Aren't all robots and intelligence already built?

[praveen_khm]

This is a strange question which always bothers me. Whenever I imagine a new robot or new intelligence, I try to find information on google. I Find that it is already Built,  Successfully. Does it mean that this is old science and somebody or the other have already done everything?

Or is there anything still pending for a beginner like me to learn and show something new.

-Praveen

[Hawaii00000]

I Find that it is already Built,  Successfully.

I think we all kind of have that problem, I guess that true for technology in geneal, not just robotics. I think experienced helps a lot with coming up with new ideas. The longer you've been around the the more "seeds" you have for good ideas and the more you know what is and is not possible. I my opinion robotics is definity a technology on the way up, not on the way down and obviously everything hasn't be thought of yet.

1% inspiration 99% perspiration 

[Cristi_Neagu]

Even tough you find that somebody already had the ideas that you're having, that doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue them. Unless you are trying to produce something commercial, or something that needs to stand above other products, going up well beaten tracks is very useful. Not only do you find out first hand why things work the way they do, but when you get stuck, you have places where you can learn how to get going again.

You might say "why waste my time doing stuff that others had already done to exhaustion?". Well, how do you expect to invent something brand new when you haven't the experience to tackle something simpler? It's like trying to swim to the bottom of the ocean on your first swimming lesson.
You could also say that "i don't need to rethink for myself everything, i can just read what other have have found". Just remeber that reading is not a very practical thing to do. And only by doing something you gather experience.

There will always be a "cutting edge" of science. But only a few people will live on it. There is nothing wrong with reinventing the wheel sometimes, as long as you don't expect anything profitable coming out of it.

[praveen_khm]

Thanks for your words guys. Maybe these words would inspire me in continuing my search for knowledge on robotics.

[Ro-Bot-X]

You can find ways to be original. Take a look at my MiniEric robot. You won't see another robot that looks like him on the net. His arms-torso design is original, he can bend down to pick up objects, using the hands as a claw, or he can move the hands independently. Also, you won't find many robots that use 4 microcontroller boards that communicate using I2C. Even more, you won't find many robots that use a spray bottle to spray a mist of water to put out a candle flame. But, you will find lots of robots that use Ping))) sensors, Sharp IR sensors, Arduino, Faulhaber motors, servos and a color LCD display. So, take a look at what others have built and combine features that you like with your own ideas about functionality.

[vinito]

I'm not much of an electronics or programming wizard yet (dunce actually) but I can speak with authority about mechanical things. And I'll offer the idea that original ideas are usually just combinations of the basic machines that have been around for centuries, i.e. the wheel, the lever, etc.
They often aren't always all that original either, but it's all based on the simple stuff and simply expanded to be more complex by the time it does it's intended task. Therein lies the "new idea". Newness isn't always totally revolutionary. It can just be a new combination that is focused on accomplishing a set of tasks that somebody else either hasn't done yet, or isn't doing in an affordable way. My more original ideas often have more to do with taking a complex thing and making it easier to construct, less complex to assemble, or more reliable than the available stuff than being a totally new idea. Sometimes it's a matter of taking two ideas that have been around for a hundred years and putting them together to accomplish a specific goal in a practical way.

It's still fun to make something that somebody (or I) can't find to buy. And possibilities are dreamed up by either other people or me pretty regularly. This is true in robotics too of course. I'm having fun just learning how to make one do stuff that everybody else has done a million times - a line-follower for example. But I have also thought of things that aren't available or affordable that I'd like to make once I learn how to. And excluding labor, most of these things would cost about $20 to make, so there's reason enough for me to try it too.

Looking up old patents is humbling when you realize how smart people were a hundred years ago. You could say it's all already been done, but that doesn't mean you can just go out and get one. From time to time a new demand can pull an idea out of obscured past. And I can guarantee you that by the time you are done making something, it will be different (improved) from the original seed idea anyway. It's just the natural evolution of design. Suddenly you realize you have created something not quite like anything else out there without even trying. Tadaaa!

[Cristi_Neagu]

Also, you won't find many robots that use 4 microcontroller boards that communicate using I2C.

That is, until i start work on my articulated arm that'll use one Axon to control everything, and 6 more smaller chips (haven't yet decided which ones, but it looks like the ATmega8 will be it) controlling each individual motor

[waltr]

Also, you won't find many robots that use 4 microcontroller boards that communicate using I2C.

That is, until i start work on my articulated arm that'll use one Axon to control everything, and 6 more smaller chips (haven't yet decided which ones, but it looks like the ATmega8 will be it) controlling each individual motor

There are a few robot snakes with a processor in each section with I2C as the communication among the processors.


Even if someone has already built something, the learning experience of doing it yourself is a step to some future unique idea.

[JoeSkull]

There are no new ideas, only new ways to do them.
Make a robot that has been done before and say to yourself, "What else can I do with it?" or "What if I changed this?", etc.

[Ro-Bot-X]

There are many ways to accomplish the same task. It is a very good exercise to try your own way at a challenge, it stimulates creativity. A while back I was a member of a group of Lego robotics enthusiasts and we used to have a challenge every third month. We would propose a subject for the challenge, make the rules and build our robot(s) and sometimes the play field. It was easy to us to do such a thing, because you can build what ever you want from Lego. The only difference was that we had to keep it simple, because of the lack of input-output slots on the Lego RCX brick. However, that made us to think and come up with impressive mechanical ways to solve the problem, using gears and levers, differentials and ratchets. The new NXT system allows for more flexibility and smarter robots can be built, thus harder challenges can be tackled. If you want to take a look at some of the challenges we made, take a look here: http://seriousrobotics.wordpress.com/lego-robots/