From AI to Robotics: Mobile, Social, and Sentient Robots

From AI to Robotics: Mobile, Social, and Sentient Robots is a journey into the world of agent-based robotics and it covers a number of interesting topics, both in the theory and practice of the discipline. The book traces the earliest ideas for autonomous machines to the mythical lore of ancient Greece and ends the last chapter with a debate on a prophecy set in the apparent future, where human beings and robots/technology may merge to create superior beings - the era of transhumanism. Throughout the text, the work of leading researchers is presented in depth, which helps to paint the socio-economic picture of how robots are transforming our world and will continue to do so. This work is presented along with the influences and ideas from futurists, such as Asimov, Moravec, Lem, Vinge, and of course Kurzweil.

The book furthers the discussion with concepts of Artificial Intelligence and how it manifests in robotic agents. Discussions across various topics are presented in the book, including control paradigm, navigation, software, multi-robot systems, swarm robotics, robots in social roles, and artificial consciousness in robots. These discussions help to provide an overall picture of current day agent- based robotics and its prospects for the future. Examples of software and implementation in hardware are covered in Chapter 5 to encourage the imagination and creativity of budding robot enthusiasts.

The book addresses several broad themes, such as AI in theory versus applied AI for robots, concepts of anthropomorphism, embodiment and situatedness, extending theory of psychology and animal behavior to robots, and the proposal that in the future, AI may be the new definition of science. Behavior-based robotics is covered in Chapter 2 and retells the debate between deliberative and reactive approaches. The text reiterates that the effort of modern day robotics is to replicate human-like intelligence and behavior, and the tools that a roboticist has at his or her disposal are open source software, which is often powered by crowd-sourcing. Open source meta-projects, such as Robot Operating System (ROS), etc. are briefly discussed in Chapter 5.

The ideas and themes presented in the book are supplemented with cartoons, images, schematics and a number of special sections to make the material engaging for the reader. Designed for robot enthusiasts - researchers, students, or the hobbyist, this comprehensive book will entertain and inspire anyone interested in the exciting world of robots.

《從人工智慧到機器人：行動、社交和有感知能力的機器人》是一本探索基於代理的機器人世界的旅程，涵蓋了這個學科的理論和實踐中的許多有趣主題。本書追溯了自主機器的最早概念，從古希臘的神話傳說一直到最後一章的一場關於未來的預言辯論，即人類和機器人/技術可能融合創造出優越的存在-超人類時代。在整本書中，深入介紹了領先研究人員的工作，這有助於描繪機器人如何改變我們的世界並將繼續如何改變的社會經濟圖景。這些工作與未來主義者的影響和思想一起呈現，如阿西莫夫、莫拉維克、萊姆、文吉和當然還有庫茲韋爾。

本書進一步討論了人工智慧的概念以及它在機器人代理中的體現。書中介紹了各種主題的討論，包括控制範式、導航、軟件、多機器人系統、群體機器人、機器人在社會角色中的應用以及機器人的人工意識。這些討論有助於提供當代基於代理的機器人的整體圖景以及其未來的前景。第五章涵蓋了軟件和硬件實現的示例，以激發初學者機器人愛好者的想像力和創造力。

本書涉及了幾個廣泛的主題，如理論中的人工智慧與應用於機器人的應用人工智慧的概念、拟人化、具身性和情境性、將心理學和動物行為理論擴展到機器人領域，以及未來AI可能成為科學新定義的提議。第二章涵蓋了基於行為的機器人學，並重新講述了關於思考和反應方法之間的辯論。本文重申，現代機器人學的努力是複製類似人類的智能和行為，而機器人學家所擁有的工具是開源軟件，這些軟件通常由眾包驅動。第五章簡要討論了開源元項目，如機器人操作系統（ROS）等。

本書所呈現的思想和主題還配有卡通、圖片、示意圖和一些特別部分，以使材料對讀者更具吸引力。這本綜合性的書籍專為機器人愛好者-研究人員、學生或愛好者設計，將為任何對機器人這個令人興奮的世界感興趣的人提供娛樂和靈感。

Arkapravo Bhaumik is from New Delhi, India and has an advanced degree in Mechatronics from King's College, London. His research interests are mobile robotics, robot swarms and human-robot interaction. He is also enthusiastic about the open source philosophy and Linux. He prefers to spend time designing or writing about AI and robotics. His recent robots and simulations have employed ROS, and his research on machine learning has been with SVM to detect emotions from human faces. His excursions into natural language processing has been with Python NLTK. He is currently posted at the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India.

Arkapravo Bhaumik來自印度新德里，擁有倫敦國王學院的機電一體化高級學位。他的研究興趣包括移動機器人、機器人群體和人機交互。他對開源理念和Linux充滿熱情。他喜歡花時間設計或撰寫關於人工智慧和機器人的內容。他最近的機器人和模擬使用了ROS，他在機器學習方面的研究是使用SVM從人臉上檢測情緒。他在自然語言處理方面的探索是使用Python NLTK。他目前在印度的比爾拉理工學院任職。