INSIDER reader Kenneth Polcak submitted a “Question of the Week” to his fellow design engineer pros:

IBM has recently developed prototypes of energy-efficient computer chips that emulate the synapses, neurons, and learning functions of the human brain. IBM’s Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project uses advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry to create computers that could function without set programming and could “learn through experiences, find correlations, create hypotheses, and remember – and learn from – the outcomes.” Such a system could, for example, monitor the world’s waters via a network of sensors analyzing temperature, water pressure, or wave heights, and use that information to predict or detect tsunamis.

Many believe this development is the next logical step in the technological progression of computer evolution, while others view this as a dangerous step with unknown or unintended consequences. What do you think?

Are “thinking” or “learning” computers simply a next logical step in computer evolution?

Send us your thoughts, and vote in our weekly poll.

What other technology questions do you want to debate with your peers? Email me your suggestions, and we can share opinions in our weekly INSIDER newsletters.

Mother Nature is a great innovator. In fact, one might argue that some of today’s most efficient technologies were not engineered, but rather, exist in nature as the byproducts of a little process called evolution.

As such, it comes as no surprise that scientists sometimes look to nature as a source of inspiration for their next innovations. One example that comes to mind is Rice University’s Project Squid Skin. This four-year, $6 million grant from the Office of Naval Research aims to develop “metamaterials” that emulate the camouflage techniques of a class of animals called cephalopods (which includes squid, octopus, and cuttlefish). Researchers plan to use patterns of organized nanostructures to create sheets of materials that can change colors quickly and “see” light in the same way that squid skins do.

Meanwhile, scientists at the University of Southampton are developing an underwater sonar device that would be able to detect objects through bubble clouds that normally scatter sound and clutter the sonar image. The inspiration for this research? Dolphins, which have been observed to create bubble nets that outsmart manmade sonar. “It occurred to me that either dolphins were blinding their sonar when making such nets, or else they have a better sonar system,” said Professor Timothy Leighton of the University’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR). Not a bad point.

Of course, marine life isn’t the only sector of the animal kingdom capable of setting exciting new technologies in motion. A German bionics company, Festo, designed a Bionic Handling Assistant (robotic arm) that was inspired by the elephant’s trunk. According to the company, the system could be useful for medical technology, rehabilitation, and in industrial environments. Not too shabby for an animal sometimes referred to as “Dumbo.”

The emergency room may look a bit different in five years. And when I say “different,” I mean that mobile robots will be waiting on you and collecting your blood pressure and pulse rate.

Computer engineers at Vanderbilt University have a new idea about improving a hospital’s emergency department, proposing a system of cognitive robots that gather medical information and provide basic diagnoses to the human staff.

In the new system, the registration clerk is replaced by a kiosk. When patients provide critical information, like chest pain or another emergency condition, the robot alerts the staff so they can provide immediate attention. In less urgent situations, the robot informs the patient of the current wait time and directs him or her to the waiting room (Some things never change.).

Meanwhile “smart” waiting-room chairs, equipped with nurse triage assistant robots, could collect basic data including blood pressure, pulse rate, blood oxygen saturation, respiration rate, height and weight.

The Vanderbilt undergraduate engineering students have begun building a prototype registration robot assistant for their senior design project. Their design includes a touch-screen display, a camera, a blood pressure cuff, an electronic weight scale and a fingertip pulse oximeter that measures pulse rate and blood oxygen levels.

What do you think?

Day one at the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West show in Anaheim, CA was bustling with energy. Nearly everyone I spoke with said that they had found themselves happily busy throughout the day.

One nice part about meeting people at trade shows is that you might come across information you would never have gleaned from a simple press release (or information that never made it into the press release in the first place). For instance, although I was aware that NASA and GM had developed the highly advanced “Robonaut 2″ robot for space and automotive applications, I had no idea that Quickparts was involved in the process as well — until I spoke with their representatives at today’s show. Roughly speaking, Quickparts supplied custom parts for the Robonaut 2′s head and body, while GM was involved mainly with the development of the robot’s dexterous arms.

In other news, one innovation that caught my eye was the Noble UltraLight from Norman Noble. The brochure features a man in swimming gear making a snow angel, underneath the words, “Our New Laser Technology is Cool.” This athermal laser machining process was developed for applications that require intricate cutting without thermal damage to the material – such as the manufacturing of stents or a number of other medical devices. Hopefully I’ll find something just as “cool” tomorrow.

Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA) have successfully constructed a new method of robotic propulsion based on the movement of amoebas. Called “Whole Skin Locomotion” (WSL), the mechanism works similarly to a pseudopod, or cytoplasmic “foot,” of an amoeba. With its elongated cylindrical shape and expanding and contracting actuating rings, the WSL can turn itself inside out in a single continuous motion, mimicking the motion of the cytoplasmic tube an amoeba generates for propulsion.

“Our preliminary experiments show that a robot using the WSL mechanism can easily squeeze between obstacles or under a collapsed ceiling,” said Dennis Hong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, who led the project. The mechanism, which can use all of its contact surfaces for traction, can even squeeze through holes with diameters much smaller than its normal width.

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