Rich Hooper, PhD, PE: Robotics Engineer

76. Dear Rich Hooper, I am an electrical engineering student at Bucknell University working with a design team to improve the control interface for a professor's micromanipulator. Do you have any suggestions for us? We are currently using an "RC style" joystick with the twist controlling z-axis motion and up-down/back-forth controlling x and y. It springs back to neutral when no force is applied.

Dear Student: I would call what you are working on a Human Machine Interface (HMI). I bet there's a visual component (computer screen, VR goggles, etc.) along with the hand controller part. The hand controller part is also often called the manual controller. Frankly, if you only need to control X, Y and Z it's going to be tough to beat a traditional joystick like you already have. My experience is that humans are most precise using the small muscles of their hands and fingers, and that's the scale of a traditional joystick. Some force feedback might be helpful. You could experiment with that, but I don't recommend a manual controller that is at the scale of whole arm or body motion to control a micro manipulator.

If you are going to try to design a force feedback manual controller, it needs to be very high bandwidth. The structure needs to be very light, there needs to be no backlash and the actuators need to be backdrivable. The Phantom haptic device http://www.dentsable.com/haptic-phantom-omni.htm is a good example of a design that follows these principles and is at the scale of small movements of the hands and fingers. You could look at this design and learn from it.

Good luck with the project,

Rich

1. What are some of the advancements in robotics?

The biggest advancements have been in the precision, speed and strength of robots. Learning and artificial intelligence algorithms have probably been the biggest disappointments. I dont think we will see robots even remotely approaching human intelligence by 2050.

2. What defines artificial intelligence?

Artificial means not occurring in nature. Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.

3. What is the closest to artificial intelligence that mankind has created thus far?

Probably some computer algorithm.

4. Is it possible robots will surpass human intelligence?

It is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.

5. Besides creating a neural network, are there any other ways of creating artificial intelligence?

Learning algorithms and expert systems are two examples.

6. About how much does it cost to build a humanoid robot?

Im sure Honda has spent tens of millions of dollars on their Asimo.

7. If a completely self sustaining robot is created is it possible that Hollywood movies like The Terminator and I Robot could become reality?

It is possible, but more likely the people that made the robots would just turn them off before it got that out-of-control.

8. With spying becoming a greater problem, will creating surveillance robots add to an already growing threat?

Surveillance robots do make excellent spies.

9. Do you think that the field of robotics engineers will grow in the future or shrink?

I think the field will grow. Do some research on the number of robots deployed world-wide today and compare it with the numbers from ten years ago and then see what you think. You might also like to read Marshall Brains Robotic Nation and see what he thinks.

10. Robots like the Mini Andros III are used to dispose of explosive ordinance devices. Are there any other robots that help in a similar manner like firefighting?

I'm sure there are. Do some research and please let me know what you find. I think the BEAR robot could make an excellent fire fighter.

11. AIBO is able to learn and is capable of simulating emotions. Is there a possibility of AIBO turning on its owners?

Nope. I just read that Sony is discontinuing Aibo.

12. Im about to graduate high school. How do I find a job in robotics?

You really have two choices. The first is to go to traditional college and the second is to go to a technical college. If you decide to go the traditional college route, then you should probably study science or engineering, though there may be opportunities for folks with humanities degrees to work in the robotics field one of these days. Dr. Susan Calvin was a robot psychologist. If you go to a technical college, then you will have a chance to learn about robot programming and robot applications. A job doing those things would be very interesting.

13. Im about to graduate college with an engineering degree. How do I find a job in robotics?

When you first graduate college, you will be a very junior engineer. Robots are often the most complex systems a company will make. You will need to first focus on a subsystem, such as the mechanical, electrical, computing or software systems. Once you have become an accomplished engineer in one of those fields, you can consider moving to a systems engineering roles.

14. What sort of classes did you take to prepare for your college career, or what classes did you participate in your freshman year of college?

I didn't take calculus or any AP classes in high school. I did participate in student government, spent several semesters in metal shop and was on a sports team every year. Hopefully some Universities still appreciate varied experience. College had the typical freshman-engineering curriculum - calculus, physics and chemistry.

15. Did you always wish to be involved with robotics, if so what started your interests in robotics? If not, how did you come into being involved?

I've been interested in robotics for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure what started it. I do remember making a robotic hand in my garage when I was about 16.

16. What sort of company or group do you work for, and what is required of you by your employer (in terms of hours, job expectations, etc)?

I work for a company that does custom engineering of computer-controlled machines. We bid on projects in the 1 to 10 million-dollar range primarily. The projects usually last a year or less. We have about 70 engineers and about 15 work in my group. I work about 53 hours a week and try not to make too many big $$$ mistakes.

17. Within your job, what do you enjoy the most and what do you enjoy the least? Why?

I like most aspects of my job. The hardest part is dealing with employees that don't try hard enough or make a lot of mistakes.

18. I was wondering what colleges or universities are good for majoring in robotics.

Any college or university with an engineering program can put you on the path towards a career in robotics. Talk to (or email) someone on the faculty and tell them you are interested in robotics. See what they think.

19. Does your employer offer you benefits?

My employer offers benefits that are typical for a company that employs engineers health, life & disability insurance, 401k, standard holidays, a cube : )

20. Did you like the college you chose? if not why?

I went to Rice University for my undergraduate degree. The choice was good for me. I recommend looking for a University committed to nurturing its undergraduate students. I know its hard to believe, but an 18-year-old living away from home for the first time can use some guidance from time to time.

21. What are the educational requirements for becoming a robotics engineer?

The educational requirements are pretty much the same as the educational requirements for becoming any kind of engineer. That would be an engineering degree from a four-year college. Ive also seen folks with physics degrees and other science degrees working as engineers. There is also plenty of room for technical college degrees in the robotics field. These would be for the folks that would like to work on the "ground floor" with robots. They are deploying robots and teaching them to do their tasks.

22. What is the typical job function?

See below for a description of what I do on a typical day.

23. What do you do on a typical workday?

I generally get to work at 8:00 AM. Then Ill:

Spend two or three hours designing electrical circuits or mechanical systems and helping younger engineers learn about these circuits and systems. These engineers also help me by creating drawings and schematics.

An hour or two working on Bills Of Materials (BOMs) The BOM is very important to engineers. This is a list of all the materials in the system. It includes wires, resistors, integrated circuits, nuts, bolts and processors, etc. The manufacturing department uses the BOMs and the drawings to build the systems.

An hour or two in meetings or conference calls

An hour or two writing emails

An hour or two in the lab conducting experiments or trying to understand why the systems I designed are not working the way I thought the would.

Ill take a 30-minute lunch at noon and go home around 6:30. I usually sneak in a few hours working early in the morning on weekends (I'm writing the answer to this question at 2:40 AM). I typically work 53-hour weeks.

24. My son is 13 and is very interested in robotics, he attends West Hill School in Stalybridge Cheshire. He is to take his options for next year, can you suggest which would be the right direction for him to choose. Will he need A levels? and which University would you recommend he attend. He has been asked for Homework, what he would need in terms of qualifications to do this job. I hope you can help. Your website is very interesting, Brilliant and very informative. Thanks in advance.:

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed looking at the learnaboutrobots site. Robotics is such a broad field that your son could study almost any discipline and end up working with robots. There are robots in art, music and entertainment. The "star" of Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" books is a robot psychologist. I don't know how it is in Stalybridge Cheshire, but here in Austin public school is crammed with reading, writing and arithmetic - at the expense of music, arts and physical education. I have a 13 year old son too. I encourage him to study what he enjoys. I also insist that he participates in at least one cultural extracurricular activity (like playing piano) and one physical (he's on swim team right now) every semester. Tell your son I said hello.

25. Give a brief description of your field of engineering.

Systems engineering - The design of systems with mechanical components, electrical components, computing machinery and software.

26. Do you design you own work, or produce someone else's designs?

Engineers design their own work. Junior engineers get more supervision and senior engineers can make bigger mistakes.

27. What advice would you give a high school student (myself) who is thinking of going into robotics engineering?

The same advice I'd give a middle school student and an undergraduate student. Take the classes that seem interesting to you. See 24 above.

28. If you had to do it all over again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

Take more vacation time...

29. I'm not really good in mathematics, but I'm pretty average. Do you think I have what it takes to become a robotic engineer?

You can definitely work in robotics without being strong in mathematics. You might find getting an undergraduate degree in engineering pretty tough. Most engineering curricula have a lot of math. I'm sure you can do it, though you might need to spend a little more time on your homework.

30. I understand that you are a very busy man, but I need just a moment of your time. I am sure you get this question a lot. Do you know of any specific colleges I could attend in Indiana to get a degree in mechanical engineering? I believe a degree in mechanical engineering could help me become a robotics engineer. Please write back to me as soon as you can. Thank you in advance for your time.

Not a day goes by when someone doesn't ask me about mechanical engineering programs in Indiana : ) I'm not familiar with colleges in Indiana, but I bet there are plenty that have good programs in mechanical engineering. An undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering would be a great way to get on the path to becoming a robotics professional..

31. My friend and I were brain storming last night till about 4am about a simple robot that could play simple games. The games would involve timing so it would only involve one or two robotic fingers to fire corresponding with the timing.

You might consider servo center by Yost engineering and a couple of RC servos from the hobby shop. That would get you going for about $100. You could also buy a Robot magazine http://www.botmag.com/. There are lots of ads in that magazine for different robot building kits. Good luck!

32. I know that there are different disciplines in engineering such as robotics. But are there disciplines in Robotics Engineering? What is the correct term? What I am trying to say is that, Are their different fields such as Android engineering, Robotic Toys, Robotic Vehicles, Robotic Tools etc.? How many and what are the names of those different robotics fields?

I would call them branches of robotics. The branches I can think of along the lines you suggest would be mobile robotics, robotics tooling, robot vision, toys and entertainment. The disciplines that shape robotics include controls, mechanisms, dynamics, kinematics, computing hardware and software.

33. I am an academic coach assisting a high school student with the task of selecting the right college to fit his needs, wants, grades and temperament, that is a smaller school versus a huge 30,000 student factory. He is very interested in mechanical engineering and robotics.

You hit the nail on the head with the needs, wants, grades and temperament part. Take care of those and the rest will take care of themselves. I went to a very small 3,000-student school for undergrad and a huge 50,000-student school for grad. I learned a lot at both places. There are many schools of all sizes around the country where you can study robotics. Find some you are interested in and talk to (or email) someone on the faculty. Tell them you are interested in mechanical engineering and robotics. See what they think. Good luck to you and your student.

34. I am currently a junior in high school. I am really interested in the field of robotics and I would like to know how to get involved in this field. On your site, you talked about making a robot hand in your garage. how?? Did your house have these materials just lying around? Does experimenting with different things at home require any special equipment? I would love to try and make different things at home and I need to also...my mom is starting to get mad about all of the electronic stuff I take apart all throughout the house.

All of my early work was made from electronic stuff I took apart around the house. Our garage had a drill press and a vice, but no precision tools. Tell your Mom not to be mad, you're learning to be an engineer.

There are kits for making robots that you can buy so you don't have to scrounge as many parts. Take a look at the ads in Robot magazine (botmag.com). You can buy decent servos at the hobby store for about $10 each and hook them to your computer with something like Servocenter from Yost engineering.

35. I am 42 and in the accounting field. I don't have a degree currently. I am very interested in consumer robotics, but am unsure if it is feasible for me to consider this. Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

I'm sure it's feasible, but I think the monetary penalty would be pretty high. You would lose at least a few years of salary while getting a degree and then you would be starting as a very junior engineer and would have a pretty low salary. Then you would be looking at 10 - 20 more years before you would have enough engineering experience to be a lead engineer on a robotics project. If you really wanted to do it, you could; but you would have to really want to.

36. I am a interested in robotics but am cautious about getting into the field and it being to crowded. I am a mechanical engineering major that plans to graduate in 2009. Do you think the robotics field will get to the point where there is more qualified workers than there is work?

There will be more demand than supply of good engineers that understand computer-controlled electro-mechanical systems for as far into the future as I can see.

37. My idols are Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein (I know the theory of relativity) and The Wright Brothers. I want to either become an engineer or a physicist. I'm only 12 years old, turning thirteen next year. So, let's get to the point. What kind of engineering do you think I should do? What kind of job do you think would suit me?

You asked me questions that only you can answer. Study and work on what you find most interesting.

38. I see you have P.E. after your name. What is a P.E.?

A Professional Engineer (P.E.) is a person who by reason of their knowledge of mathematics, the physical sciences and the principles of engineering, acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to engage in the practice of professional engineering. To lawfully use that title a person must pass a series of exams, have multiple years of engineering experience, at least five positive references from other professional engineers and maintain a license from the state in which they practice.

39. Do you feel your pay is comparable to the amount of years you spent in college?

The money I earn is fine, but the real pay is the value I place on education.

40. What are some tools that you use regularly in your job?

The tools I use most often are an oscilloscope a Digital Multi Meter (DMM) and a computer.

41. Do you get vacation time from your job? How much?

I get two or three weeks vacation a year. As long as I am getting my job done, no one pays much attention to how much vacation time I take.

42. Do you ever travel for your job?

I generally travel two or three days a month.

43. If you get sick, can you work from home?

I could do some work from home, but a lot of my job duties require me to be at the office.

44. My son is 8. He wants to be a robotics engineer, but my husband is freaking out because he wants him to be a doctor.

He's only 8. By the time he grows up half of all surgeries will probably be performed by doctors controlling robots. The Da Vinci robot is already being used for gall bladder, prostate and even heart surgery. Do a search on Da Vinci robot and you will find lots of information. Maybe you could use his interest in robotics to expose him to medicine?

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Rich Hooper, PhD, PE: Robotics Engineer