While we’re on the topic of robots (a seemingly never-ending topic now that Gar has published his book) we might as well mention that the first annual Carnegie Mellon Robot Hall of Fame inductees were announced yesterday. The group of four robots included some fictional and some real. Of the fictional, R2D2 was inducted for hyr portrayal of a humble servant with a bit of an independant streak, HAL 9000 was recognized for setting the benchmark for robot intelligence (and for being the first robot capable of pre-meditated murder).
“Real” robot incductees included the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner Rover for hyr remarkable interplanetary robotic acheivement (and not mixing up the kilos and the pounds) and the little known Unimate, the first industrial robotic arm, was recognized for years of hard labor in the service of mankind.
Make sure to visit the Hall of Fame website and vote for Gareth for induction next year. While not as cute as R2D2, not as smart as HAL, not as mobile as Sojourner and not as strong as Unimate, we here at ST think he’s the best mix of all four.