February 22, 2015Building a real-life Baymax

Professor Atkeson and his team are working on soft robots to act as caregivers

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The recent animated feature Big Hero 6 is more than a collection of comic book fantasies – there's some hard science behind the soft robots. Baymax, the inflatable robot designed to care for humans who stars in the film may seem as unlikely as a chocolate teapot, but Chris Atkeson, professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon is working on a real life version (minus the karate and flying armor). Gizmag caught up with Atkeson to discuss the project.

We tend to think of robots as hard things made of steel and plastic, but that's not always the best option… not the least because people aren't made out of steel and plastic. As the world's population grows older, there will be more call for robots to help to tend to the elderly as nurses and companions, but if they're to operate in a human environment they need to be non-threatening, less likely to cause injuries, and able to bump into the furniture without scratching the varnish.

Carnegie Mellon's approach is to develop soft robots that do away with gears and pulleys and hard bodies in favor of fabrics, balloons, and light plastic composites with pneumatic artificial muscles. Such cushiony robots would not only be safer to be around, since bumping into one would be like colliding with a beach toy, but they'd also be lighter, cheaper, more portable, and even partly disposable. In addition, Atkeson and his colleagues see such robots as wearable. That is, they could be incorporated into casts and braces to support patients and help to restore mobility to injured limbs.

We talked with Atkeson about how close Baymax is to reality and the future of soft robotics.

Gizmag: What has to happen before we see a real-life Baymax like the one in "Big Hero 6?"

Atkeson: There are two parts to building a Baymax. One is we need to figure out how for robots to be safe when they're real close to people, so they can help you dress or comb your hair. The second big challenge is giving it a brain. It's got to be as smart as the Baymax in the movie, so it knows what to do and how to hold a conversation and maybe even figure out how to help people.

Gizmag: Which of these is more of a challenge?

Atkeson: I think the body will come first. We may not have completely independent healthcare companions right off the bat. They might have a large component of teleoperation or calling into home base to answer a question.

Gizmag: How would a soft robot work?

Atkeson: In the movie, there's a rigid robot inside and that makes it move. I would like to actually go the whole hog and get as little metal skeleton as possible. In that case, it's much more like an octopus. In a soft robot, we would have compartment we would fill with compressed air and that would cause it to move like a piston made of bladders and air bags.

Gizmag: What would be the advantages of a soft robot?

Atkeson: I think that we are going to have a huge problem [in the future] finding robots to take care of people. For example, I think that one very important application is if you have an older couple and one of them is bedridden, and the spouse is too weak to flip them over in bed, you've got to figure out a way to move that person. A soft robot would be strong enough to do it.

Gizmag: What would be the first applications of soft robot technologies?

Atkeson: People talk about the first levels of apps. I think that the early adopters will be those who really need it, and then we'll see it much more in society. Then we could see parts of the technology being used, like the thing bagging your groceries could be a soft arm at an automatic checkout.

Gizmag: How long will it be before we can expect to see soft robots?

Atkeson: We're already seeing this in a lot of places and many nursing homes have what are called no-lift policies, where nurses are not allowed to lift patients. Instead, they use these gantry systems to move people around. I think we might see something in that application, or something in physical therapy relatively soon. You already have inflatable casts. It isn't that big a step to have an inflatable cast that can move your wrist.

Gizmag: This one's for the 12-year olds: How long before they can get their own Baymax?

Atkeson: I think we'll have a toy system within a few years. They'll gradually increase in functionality, but one of the easier applications is a simple toy Baymax. Your daughter will probably too old to have one, but her kids might.

The video below discusses the Carnegie Mellon soft robotics project.

Source: Carnegie Mellon

创造一个现实生活中的大白

2月22日，2015Building现实生活中的Baymax

教授Atkeson和他的团队正在研究的软机器人作为看护人

图片廊（2??图像）

最近动画片的大功臣6是一个多收集漫画书的幻想 - 有软机器人背后的一些硬科学。 Baymax，充气机器人设计照顾人类谁主演的电影似乎是不太可能，因为巧克力茶壶，但克里斯Atkeson，机器人卡内基梅隆教授正在研究一种现实生活版（减去空手道和飞行装甲）。 Gizmag赶上Atkeson讨论项目。

我们倾向于认为机器人是由钢和塑料坚硬的东西，但是这并不总是最好的选择......并非最不重要的，因为人不是做出来的钢材和塑料。随着世界人口的长大，会有更多的要求机器人来帮助趋于老人护士和同伴，但如果他们是在一个人的环境中工作，他们需要不具威胁，不太可能造成伤害，并能碰到家具无划伤油漆。

卡内基·梅隆大学的做法是开发软机器人废除齿轮，滑轮和硬体赞成面料，气球和气动人工肌肉轻塑复合材料。这种柔软的机器人不仅更安全被周围，由于碰撞到人会像与海滩玩具碰撞，但它们也会是更轻，更便宜，更轻便，甚至部分地是一次性的。此外，Atkeson和他的同事们看到这样的机器人可穿戴。也就是说，他们可以纳入强制转换和括号来支持患者，并有助于恢复流动性伤肢

我们采访了Atkeson有关Baymax如何接近现实，软机器人未来

Gizmag。：有什么事情发生之前，我们看到一个现实生活中Baymax像在

Atkeson“大英雄6？”：有两部分，以建立一个Baymax。一个是我们需要弄清楚如何机器人是安全的，当他们真正接近的人，这样他们就可以帮助你的穿着或梳理头发。第二大挑战是给它一个大脑。它必须是智能的Baymax在电影，所以它知道该怎么做，以及如何保持一个对话，甚至想出如何帮助人们

Gizmag：？哪一项是更大的挑战

Atkeson：我觉得身体会是第一位的。我们可能没有完全独立的医疗同伴马上蝙蝠。他们可能有遥的大部件或打电话到大本营来回答一个问题

Gizmag：如何将一个软机器人工作

Atkeson：在影片中，有一个刚性的机器人内部，这使得它移动。我想真正去整猪，并获得尽可能小的金属骨架越好。在这种情况下，它更象章鱼。在软机器人，我们将有隔间，我们会充满压缩空气，这会导致它移动等制成的气囊和气囊的活塞

Gizmag：什么是软机器人的优点

Atkeson？我认为我们将有一个巨大的问题[在将来in the future举例来说，我觉得一个很重要的应用是，如果你有一个老年夫妇，其中一人是卧床不起，及配偶太弱翻转他们在床上，你得想出一个办法来移动该人。软机器人会强大到足以做

Gizmag：什么是软机器人技术的第一个应用程序

Atkeson：人们谈论的应用程序的第一个层次。我认为，早期采用者将是那些谁真正需要它，然后我们会看到它在社会中更多。然后，我们可以看到所使用的技术部分，如东西装袋的杂货可能是一个柔软的手臂，在一个自动检测

Gizmag：它会多久之前，我们可以期望看到的软机器人

Atkeson：我们“再在许多地方，许多养老院已经发现这个有所谓的无电梯的政策，这里的护士不得解除患者。相反，他们使用这些龙门系统走动的人。我认为，我们可能会看到一些在该应用程序，或一些物理治疗比较快。你已经有充气管型。这不是什么大不了的步骤有一个可充气的演员，可以将你的手腕

Gizmag：这一个对12岁：多长时间才可以得到自己Baymax

Atkeson：我想我们有会在几年之内一个玩具系统。他们会在功能上逐渐增加，但更容易应用之一是一个简单的玩具Baymax。您的女儿可能会老得有一个，但她的孩子可能

下面的视频讨论了卡内基·梅隆大学的软机器人项目

来源：卡内基梅隆

,,"Jiànlì yīgè xiànshí shēnghuó zhōng de Baymax