iRobot talk at Brown

Today was the first day of Brown's Building Intelligent Robots class, and they devoted the class to an invited talk by someone in the military research department at iRobot. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the speaker.

iRobot is mostly known for Roomba, their $200 robotic vacuum cleaner. But they also have a significant military division, which sells products based on the PackBot.

The speaker showed videos of the Packbot in action. This thing can climb stairs, it can survive falls of 10 feet or more, it can flip itself over if it lands upside down, and it has a top speed of about 7mph (a decent jog). It's intended for dangerous jobs like mine detection, reconnaissance, working with bombs, etc. At least that's the public image they try to convey -- but the speaker also showed an advertisement for a PackBot add-on designed for laser targetting. Hmm... when would you need unmanned remote targetting? Perhaps for missiles?

Then the speaker showed a video of a bigger version of the Packbot, called the NEOMover. This thing was disturbing. It weighs 200 pounds, it can go about 12 mph (a fast run), and it plows right over small trees without even slowing down. It can crawl over a fallen log about 15" high (although it does take a while). The woman behind me commented that it reminded her of a horror movie -- "the thing just keeps going". It made me think of some kind of reptilian attack dog that never gets tired.

After watching the video of this thing in action, I was seriously spooked. I asked the speaker what iRobot does internally with people who have ethical questions about the military applications of their work. He replied that they probably just don't even apply to the military wing (well, sure), and that the consumer division is "completely separate". Except that they share technology, of course.

Well gee... if you share technology, that doesn't do much to resolve the ethical quandries, now does it? Here's the answer I would have hoped to receive:

Actually, as one of the leading robotics companies, iRobot takes its ethical responsibilties very seriously. You know, that whole Azimov Three Laws of Robotics thing. Our official policy is that the benefits of robotic technology currently far outweigh the risks for abuse, and we review each new project to make sure it disproportionately favors good over evil. We refuse to sell Packbots for uses that involve intentionally harming human beings (whether friend or foe) and our terms of sale enforce this restriction. We also have employees scattered throughout each of our groups -- including the military division -- who voluntarily take on the responsibility to speak up about ethical concerns. We half-jokingly call them our "moral compasses".

Unfortunately, this is clearly not iRobot's actual policy, as demonstrated by things like RedOwl and Griffon. Here's the beginning of the report on the Griffon project:

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as the Predator, have demonstrated their ability to aid warfighters in the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq -- both for reconnaissance and surveillance and for direct action against the enemy (i.e. Hellfire missiles). Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have been successfully deployed for reconnaissance operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. UAVs and UGVs are key elements in the design of the Objective Force as part of the Future Combat Systems initiative.

UAVs provide an operator with the ability to rapidly arrive at a site of interest, reconnoiter the area from above, and (in the case of the armed Predator) deliver a lethal payload to any exposed target. [emphasis added]

Posted on September 5, 2006 08:30 PM
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