Lunar Base Construction Robots - Will they be intelligent?

Folks have been thinking about this for some time.
How close to the science fiction stories do you think they will get?
- LRK -

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http://www.spacedaily.com/spacenet/text/lunar-b.html
Japan Space Net
Talk About Lunar Base Getting Serious

Once simply the fodder for science-fiction stories, building a base on the moon is now being looked at in earnest by Japan.

Tokyo -- December 19,1996 -- Recently some 170 of the world's top space scientists, engineers and mission specialists attending the Second International Lunar Workshop in Kyoto, debating not only an extensive scientific re-exploration of the lunar landscape, but the setting up of a permanent manned presence within thirty years.

Speaker after speaker talked of the scientific and technical benefits to be accrued from exploring the moon. Some pointed to the huge tasks ahead developing critical technology needed even to get there again. But while the problem of raising finance was conveniently skipped during the five day confab, one topic dominated discussions; how to build a lunar base.

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Nine years later, still a topic of interest.
- LRK -
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/121442/japan_dreams_of_robot_moon_base_in_2025.html
Japan Dreams of Robot Moon Base in 2025
Advanced humanoid robots could take over mining, telescope-building chores for humans.
Paul Kallender, IDG News Service
Jun 20, 2005 1:00 am

TOKYO -- Japan wants to help build a lunar base and populate it with advanced versions of today's humanoid robots by around 2025, according to the head of the nation's space agency.

The idea is more than a pipe-dream; it is part of a 20-year plan, called JAXA Vision 2025, that was drawn up by Keiji Tachikawa, a former president of Japan's largest mobile operator NTT DoCoMo, who is now president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA).

As part of the plan, Japan would use advanced robotic technologies to help build the moon base, while redeveloped versions of today's humanoid robots, such as Honda Motor's Asimo and Sony's Qrio, could work in the moon's inhospitable environment in place of astronauts, he said in a recent interview.

Japan's lunar robots would do work such as building telescopes and prospecting and mining for minerals, Tachikawa said.
"I see a big role for Japan's robotics technologies on the moon," he said. "Japanese robots will be one of our big contributions. If there is work where robots can replace humans, they will."

U.S. Also Interested
Tachikawa's plan follows a January 2004 decision by U.S. President George W. Bush that the U.S., with the assistance of partners including Japan, should build a lunar base by about 2020 and use it as a staging point for the human exploration of Mars.
The plan has struck a chord in Japan, which has long harbored dreams of building such a base

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and now four years later again, robots to go to the Moon.
What kind of robots would colonize the Moon?
- LRK -
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article6032128.ece
From The Times
April 4, 2009
One step for a robot, a giant leap for tin-mankind
Leo Lewis in Tokyo
The cutting-edge models can lumber around a room without falling over. A few can play the trumpet or serve tea. The truly sophisticated ones can just about manage the washing-up.
But by 2020, Japan predicts, humanoid robots will be ready to colonise the Moon. Other metallic brethren of these mechanical pioneers, said scientists in Tokyo, will be engaged in the bigger, more prosaic mission of cleaning Earth’s orbit of junk.
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If we think that a robot might be intelligent, what would that mean?
When you hear the word "Robot" what image does that bring up:
- LRK -
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http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/groups/intelligent-robotics/
Intelligent Robotics

The NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group (IRG) is dedicated to enabling humans and robots to explore and learn about extreme environments, remote locations, and uncharted worlds. IRG conducts applied research in a wide range of areas with an emphasis on robotics systems science and field testing. IRG's expertise includes applied computer vision (navigation, 3D surface modeling, automated science support), human-robot interaction, mobile manipulation, interactive 3D visualization, and robot software architecture.

IRG maintains and operates a variety of robot hardware, including fifteen "Personal Exploration Rovers" (low-cost, educational mobile robots), the K9 planetary rover (based on a JPL FIDO chassis), four K10 planetary rovers, and dexterous manipulators (Amtec Schunk arms and Barrett grippers). IRG's research facilities include the Marscape (3,000 sq. meter outdoor rover test facility and Mars surface analog) and the Moonscape (250 sq. meter indoor rover test facility with high-precision optical tracking).

We firmly believe that collaboration is an essential part of modern research, which improves quality and speeds technology transfer. Thus, we are presently working on joint projects with partners from academia, government, and industry.

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or do you just want to get some job done and a colony of robots much like an ant colony would be enough?
- LRK -

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http://www.journal.univagora.ro/download/pdf/261.pdf
Int. J. of Computers, Communications & Control, ISSN 1841-9836, E-ISSN 1841-9844
Vol. III (2008), Suppl. issue: Proceedings of ICCCC 2008, pp. 92-107
Colony of robots: New Challenge
Workshop invited key lecture
Gastón Lefranc

Abstract: The evolution on Robotics has in a cross way of application. For one side is the applications to manufacturing, other one is application to medicine, another one in space exploration and it is starting home applications. It is very popular to have contest of robots for students, motivating very well to student, supported by universities, achieving good image
for the institutions.
One way for mobile robots is Nomad, a nice application for having new knowledge in the space, but the inversion it is very expense and complex. If it has problem or fail, all the work will stop. Instead of that, if you use a community of robots, working like a society of insect, it is possible to have simpler mobile robots to have specific tasks, less expensive, more reliable to reach the same aims.
In this presentation is focusing in colony of robots. This implies to merge several disciplines based on models of communities, to have control of a society of robots working together in a
collaborative and cooperative way in non structured environments.

Keywords: Multi-robots, Colony of robots, Multiagents Systems

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If you think your robot should be intelligent, would you mean that it should have the ability to acquire and use knowledge?

And by knowledge, you mean that it should be able to organize information?
Would you want it to be able to communicate, that is transfer its knowledge?
Should it have intuition, that is built in knowledge.

How would it acquire knowledge?
Have feelings, that is experience sensory input.
Should it have perception, the ability to transform sensations into knowledge?

What about being able to reason, applying logic to thinking.
Oh, should it be able to think, analyze what it imagined.
Aaah, have imagination, that is be able to visualize, model and devise simulations.

And lets be scarry, should it be aware, that is have knowledge of the world (Moon) situation.
Should it show emotion, that is have value judgment, evaluation of good and bad.
Lastly, throw in some consciousness, the ability to include self in the world model.

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http://www.james-albus.org/interest.htm
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A PowerPoint presentation of the potential impact of intelligent machines on science, economics, military strength, and human well being can be found here:
http://www.james-albus.org/Engineering%20of%20Mind3.ppt [116 KB, 22 slides - LRK -]
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http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Mind-Introduction-Science-Intelligent/dp/0471438545
Engineering of Mind: An Introduction to the Science of Intelligent Systems (Hardcover)
Presenting a reference model architecture for the design of intelligent systems Engineering of Mind presents the foundations for a computational theory of intelligence. It discusses the main streams of investigation that will eventually converge in a scientific theory of mind and proposes an avenue of research that might best lead to the development of truly intelligent systems.
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Will be interesting to see just what kind of robots go to the Moon.
- LRK -

What kind of robot would you like to have helping you colonize the Moon?

Thanks for looking up with me.

More at http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/