interesting for students to discuss whether they think such interactive devices would be useful, or rather annoying. Or to discuss which devices presented in the video they would most like to have in their lives.

Ms. Diana narrates the video and speaks in a way that will be understandable, even for students at a low-intermediate level, and the accompanying visuals make clear what she is describing.

In my next post next week, I'll look more closely at Simon itself (himself?).

Learning vocabulary like a human

A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a computer system that is designed to learn the English language as a human would – cumulatively, over time. Called NELL (for “Never-Ending Language Learning system”), the system “reads” millions of texts from the web to accumulate vocabulary items and notice semantic patterns among them (e.g., whether the item is a person, place, plant). The system is able to not only add to its knowledge and categorize the facts it learns, but can review what it has learned, and revise that knowledge if necessary. In other words, it keeps “learning” from what it has learned. It is this feature that makes the system seem to have a more human-like way of learning language. So far NELL is learning only English, but the system has applications for all languages.

This topic would be an interesting way to combine a focus on technology with a discussion of vocabulary learning for technical students who might not be aware of the linguistic processes involved in learning a language. If they see how both their brain and a computer is programmed for learning a language, it could make them more aware of their own language-learning skills.

This is also a way for teachers to help students develop good vocabulary-building skills (and relate them to reading skills). NELL’s focus on semantic fields and categories (part of how NELL learns vocabulary items) is similar to a good reader’s ability to make a connection among words and concepts – a skill students should be encouraged to develop. This can be referred to each time students discuss a text they have read, and can also help students focus on how they can develop effective vocabulary-building skills.

Two articles about NELL:

From ScienceBlog (also has an interview with one of NELL’s developers, useful for discussing the technical aspect of the project)

http://scienceblogs.com/universe/2010/10/08/read-the-internet-speak-englis/

From The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/science/05compute.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=science

Bionic Engineering for Process Description

  Bionics, according to Wikipedia, is “the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.” Many of the innovations being developed today seem to be the stuff of science fictions films, and so many areas of engineering are involved that the topic would be of interest to any engineering student.

On the National Geographic website there is an article about Bionics, focusing primarily on advances in a bionic arm, cochlear implants and bionic eyes.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/fischman-text

In addition to the article, there is a link to an interactive diagram “The Bionic Body”:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/bionics-animation

The interactive diagram allows a user to move the mouse over parts of the body and read the explanation of how the bionic part works. This is a particularly good example of Process Description. Here’s an example from the section “New Vision”:

1)      Video Camera sends images to a computer worn on a belt. The computer converts the video to a simplified signal.

2)      Transmitter sends the signal wirelessly to an implant in the eye.

3)      Receiver sends the signal to the electrode array to stimulate the retina.

4)      Optic Nerve carries the signal from retina to brain, which perceives visual patterns corresponding to the electrodes stimulated.

The structure of the description and the word partnerships used can be applied to a description of other bionic devices (with relevant technical vocabulary).

Global Village Construction Set

Marcin Jakubowski is the founder of Open Source Ecology, which describes itself as a “network of farmers, engineers and supporters building the global village construction set”. He has determined what the “50 most important machines required for modern life” are, and is working to make a prototype of a low-cost DIY version of each so that anyone anywhere can build them.

Open source ecology:  http://opensourceecology.org/index.php

The global village construction set:  http://opensourceecology.org/gvcs.php

It would be interesting for students to brainstorm what they would put on the list of the 50 machines required for modern life. Then compare their answers with the list on the website.

The Global Village Construction Set Design Specifications are: “Our design needs to balance a number of different elements that include:

1.     Ease of fabrication

2.     Modularity

3.     Affordability

4.     Lifetime Design

5.     Performance”

Each machine is described in terms of what it does, and how to make one. This is very useful for technical description, process description and instructions.

The global village construction set:

http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Global_Village_Construction_Set

Here’s the example (and picture) from the website for industrial robot:

Industrial Robot

a robotic arm which can perform certain human tasks – such as welding or milling – for performing tasks that are not better done by humans.

“The industrial robot is an automated machine that performs a wide variety of functions, (including welding, assembly, and CAM, etc...), all depending on which tools its hand is equipped with.

Detailed description:

The industrial robot is a rotating multi-axis machine that can hold various modules (called end-effectors) for performing different tasks such as welding and cutting. These tasks can be done in repetition (through proper "teaching") and with precision (based on the robot's repeatability, which is a measure of how far the robot deviates from a certain position when going there multiple times). The volume in which the robotic arm can travel is called the working envelope (rear of robot is typically restricted), and the axes of rotation are called degrees of freedom (6 or more for higher-end flexibility). A versatile industrial robot can significantly improve the accuracy, precision, and completion times of multiple production tasks while significantly reducing the need for operator involvement.
The industrial robot is task versatile, multi-way programmable, repeatably accurate, and modular with scalable reach and payload. The industrial robot serves a universal function mimicking a human arm, so can fill in (after being programmed) for any repetitive operation not better done by humans; other times, the industrial robot can be directly operator-controlled to act as a mega-arm machine where the high reach, payload, and working envelope are advantaged.”

English-teaching Robot

South Korea has developed an English-teaching robot, named “Engkey.” The name is said to be "a contraction of English jockey (as in disc jockey)". South Korea wants its children to learn English, but it has been extremely expensive to import teachers from English-speaking countries. So this is a money-saving device. The teachers are in the Philippines, and communicate via telepresence using embedded microphones and speakers. The robot has a screen for a "head" with the face of a blond female. This design is said to be "for the students to feel that Engkey is approachable and not intimidating."

http://www.advancedtechnologykorea.com/6372

 

It is an interesting topic to discuss with engineering students: to what extent can technology replace teachers of language? Students can judge how effectively this robot can do the job, and which features the robot should have.

Here is an article from the New York Times about this robot:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/science/11robotside.html?_r=0

This website includes a link to a video of teaching robots (time is 3:23).

Best Inventions of the Year

At the end of each year, TIME magazine publishes its list of the best inventions of the year:

http://techland.time.com/2012/11/01/best-inventions-of-the-year-2012/

On this website you can also look at the best inventions of previous years. For each invention there is a picture and a short text that explains what the invention is and how it works. The texts are short and easy to work with, and most entries have an internet address for more information.

These inventions are a good source of material for process description in almost any area of engineering. I’ve used texts for robotics and automation engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, information technology, biomedical engineering, medical sciences. And there are inventions for many more areas.

Technical Vocabulary - delivered weekly

A very useful – and free – source of technical vocabulary, for both teachers and students, is the newsletter Technical Word of the Week, the property of Paul East and Cornelia Kreis-Meyer of The Pyramid Group. To subscribe:

http://newsletter.thepyramidgroup.biz/

Each email includes:

·        the word of the week,

·        definitions,

·        link to spoken pronunciation,

·        a translation into 10 languages (German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Finnish, Dutch, Greek, Russian, Arabic),

·        word family,

·        synonyms,

·        antonyms and

·        examples of the word in use.

It’s this last feature that I find most useful for classroom work. Students should learn that one-to-one translations don’t always work, and that the words that “go with” the featured word (prepositions, collocations, etc) could be different in their own language. When learning a new word (or learning more about a word students think they already ‘know’), it’s important to also learn how the word is used in context.

These examples can be used to focus students on aspects of the word in use. For example, for the word “fluctuate” examples of collocations include: price fluctuation, fluctuating workloads, fluctuating prices, temperature fluctuations, frequency fluctuations, voltage fluctuations.

I encourage my students to subscribe. Getting a vocabulary item that’s useful in technical contexts on a regular basis keeps them focused on the development of their English – and motivates them to take responsibility for expanding their technical vocabulary.

And for me, added bonuses are the “resource of the week,” which often leads me to sources of useful texts or ideas, “videos,” and “extra activities”.

 

Writing outside "The Box"

In my last post I mentioned the transcript of The Box, a program on KUHF FM (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2094.htm).

In addition to using it for reading and listening material, I also use it for the practice of writing skills.

I focus students on the basic structure of the text:

· introduction: what the innovation is; when it ‘started’

· description of innovation

· how it was innovative

· changes caused by the innovation:

o       impact on area of innovation (e.g., shipping)

o       impact on economy

o       impact on society (e.g., port cities)

· conclusion: the world today with the innovation

Then I have them notice words and phrases used to ‘introduce’ and ‘connect’ the different sections of the text (for example: As a result; until; But the true marvel of the ___ was how it changed ___).

After working with this text, I give them one of 2 writing exercises:

1.     I have students choose another innovation that they feel is a good example of “here’s-a-problem-let’s-solve-it” engineering. They write a short text following the same structure.

2.     I have students ‘add’ to the article by writing one or two paragraphs about a further impact, e.g., container apartments – modular living units based on the model of shipping containers.

Students enjoy the "creative" aspect of this writing assignment, but they also see the connection between the technical innovations they'll be working on and the impact those innovations will have on the economy, society and the world. 

Engineering topics to practice language skills

Radio station KUHF-FM in Houston has a program “Engines of our Ingenuity” which covers a wide range of areas in engineering and technology with both an audio component and accompanying transcripts.

http://www.uh.edu/engines/

I found out about this program through Engine magazine – an English for Engineers magazine published in Germany 4 times a year. Engine magazine publishes one of the radio program transcripts each issue, accompanied by a bilingual German/English glossary.

For those teaching students of other languages, it would be pretty easy to create your own glossary (if you wanted to include one). The texts themselves are very interesting, and present a number of possibilities for discussion, language work, and listening and reading skills.

A transcript that I’ve used with my students is The Box (program #2094).

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2094.htm

The focus of the program is the innovation of shipping containers and the impact they’ve had on transport and the economy. It’s important for future engineers to understand how their work, what they create, will have an effect on: society, business, technology, the economy. The program (3:46 minutes) stresses that shipping containers were a simple, but marvelous, innovation, and that they changed “the engineering of the world economy.” The author, Dr. Andrew Boyd, says they “display the finest elements of ‘here’s-a-problem-let’s-solve-it’ engineering.” It’s not the technology that’s innovative here, but the idea itself – simple but effective.

What engineering student wouldn’t find that interesting?

List of programs: http://www.uh.edu/engines/keywords.htm

The Engine website: http://www.engine-magazin.de/engine-Log.htm