Mark Tilden
| Laws of robotics |
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Three Laws of Robotics by Isaac Asimov (in culture) |
| Related topics |
Mark W. Tilden is a robotics physicist who produces complex robotic movements from simple analog logic circuits, often with discrete electronic components, and usually without a microprocessor. He is controversial because of his libertarian Tilden's Laws of Robotics,[1] and is known for his invention of BEAM robotics and the WowWee Robosapien humanoid robot.
Early Career
Born in the UK in 1961, raised in Canada, Tilden started at the University of Waterloo then moved on to the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he developed simple robots such as the SATbot which instinctively aligned itself to the magnetic field of the earth, de-mining insectoids, "Nervous Network" theory and applications, interplanetary explorers, and behavioral research into many solar-powered "Living Machines" of his own design.
Tilden later referred to his early robots as "wimpy" for the results of their programming using Isaac Asimov's Three Rules of Robotics.[2] He accordingly promulgated another set of three rules for what he called "wild" robots, essentially survivalists.[3][4]
Current Work
Having left government service and moved to Hong Kong, Tilden currently works as a freelance robotics designer, consultant and lecturer. His commercial products are marketed through WowWee Toys.[5] Biomorphic robot-based items include B.I.O. Bugs (2001), Constructobots (2002), G.I Joe Hoverstrike (2003), RoboSapien (2004), Robosapien v2 (2005), Roboraptor (2005), Robopet (2005), Roboreptile (2006), RS Media (2006, co-developed with Davin Sufer and Maxwell Bogue), Roboquad (2007), Roboboa (2007), the humanform Femisapien (2008), Joebot (2009), and the Roomscooper floor-cleaning robot (2010).
Tilden and his robots have been featured on several television specials, such as "Robots Rising" (Discovery), "The Shape of Life" (PBS), "TechnoSpy" (TLC), "Extreme Machines - Incredible Robots" (TLC), "The Science behind Star Wars" (Discovery), as well as many magazines, newspaper publications, websites, and books. A comprehensive article on Tilden (December-2010) by Thomas Marsh is viewable online through the "Robot" Magazine website.[6]
Tilden also was a technical consultant for the robot scenes in the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. His robots are also continuous background props in the TV series The Big Bang Theory. Movies which feature his robots in prominent roles include The 40 Year Old Virgin, Paul Blart Mall Cop and X-Men: The Last Stand.
References
- ↑ http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/2.09/tilden.html?pg=1&topic=
- ↑ http://www.robots-dreams.com/2004/11/three_laws_of_r.html
- ↑ http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.aspx?p=101738
- ↑ http://www.botmag.com/the-evolution-of-a-roboticist-mark-tilden
- ↑ http://www.Wowwee.com
- ↑ http://find.botmag.com/121084
See also
External links
- EvoSapien - A website dedicated on Hacking the Robosapien Robot, lots of mods, and useful information, schematics, codings, pictures, videos, including the new line of Mark Tilden Robots.
- EvoRaptor A Website dedicated to the Roboraptor, pictures, videos, internals, videos, hacks, and lots more. Created 2005 by M.W Tilden and Wow Wee and hacked by fans and the Maker community.
- RoboCommunity - The official WowWee Robotics user community detailing hacks, mods, and how-it-was-made pictorial articles on Mark's robots.
- Superstreng Podcast- A September 2006 podcast interview with Mark Tilden, conducted by Eirik Newth for Norwegian science radio show Superstreng.
- Robotsrule - Detailed information site on many commercially available entertainment robots.
- Solarbotics - On-line store for parts, plans, kits, and history of BEAM robotics.
- BEAM Discussion Group - Active on-line discussion group of BEAM robots, builders, events, and history.
- "Robot" Magazine - Detailed article on Mark Tilden's history, philosophy, and robotics approach, with images.
- Discover Magazine - Article about Mark Tilden