USU RESEARCHERS CREATE ROBOTIC INVESTIGATORS

Over the coming weeks, moviegoers will treat themselves to Spielberg’s latest epic, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” A futuristic tale featuring a Pinocchio-like android who seeks genuine maternal love, “A.I.” portrays a world in which “mechas” (mechanical robots) coexist with “orgas” (organic humans). Sound far-fetched? Well, maybe. But according to Utah State University researcher Carl Wood, robots are already intervening in situations where humans once trod.

“We’re developing a robot that can easily maneuver in areas dangerous to humans,” said Wood, mechanical group leader with the university’s Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS).

With funding from the U.S. Army’s Tank Command (TACOM), Wood and colleagues Kevin Moore, CSOIS director, and Nick Flann, CSOIS computer science group leader, are constructing a robotic system for parking lot surveillance. “You don’t want to send people into a situation where a motion-sensitive bomb could go off,” said Wood.

Dubbed the Omnidirectional Inspection System or “ODIS,” the system consists of an autonomous desk-size mobile “parent” unit which deploys smaller “child” robots that scurry under parked vehicles looking for suspicious underframe modifications.

The offspring don’t look anything like “A.I.’s” Haley Joel Osment, though. About the size of auto mechanics’ creepers, they resemble oversize bathroom scales on rollerblade wheels. Equipped with bright lights, video cameras and chemical sniffers, the self-propelled units instantly relay detailed information to a human operator based at a remote mobile or stationary site.

Surveillance cameras have been used in parking lots and garages for years, of course, but Wood says they lack the resolution and mobility needed for effective searches. “Hollywood portrays car bombs as big sticks of dynamite with huge ticking alarm clocks taped under vehicles,” he said. “It’s not like that in real life. Sophisticated bombs are hard to detect without close visual inspection.”

Law enforcement authorities report one or two scenarios in typical bombing situations, said Wood. “Either the perpetrator parks the vehicle, leaves and arms the bomb from a remote location or it’s a suicide bomber. In either case, officers don’t want to send personnel in there.”

Wood says the parent units, called “T4s,” will likely be equipped with license plate recognition equipment to quickly seek out suspect vehicles. Widely used in Europe, license plate recognition technology is being employed with increasing frequency in the United States. “In major U.S. cities, parking garages use automated scanners to log vehicle tag numbers as drivers enter parking facilities. The captured data quickly reveals if a particular vehicle doesn’t belong there and also keeps track of which patrons are parked there and how long they’re parked.”

Are the T4s and their offspring remote-controlled? No, says Wood. “They approach a vehicle and plan their own path of inspection. They are not pre-programmed.”

In addition, he says, they figure out how to avoid moving cars and pedestrians.

So how will humans react to nonhuman objects invading their space? “Well, there are definitely some psychological deterrents to mobile surveillance. People will have to get used to them,” said Wood.

“Actually, in crowded areas, I think the robots are better behaved than humans,” he added.