When reading an article about robotics, it became clear that many of the topics that we have covered in a our class need to intersect to develop the required infrastucture. Many of the items seemed to echo comments made by Dr. Halal during our residency. Here are some examples.
In order for robotics to flourish, the computational requirements need to be addressed. Robotics leverage AI, which is recognized as heavily computational. However, looking to the future, we see quantum computing just up on the horizon. Also, parallel computing is under active research right now - just look at Best Buy to see the presence of the new Quad-core computers from Intel. Robotics will benefit from the advances in computational computing - who knows - they might turn out to be a major driver.
Grid computing is another interesting concept. If there is not enough computational power within a system, then the system can reach out to the network and ask for network resources. This collection of computing resources is called grid computing, among other names.
However, to reach the grid, the network must be established. To have a network, not only bandwidth is required, but also coverage must be in place. Both of these requirements are already under active research. Look at the proposals around WiMax, Wi-Fi, 802.11n. Distances of both long and short range are addressed, and transfer speeds of data are becoming quite impressive, and will continue to grow.
Grids and city coverage are also being established. Cities like Albuquerque and Portland already have blanket city coverage. Technologies such as the iPhone and Blackberry are starting to leverage the VOIP to make calls, which will continue to drive the proliferation of these networks.
In short, the infrastructure to enable robotics to thrive is either in development or on the horizon. Really, the question is if robotics is going to help drive and accelerate these solutions, or if it is gated by the current technology. My take - it will drive it. The need for robotics is huge - and when there is a need, innovation always prevails.
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I think quantum computing will be a tremendous break through due to its ability to efficiently solve problems such as factorization and unsorted search. While there are some serious hurdles to overcome to be commercially viable, I think we'll see them in 15-20 years.
I'm doing my research in quantum computer programming, which has kept me more than busy!
-Matt Purkeypile, DCS3
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