Over the last year, AnyWalker, a unique robot able to walk, step over obstacles and open doors, has visited a number of international exhibitions in France, Germany, Japan and the UK, won a series of national prizes, and last July was introduced to President Putin.
Our interviewee is Igor Riadchikov, head of the Laboratory of Robotics and Mechanics, Kuban State University.
“AnyWalker is a ball equipped with two extremities and a stabilization system – three joints per leg. Its centre of inertia is located under the point of suspension, so that it can bend aside when walking and stand on one leg raising the other one to the height 2.5 times higher than its own. With the height of 70 cm, the robot is able to deal with nearly two-metre-high obstacles.”
Q.: Had the robot had any lookalikes by the time it was made?
A.: Currently, several dozens of companies worldwide are working on the similar task, trying to solve the main problem which is minimization of the cost of its components.
The US engineering company Boston Dynamics has developed a two-legged anthropomorphic robot Atlas that costs more than USD 2 million. The price is caused by the fact that 90% of its components are made manually; they are non-standard and cannot be used anywhere else.
Q.: What should such machine know to do?
A.: The main aim of our project is to construct a universal platform for robotic assistants. Roughly speaking, it is an undercarriage able to move in the 3D space and manipulate with different objects. All the rest solely depends on the software downloaded.
The main problem is the price. For instance, AnyWalker, depending on the ‘stuffing’ and kitting, costs up to 2.5 million rubles. We reckon that in a couple of years we will be able to produce platforms for robotic assistants costing 300 to 400,000 rubles. I am convinced that household robots of the same price category as cars will be in good demand.
Q.: Does this mean that some time in future AnyWalker and the like will force out humans, say, from consumers services?
A.: I will re-address the question whether robots may replace humans to the creators of artificial intellect – of the software downloaded there.
Q.: But still, robots will replace somebody…
A.: The human resources distribution pattern will of course change. Undoubtedly, robots will replace drivers, janitors, waiters, couriers, nurses… But they will never replace teachers, artists or scientists.
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