CoG
CoG was a collaborative experiment that began in 1993 to create and test a robot that could live and learn. Designed by Rodney Brooks, CoG is one of the most sophisticated humanoid robots in the world. The name CoG does not stand for anything, it is played off of the word “cognition”. CoG has traveled all over the world to be viewed by thousands. CoG has been evolving with every new challenge.
CoG’s intelligence can be described as a set of sensors or actuators that try to approximate the sensory and motor dynamics of the human body. From the waist up, CoG resembles a human body. CoG can hear with microphones, use senors to move and collect information from its surroundings and see objects in the distance and close with two cameras. CoG has the sense of sight by way of video cameras. The neck and eyes have three degrees of freedom. Microphones are mounted n the sides of the head. Four cameras in place on Cog give the robot nearly all the possible characteristics of human vision. Each joint incorporates a series of elastic actuator and is force controlled.
CoG is constantly being worked on by MIT researchers. One researcher in particular is Brian Scassellati, who set new goals for CoG. These goals are to improve the robot’s perception, learning abilities, and social skills, to interpret simple forms of human communication, create touch-sensitive, grasping hands to grab or point to desired objects, and to learn to read a person’s gaze and respond accordingly. Researchers are extremely hopeful that one day CoG will serve a greater purpose than simply the mechanical restructuring of human sensory movements.
CoG is constantly being worked on by MIT researchers. One researcher in particular is Brian Scassellati, who set new goals for CoG. These goals are to improve the robot’s perception, learning abilities, and social skills, to interpret simple forms of human communication, create touch-sensitive, grasping hands to grab or point to desired objects, and to learn to read a person’s gaze and respond accordingly. Researchers are extremely hopeful that one day CoG will serve a greater purpose than simply the mechanical restructuring of human sensory movements.
