Episode notes
It’s hard enough to make a functional, reliable robot. Many people also want to make those robots in our image. That’s a tough needle to thread. Often, the most efficient design isn’t the most human-like one. But that isn’t stopping us from reaching for those humanoid robots. Professor Shigeki Sugano argues in favor of creating human-shaped robots. But it’s such an enduring challenge, we’ve come up with a name for it: the uncanny valley. Evan Ackerman walks us through the uncanny valley’s treacherous terrain. Deanna Dezern shares how she’s connected to her robot companion. And Dor Skuler…
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Command Line Heroes
Red Hat · Tech & Science · English
Red Hat's storytelling podcast about the people who transform technology — open source pioneers, programming language creators and OS architects.
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S8 · E8 · 14 Dec 2021 · 24 min
Robot as Vehicle
Self-driving cars are seemingly just around the corner. These robots aren’t quite ready for the streets. For every hyped-up self-driving showcase, there’s a news story about its failure. But the good news is that we get closer every year. Alex Davies steers us through the history of autonomous vehicles. Alex Kendall maps the current self-driving landscape. And Jason Millar takes us under the hood of these robots’ computers to better understand how they make decisions. If you want to read up on some of our research on self-driving cars, you can check our all our bonus material over at…
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S8 · E7 · 30 Nov 2021 · 23 min
Robot as Threat
When a robot goes bad, who is responsible? It’s not always clear if the user or the manufacturer is liable when a robot leaves the lot. Human behavior can be complex—and often contradictory. Asking machines to interpret that behavior is quite the task. Will it one day be possible for a robot to have its own sense of right and wrong? And barring robots acting of their own accord, whose job is it to make sure their actions can’t be hijacked? AJung Moon explains the ethical ramifications of robot AI. Ryan Gariepy talks about the levels of responsibility in robotic manufacturing. Stefanie Tellex…
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S8 · E6 · 16 Nov 2021 · 21 min
Humans as Robot Caretakers
HitchBOT was an experiment in stewardship: A small, rudimentary robot unable to move on its own, depending on the kindness of passersby to help it along its journey. Until it met an untimely end. Trust is a two-way street, and because robots are not powered by their own moral code, they rely on humans to supply both empathy and support. Dr. Frauke Zeller shares HitchBOT’s origin story. Eli Schwartz recounts his heartbreak upon learning what happened in Philadelphia. Dr. Julie Carpenter analyzes why it all went down. And Georgia Guthrie epitomizes the outpouring of sympathy that followed.…
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S8 · E5 · 2 Nov 2021 · 23 min
Robot as Body
For years, prosthetic technology focused on form over function, on masking lost limbs, rather than agency and usability. But things are changing. Innovations in robotics are giving more people more options, with lower thresholds of entry—and lower price tags, too. Tilly Lockey takes us through her journey with prosthetic arms. Brian Schulz gives some history of mechanical prosthetics, and what it means for people to reach embodiment with their devices. Tyler Hayes talks about the software that made advancements in assistive technology possible. Charlie Kemp discusses his work building…
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S8 · 26 Oct 2021 · 21 min
From Compiler: Do We Want A World Without Technical Debt?
Who says tech talk has to be boring? On Compiler, we dig into tech topics big, small, and strange. We talk to people who know the code, and bring their perspectives back to you. Intrigued? Here's a preview episode. Software development teams often reach a crossroads. Should they perform maintenance and address bug issues, or add new features to satisfy users? The former isn’t as exciting, but sometimes the most important work is invisible to those who reap the benefits. For now, the project has been released, and everyone wants to celebrate. But there’s an elephant in the room, one that…
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S8 · E3 · 5 Oct 2021 · 25 min
Robot as Maker
One of the first functional robots appeared on TV in 1966. That’s earlier than some of us expect. The Unimate’s televised premiere sparked the world’s imagination. It represented a host of possibilities. Those possibilities, however, also implied a coming competition that would last for decades. Dag Spicer tells the story of the Unimate, the first industrial robot—and how little the American public trusted it. But that distrust wasn’t universal. Tomonori Sanada explains how the Unimate was received very differently in Japan. Joe Campbell describes the dangers of working alongside industrial…
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S8 · E2 · 21 Sep 2021 · 23 min
Robot as Software
Building a physical robot isn’t cheap—even when it’s the final version. Designing a robot and testing it over and over again? That takes a lot of tries. And likely more than a few failures on the way to success. Luckily, simulation software is reducing the scrap heap—and bringing down the costs of building robots from the ground up. Kevin Knoedler shares how simulation software allows him to program and design robots from home. And even though he doesn’t have the budget or support of major research institutions like DARPA, his robots still end up winning major competitions. Evan Ackerman…
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S8 · E1 · 7 Sep 2021 · 25 min
Robot as Servant
The 1980s promised robotic servants were in reach. They’d clean up our houses. Bring us drinks. Usher in an era of leisure. We didn’t get robot butlers. But if we look around, we’ll find an army of robotic servants already automating away domestic drudgery. Richard Rowland recounts the extent to which Androbot over-promised on its ability to build a robot servant. 40 years later, we still don’t have robot maids. Monroe Kennedy III walks us through the complexities of seemingly simple tasks. To make things more difficult, each attempt to build a robot had to build the hardware AND write the…
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S8 · 24 Aug 2021 · 2 min
Command Line Heroes Season 8: Broadcasting the Robot Revolution
Robots have a special place in our imaginations. Writers, artists, directors, and more have shown how robots can change our world—for better or far, far worse. In the real world, robots seem a long way off. But are they? Season 8 of Command Line Heroes is all about the rise of the robots. They just may not be what you expect. We meet the first industrial robot, take a journey through the uncanny valley, and investigate a possible robot crime. Season 8 covers the robots that are in our midst—and the determined dreamers who bring them to life. The first episode drops September 7, 2021. Follow…
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S7 · E8 · 29 Jun 2021 · 23 min
After the Bubble
The Y2K bug generated a lot of fear, but all that hype fizzled when the new millennium didn’t start with a digital apocalypse. It turns out that fear was just aimed at the wrong catastrophe. While plenty were riding high on the rise of the internet beyond the Y2K scare, another disaster had been brewing since 1995—and would bring them back down. But the dot-com bubble wasn’t the end. The internet was here to stay. Not long after the turn of the millennium, the dot-com economy collapsed. Peter Relan points to the flawed business plans that fueled the dot-com bubble, and how many entrepreneurs…
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