Hubots: Real-World Robots Inspired by Humans

Hubots is a look at some of the human-like robots being designed and developed. Ten hubots (or androids) are profiled, ranging from robots for firefighting and space exploration to robots that can play soccer and provide companionship to humans.

Each hubot profile is set up like a game character profile, an approach which should appeal to some readers. At the top of each profile is Name, Team, Domain and Realm, and the body contains Mission, Superpower, Special Ops, Specifications, Applications and Status Updates. Some readers may find Team, Domain and Realm not very helpful as descriptive terms. The layout of the information in the body of the profile makes it easily readable.

The information provided in each hubot profile gives a good overview of the hubot and its abilities. Mission describes what the hubot is designed to accomplish while Superpower describes the special abilities the hubot has to carry out its mission. Special Ops summarizes other interesting information about the hubot. Specifications and Applications provide a quick summary of the information presented. Status Update gives the current stage the hubot is in. The majority are prototypes in development or working prototypes, but two hubots (Pepper and Myon) are in operation.

Boxes on some pages provide extra information useful to readers, such as the box describing artificial intelligence (AI) versus embodied intelligence (EI). Additional pages look at other information including a look at human reactions to hubots and how these reactions depend on how human the hubot looks. At the end of the book is more detail on three physical attributes of hubots: hands, feet and balance, and vision.

Hubots is well-written with good attention to age-appropriate language and terminology. There is a good glossary for terms that readers may not understand, especially technical terms like “feedback loop” and “proprioception”.

The list of resources for more information is very limited, with only two books and two websites listed. This is not entirely surprising as information on hubots will be changing regularly, but the listed websites are for just two of the 10 profiled hubots. A larger list of recommended online resources would be useful. For readers who want to look for a specific topic, there is a good index.

Hubots provides an interesting look at some of the human-inspired robots being developed today. Each profile is brief but well-written and will interest readers in the individual hubots as well as robotics in general.