A Combat Robot Show on the SyFy Channel

I still need to see the movie Real Steel, but I am kind of excited about this new show.  It's titled, Robot Combat League.

For once, the SyFy network is actually airing a show that focuses on robots.  But it is not just any robot.  No.  It’s going to show combat robots.  Robots made for fighting.

Fighting for the entertainment of humans.

In a way, I kind of don’t like that idea at the same time.  I don’t like to see two robots try to destroy each other.  At least when humans do it in sports like boxing and wrestling, they don’t try to kill each other, and yes there will be injuries.  But do robots know when to quit the damage?  Maybe if they had some sort of “damage gauge” built into their visual sensors, they’d tell when the other one is losing and it’s time to stop fighting.

Mega Man X would not want to see this.

What helps me easily deal with this oil-shed is that the combat robots don’t really have faces.  They may have something on their heads that resemble eyes, or one eye, but that is all.  

I’m going to give this show another chance, but otherwise I’m not sure if I want to waste any more hours watching people waste awesome perfectly-built robots.  They would do best at a science show and be operated to “air-fight” so as to not damage the other robots. Why is the act of physically fighting so entertaining to us humans?  Is it because we don’t like to do it ourselves but it is rather fun to see other people—or robots—do it instead?  Has our violent culture gone too far?

Another Robot Drawing, February 18th 2012

I want to draw more robots.  I have a couple more robot-drawing projects on the way.  Meanwhile, I have a line art piece of a robot—an android really—that I wanted to design for a story I’ve been working on.  While I’m not working on the story currently, I still like to draw ideas for it.  This android is supposed to look more “robot-like” than the other androids in the story because it is an older model.

Drawing by AmethystAnne
February 18, 2012

He looks like he’s smiling but that is because of the way that his mandible is designed.  Maybe I didn’t need to give him a nose.  He even looks to me a bit scary, something that I’d get a nightmare from if I was five years old, but he means no harm.

I should have given him more details on his body, but I guess I can say the drawing is still a work in progress.

On Seeing Tim Burton's “9”

I’m not a big fan of Tim Burton, but as a robot enthusiast, I am happy that I got a chance to catch the movie 9.  I was babysitting my cat, who was recovering from a surgery.  She went to sleep on her bed and I wanted to stay nearby, so I turned on the TV with the remote to find something to keep me awake.  There was nothing good on and a little after 11:30pm I turned to the SyFy channel (it should have stayed Sci-Fi, but whatever).  The movie was on and I looked at the TV grid, and it started at 11:30.  I thought to myself, why not, I only missed the first few minutes.  I’ll go ahead and see if I like it.

               And like it I did.  I noticed that the main character 9 was blinking his eyes and they didn’t look like organic eyes.  They were blinking like pair of robot eyes, if a robot could blink.  I thought to myself, Oh, this is neat!  So these guys are actually little robots with bean-bag bodies and goggles for eyes.  I could have guessed 9 was a puppet of a sort, but do puppets move on their own?

The story is a dark tale about a group of robot puppets that eventually band together to put a stop to an evil machine.  Yes, I said evil machine.  Machines can be evil if they are programmed to learn and do things such as fight in wars or cause destruction.  It is actually the programmer who is evil or greedy, not the machine or computer that is programmed.  Of course, there is always that “glitch” in the programming that would be possible.

So it turned out that these little robot puppets had a human soul put inside them that gave them life. I don’t want to give away how that happens, but why else would they have human-like emotions like compassion, anger, fear, and joy?  Especially compassion.   My heart cries happy tears when I see a robot comfort another robot for their sadness or loss.

Astroboy, Android Kikaider, 9—any Japanese anime, otherwise animated and live action movies that contain robot characters with souls and emotions—they are just so fascinating.   A robot with a soul is such an interesting idea to play with in fiction.

Some of My Thoughts on the Nao Humanoid

I don’t think I’ll be buying one of these little guys.  They are tens of thousands of dollars each on the market.  But I plan to see the Nao Humanoid in action.

I missed my chance.

There was an expo just this past Sunday, the 22^nd, where the Nao was featured at a demonstration.  I think it was in downtown Los Angeles.  I wouldn’t have been able to go, anyway, considering my mobility issues (I don’t drive on my own).  But it gives me an idea on when to take this opportunity next year perhaps.

I’ve been thinking about joining the LA Robotics Club, based in downtown LA, which is a long way from my San Fernando Valley home.  This group DID go to the Nao demonstrations.  I’d feel comfortable joining if I knew it was a club I can physically attend on a regular basis.  I don’t know if these robot/technology conventions allow the general public to come.   I’d have to belong to some association or group of robot enthusiasts such as myself to be allowed to attend such a convention.

Anyway, I’ve seen YouTube videos of the Nao Humanoid.  It is small, cute, speaks and walks and can pick items off from the floor and put them in another location.  I’ve also watched some personal demonstrations on YouTube of a Nao dancing and a few of them performing a synchronized dance number as well.  Suffice it to say, this Nao robot has some amazing capabilities while looking like a toy.  The Nao may be a toy, but not just any toy, nor a toy for kids.

http://youtu.be/eLfEL3GXMZM       (Nao Dances the Tango)

http://youtu.be/z_8A97xuQ8g        (Coffee for Nao)

http://youtu.be/atwSKUdN0H4       (Nao Robot Does Star Wars)

http://youtu.be/vgEFC8Eb6i4         (Nao Robots Dancing together...All the Single Ladies)

http://youtu.be/ZHJf365p_zw         (Nao - Thriller)

Holidays and stuff... On Hiatus

I think I may have been on an unannounced hiatus, so sorry for any disappointment I may have caused for not posting as regularly as I used to.

But I will be back next next year as soon as the end of January  ^__^

So, have a Merry Christmas and a pleasant Hanukkah and a wonderful Kwanzaa!!!!

Early Signs of My Fascination with Robots: Part 1

The Dream

When I was in middle school, I dreamed that I made a friend with a robot in my middle school and spent the day with him, and then when it was time to go, I was sad because I was going to leave him and we already became friends. Could that be it? Could that be the basis for my fascination with robots?

Many years before this dream, I learned what a robot was from an electronic toy computer. This toy mainly taught spelling and math. But I first learned the word “robot” from this toy, and what a robot looked like. I was fascinated with the image; it looked like an alien from outer space but with square and rectangular body parts rather than round body parts. I knew that it wasn’t human. The robot had a square face and two antennae on its head, like a TV set. The antennae moved after it finished doing its dance (bend, stretch and jump).

I knew what a robot was when I was six or seven years old. The toy robot I drew for my second grade journal for school was definitely a robot. A small one, but, resembled a gold-colored robot with propellers on its head, a vertical, rectangular torso and wheels to get around. I forgot if it had a gun, but I drew it in the picture for 2nd grade.

So this dream that I had about the friendly robot at school must be the thing that sparked and strengthened my appreciation for the metal-man after the electronic computer and the robot toy. It is perhaps a deep psychological attachment to the type of thing that I befriended in the dream. In that dream it was possible for the robot to appreciate the company of human friends and be nice to them. In the dream he was nice to me and I admired his height and his strong metallic body, even protective if one could see that. A giant teddy bear, only it was a tall giant cube- bodied robot.

The Flashbulb’s song “Once Weekly”: Robot Maintenance?

A music band called The Flashbulb has an album titled Arboreal  and a lot of the music in this album is electronic and eclectic.  This song caught my attention, though.  It is titled "Once Weekly" and keeping that in mind as I listened to it, I imagined a specific scene about a--you might have guessed--a robot or android. 

When I listen to this song, it makes me think of a robot or android that is having a weekly maintenance check done. The electronic sounds in the music make me think of the machines and gadgets that are checking in on the robot/android’s vitals and function levels; eye lens, auditory sensors, main memory drive, the computer brain overall, limb and joint functions, battery levels (if the robot drives on this source of energy) to check for a battery replacement, that kind of stuff.

I have included the track "Once Weekly" in my iPod's Robot/Android Playlist, which is a playlist of music I listen to whenever I need a little inspiration in writing a robot science fiction story.  The track "A Raw Understanding" also makes me think about robots because of the electronic sounds in the music.

A New Robot Drawing of Mine, June 29th

A TV program inspired me to draw a robot, very different from other robots I've drawn.  Wednesday night I was watching a science channel (213) and was able to catch the last forty minutes of a program about practical advances in robotics. The program was an episode of a show titled “That’s Impossible” and this episode talked about the advances in robotic technology such as robotic exoskeletons, reasoning robots, fighting robots and autonomous robots. The exoskeletons that are currently under development are truly fascinating! I was so excited watching this show because it also touched up on the powerful reasons why autonomous robots would be dangerous. I especially loved the section of the program when robot fighters used for military purposes were discussed. If autonomous robot fighters were given the command to kill (and know how to do it), they can make decisions on their own and might decided that all human fighters are the bad guys. Just because it may be eventually possible to have autonomous robotic fighters doesn’t mean that it is the best idea. It would be great, but, their autonomous system needs to be perfected before mass-production is approved by both the military AND the government.

Anyway, about my new drawing… I was writing in my journal and robots were on my mind after that TV program, so I did a random doodle of what appears to be a robot with one of the cutesy Japanese designs (with the round big eyes and flat, almost-rectangular head). I was just going to draw the head, but then I drew the rest of the body, and even gave it joints. I think in my opinion it is the best drawing of a robot I’ve ever done so far, probably BECAUSE I drew joints for the elbows and knees.

Drawing by Amethyst Anne
June 29, 2011