A new company is trying to make as many robots as possible autonomous

And it does that through software. Field AI is a Californian company that has emerged from various DARPA projects that attempted to provide robot autonomy.

The Field AI proposal is based on a modular and scalable software platform that can be integrated into any type of robot, giving it the ability to operate autonomously and without the need for prior training.

This technology uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to provide robots with capabilities such as sensing the environment, making decisions, and executing complex tasks.

You can see the company’s WEB at: https://fieldai.com/

And you can see a video at: https://youtu.be/j7bwTUSq9dg

From a theoretical point of view, the advantages of achieving software-based robot autonomy seem clear for several reasons:

• Flexibility: Field AI’s solution adapts to a wide variety of robots, from drones and autonomous vehicles to industrial and service robots
• Speed of Implementation: By eliminating the need for prior training, software-based autonomy allows for quick and easy implementation of autonomous capabilities in robots.
• Scalability: Field AI’s modular platform allows the autonomous capabilities of robots to be scaled according to the specific needs of each application.
• Cost Reduction: Software-based autonomy eliminates the need for expensive sensors and specialized hardware, significantly reducing the costs of deploying and maintaining autonomous robots

This company already has some robots (from Boston Dynamics and other companies) working autonomously in the USA and Japan in companies dedicated to construction, and intends to enter other sectors such as energy and health care.

You can see the video of a robot guarding a construction at: https://youtu.be/JTxhcVwooHM

In general, to put a robot to work, you need to provide it with a lot of very precise data and a lot of programming work, so that it is capable of performing the desired task. And that is why the proposal offered by Field AI is very novel, and I would say even groundbreaking.

The goal of this company is what they call “embedded AI”, that is, adding their AI software to almost any type of robot so that it works autonomously.

If this is achieved, people could use robots with little knowledge of robotics. And that can be very disruptive.

It remains to be seen if these good people are capable of achieving their goals, and I wish them so with all my heart, as it would be very beneficial for everyone.

As always, time will tell.