In one of my projects, when the batteries in a robot dinosaur ran down, it would “go to sleep” and transfer itself to your mobile phone, where a virtual image of it could continue to play with you (while someone recharged the actual robot), then it would go to sleep on the phone and wake up in the robot body remembering what you had done with it on the phone. Can you think of a story for a robot?
How long will it be before we have robot politicians? After all, robots can make decisions based on all the facts, and they can’t be corrupted, can they? When should we have robots flying our planes, driving our trains and cars, teaching in our classroom, helping us in our homes and offices, performing surgery on us, or fighting on the battlefield making the decision to shoot by themselves? Well, we already have basic forms of these sorts of robots, but at present there is always a human somewhere in control. Should that always be the case? After all, people make mistakes all the time. Could robots do better?
New advances in nanotechnology will allow us to create microrobots that can be injected into our bodies to perform repairs or even update us, linking our bodies and minds with external technology, building a new species of humans—transhumans: robot-human hybrids. Is this the stuff of nightmares or a way to improve the life of the disabled and give humanity exciting new abilities? Who knows? It might be you who builds these future robots.
I too started by reading books, having ideas, and dreaming about robots. When I was about seven, I built “Billy” the robot from boxes and string (and I still have him), then I dreamed a lot. I’m now about fifty, and have been lucky enough to be involved in building robots that dance, help kids learn chess, assist the elderly in their homes, and work as part of the team with people in their offices. None of my robots wanted to rule the world!
I have worked with loads of amazing, creative scientists and engineers to help turn my childhood robot dreams into reality. The cardboard and string have been replaced by math, electronics, and computers, but they are all proud descendants of “Billy.”
They are my robots, and I’m still having fun.
What will your robots be like?
PICTURE FILES • EARLY COMPUTERS
The Antikythera mechanism
Part of one recovered from a shipwreck found in 1900. © Ancient Art & Architecture Collection Ltd / Alamy
Babbage calculating machine
Part of his machine built by his son. Photograph © Andrew Dunn, 5th November 2004. Website: http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com
Babbage’s brain is on display at the Science Museum apparently! © RGB Ventures LLC dba SuperStock / Alamy
Pic of a slide rule. © T.W. van Urk / Shutterstock
Enigma machine
© Mark Higgins / Shutterstock
CODEBREAKING TO EARLY COMPUTERS
Early computers
Zuse Z3. • Venusianer at the German language Wikipedia
Turing
© Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy
Colossus (at Bletchley)
© Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy
ENIAC main control panel:
U. S. Army Photo
Vacuum tubes
© CTC
Stephen Hawking and staff. • Stephen Hawking (Cosmos PI), and left-to-right Andy Barrington (SGI), John Scarborough (SGI), Simon Appleby (SGI), Paul Shellard (COSMOS@DiRAC Director) and Andrey Kaliazin (COSMOS System Manager) © CTC
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
Image Courtesy of The Advertising Archives
Old fashioned computers
© Thomas J. Peterson / Alamy
Jerry Mason / Science Photo Library
Modern computers
© Chukcha / Shutterstock
LittleStocker / Shutterstock
ROBOTS
Early automata
Duck automaton
Windmill and soldiers automaton. • Model windmill, c.1600 (wood) / Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire, UK National Trust Photographic Library The Bridgeman Art Library
Henri Maillardet automaton. • Daderot
INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS
Car factory robots
Rainer Plendl / Shutterstock
Milking robots on farms. • Mattes
ANDROIDS
Japanese android. • Photo by Gnsin
MODERN ROBOTS
Seal robot. • AFP/Getty Images
Bio-inspired Big Dog quadruped robot. • DARPA NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Bomb disposal robot. • 137666102 (Shutterstock)
Medical robot. • AFP/Getty Images
ROBOTS IN SPACE
NASA’s Curiosity Rover. • UIG via Getty Images
Robonaut on the ISS. • NASA
“Real Dad!” cried Annie. “As opposed to … ?” asked Eric.
“Fake Dad!” she said tremulously, pointing at the android, now sprawled at a crazy angle across the armchair, still clutching Annie’s bear. The light in his eyes had gone out, which seemed to mean he had switched himself off.
“My personalized robot!” said Eric, his own eyes lighting up instead. “He’s arrived!”
“Your what?”
“He’s my helper-bot—or Ebot, if you like,” Eric told Annie, going over to where the robot sat, unmoving. “I ordered him ages ago. He’s me in robot form. He even has all my biometric measurements, so in certain situations it would be quite tricky to tell the difference between us. When did he get here?”
“He just arrived!” chipped in George. “We got back from the market square—”
“What were you doing there?” Eric stopped examining his robot and looked round sharply. “Why were you in the middle of town? Why weren’t you safely at home?”
“We saw the commotion from my tree house,” George admitted. “So we just went to see what was going on. We didn’t realize it would be like that.”
Annie gave him a grateful smile for not including the part about her wanting to see her favorite boy band.
Eric’s eyes widened. “But that was the most dangerous afternoon there’s ever been in the whole history of Foxbridge!” he said. “I can’t believe you kids were in the middle of it! When I left the office, I had to take the long way round because the center of town is still blocked off—all those people fighting and rioting over the money that came out of the banks. You’re not hurt, either of you?”
George and Annie shook their heads.
“It’s not just Foxbridge!” Annie checked her phone again. “It’s happening everywhere! All over the world!”
“I know,” said Eric seriously. “Look at this.” He produced an iPad from his messenger bag. He showed them a video clip of people rioting, the Eiffel Tower clearly visible in the background. Above their heads floated bits of blue, green, and brown paper; rioters were leaping up and trying to grab them.
“And New York … ” He showed them another video clip: yellow taxicabs were hooting furiously in the avenues between huge skyscrapers as the same scenes played out, only all the bits of paper were green. The streets were overrun by people frantically trying to catch the bills as they drifted about on the breeze.
Eric tapped the screen, and the two friends saw another city jammed between a white beach and tall green mountains, a huge figure with outstretched arms perched on the highest one. “Rio,” he told them, “South America. But watch … ” This time they saw how the whole process had begun. They watched as a bank machine on an ordinary street in Rio suddenly started to spew money, bills pouring out of it. On the video, a passerby doubled back in astonishment as the money just kept on coming. He looked around furtively, and then started stuffing his pockets with bills. But within seconds, more and more people had appeared, attempting to push each other out of the way to get the cash. The view shifted, and they saw how, all over the densely packed city, cash machines were behaving in the same inexplicable and bizarre way, spitting out bills … unnoticed at first—until some passerby saw what was happening and then, a few minutes later, a fight broke out.
“It’s the same the world
over,” said Eric. “Here’s Beijing.” They saw red yuan notes floating above the Forbidden City; euros trodden into the ground in St. Peter’s Square in Rome; purple Turkish lira being chased by thousands of eager hands in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and rupees whirling like a cloud of insects through the narrow streets of Delhi.
“There’s money everywhere,” he went on. “There seems to have been some kind of massive global glitch in computerized banking systems that has caused ATMs everywhere to start giving out cash.”
“Wow, but that’s really cool!” exclaimed Annie. “I bet loads of those people don’t even have enough money to buy food to eat or get shoes for their kids. But the banks have squillions to spend: it’s all just sitting in their vaults while people go hungry. Now they’ve shared their loot with the world, which is brilliant. Don’t you think that’s how it should be?” Annie appealed to George and Eric.
George thought about it. Unlike Annie, he had actually grown up without all sorts of things that kids around him seemed to take for granted—new clothes, computers, skiing trips, or meals in restaurants—because his parents couldn’t afford them. But even though part of him would love to be given money to spend on anything he wanted, he couldn’t quite agree that it was a good thing. It seemed as if someone somewhere had taken a radical decision about how people should live their lives, without actually asking them whether this was what they wanted. After all, whose money was it that the banks were giving away? It might belong to a bunch of very rich people … but what if it was the savings of old people or really poor people who would now find themselves with nothing? Was that fair?
“I do agree,” chipped in Eric, “that wealth should be shared out across the world in a better way. Right now, we’ve got billionaires spending more on snacks than other people will earn in the whole of their lives. But I am not at all sure that what went on today is the way to fix it.”
“But how could it have happened?” George asked in amazement. “How could all those machines have gone wrong at the same moment?”
“I have no idea! I don’t think anyone knows. One thing is for certain—I’m going to have to find out. Because this seems to be a computer-based problem—and as I’m the government’s ‘Information Technology Czar,’ it looks like I’ll be drafted in to solve the problem.” He looked at his robot and sighed. “I won’t have time to get old Ebot here working properly, which is a shame. Where’s the box he came in? There should be some other bits and pieces with him.”
Annie jumped up and ran into the hallway. They heard the noise of her rooting around in the big cardboard box; then she returned carrying a sleek black bag, which she handed to her father.
“Oh, wonderful!” Eric pulled out a lilac-shaded pair of glasses with a strange attachment at the side. He put them on and wiggled his eyebrows, which caused the robot in the chair to come back to life with a start.
“Remote-access glasses,” said Eric happily. “I ordered them specially! When I put them on, I can give commands and see through Ebot’s eyes!” He searched around in the bag and found a pair of gloves. “Haptic technology,” he murmured, putting on the gloves. He waved his hand, and Ebot waved his hand in exactly the same way.
Just then, Eric’s cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket for it—which caused Ebot to mimic his movements, reaching into his pocket for an imaginary phone, which he also pulled out and pressed to his ear. As Eric spoke into the phone—“Yes … Really? Oh, no! I’ll come straightaway”—Ebot imitated his movements perfectly.
Eric hung up and turned to Annie and George. “Okay, kids,” he said. “You’re in charge of Ebot. Here are the glasses… .” He passed them to Annie. “Here are the gloves… .” He gave them to George. “Now I have to dash.”
He already had the absentminded look that appeared whenever he put his enormous brain into gear and started thinking about a new problem.
“What’s going on?” Annie jumped up and down with the glasses on. “Ooh, these are really weird,” she said. “I can see me, but I can see me as Ebot sees me! It’s so strange… . It’s like I’m seeing myself on TV or something. This is soooo cool!”
George had quickly put on the gloves and was making Ebot lift up first one hand and then the other. It was brilliant to have a machine that did exactly what he commanded! This was much better than dealing with people, who behaved in random and weird ways just when you least expected it.
“I’ve been asked to go to a meeting with the Prime Minister,” Eric informed them as he gathered his things together.
“The Prime Minister?” squeaked Annie. “Why?”
“She wants me to help her understand how all those banks could have decided to give away money at the same moment,” said Eric. “She’s worried it might be a cyber-attack. We’ve got to look at what happened to the financial systems and stop it from happening again.”
“Is it a cyber-terrorist?” George wondered. “Like Beryl was saying last night, maybe someone has worked out how to read the secret messages and use that information … ?”
“That could be it,” Eric agreed. “But it’s very strange. How did all those different banks in different countries come under attack at the same moment? To do that would be a huge job, and I didn’t think anyone had the computer power to do that. Anyway, I’ve got to go—the PM doesn’t want me to communicate with her by Internet or phone: it has to be in person. Be good!” With that, he whirled out through the front door and was gone.
George, Annie, and Ebot all waved good-bye to his departing back. Silence fell, but only for a second.
“So what shall we do now?” asked Annie. “We’ve got robo-Dad to look after us, so we should be allowed to go and see what’s happening in Foxbridge!”
“But he’s not a real adult, is he?” said George doubtfully. “And if we lose him in the crowd, your dad isn’t going to be very pleased.”
“Dad’ll never know! We’ve got the remote glasses, so it’s not like he can look through Ebot’s eyes and see where we’ve gone.”
“Hmm …” George scratched his chin, causing Ebot to do the same.
But at that moment a new sound reached their ears: fat little feet were thumping along the hallway, accompanied by high-pitched squeals. A few seconds later, two very grubby small girls burst into the playroom. Spotting their big brother, Juno and Hera crowed with delight and ran to give him sticky hugs and sloppy kisses, which he fought off as tactfully as he could while Ebot mirrored his movements behind him.
“Urgh,” he muttered as he wiped drool off his cheek.
HACKING
A hacker is someone who tries to find weaknesses in the software or setup of a computer to obtain unauthorized access.
• “White hat” hackers may do this with the permission of the computer’s owner as a test of its security.
• More commonly, a hacker is a “black hat”—someone with only mischievous or criminal intentions. And if you have a computer connected to the Internet at the moment, it is quite possible that a black hat somewhere in the world is trying to break into it!
A bot army
A hacker can use or develop software to target automatically many internet addresses. The attack may even be coming from another computer on your street, which—totally unknown to the computer’s user—is already controlled by the hacker and has joined what is known as their “bot army”! The hacker directing this army of compromised computers may be in another country and be difficult to trace.
Malware
An attachment to an email—or a link posted on a social media site like Facebook—could be a piece of malware—this is hostile software that is a help to the hacker when run on your computer. For example, it could be:
• a computer virus that inserts itself into files and tries to spread to other computers. Early viruses could do things like delete any photo you look at, or replace text with rows of gibberish. Imagine losing all your school coursework as a result of a virus!
• a program that starts recor
ding your key presses and activity and sends them to the hacker, in order to capture passwords and credit card numbers used to buy goods online.
• a program that directly connects to the hacker and gives him or her remote control (your computer just joined the bot army!).
Why do hackers hack?
It’s illegal but hackers may like hacking because …
• They enjoy the challenge or thrill.
• They may disagree with the policies of an organization and want to embarrass it by getting hold of and publishing private data, or by vandalizing their website. It is possible, for instance, to make all the computers they control try to log on to the same website, so that the website crashes. This is called a “distributed denial-of- service” attack.
• And many are serious criminals who just want your money! These people want to trick you into giving away your passwords and secret information so that they can buy things with your money, or simply steal money out of a bank account. They may also want to pretend to be you online, to hide their own identity while they do something illegal. Or use your computer in their bot army to attack someone else.
How do hackers hack?
1. Physical attack
The computer itself might be stolen, and then you have to assume that the thief will get access to all your files on it, even if you used a strong password. Everything on the hard drive is at the mercy of the hacker, who can play your music, look at your pictures—even read your blogs and email messages to your friends!
George and the Unbreakable Code Page 5