Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/393
#1 Fall 2008 10 AI Open Source Robotics Looks Better Than Ever Ben Goertzel April 2008 iCub, the New Open Source Humanoid Robot Where's C3PO when we need him? Compared to many other aspects of advanced technology -- even compared to AI software technology, which isn't exactly zooming along -- humanoid robotics seems to be advancing at a snail's pace. As in many other areas, the cause of the relatively slow progress is a combination of technical and economic/cultural factors. One possible work-around to the latter, being explored by an increasing number of roboticists worldwide, is the open source development methodology. Perhaps the most exciting example of this trend is the iCub, recently developed by a European Union–funded consortium of researchers. e power of the open source meth- odology to get complex, important things done has been well established by now in the software domain. e Linux operating system and the Firefox browser are prob- ably the best-known examples, but there are countless others, ranging from everyday consumer software (such as, say, BitTor- rent clients) to technical software helping scientists do their research (nearly all seri- ous bioinformatics work these days is done using open source software). Open source hardware, on the other hand, has been slower to take off. Consumer hardware benefits so much from economies of scale in manufacturing that it's proved hard for upstart open source hardware alternatives to really take off. But humanoid robotics is one area where the open source hardware approach has tremendous potential. is R&D domain is of tremendous importance to the future of humanity – and beyond – yet it's something neither industry, govern- ment nor academia is doing an adequate job