AUSTIN - Robots can do anything from search and rescue missions in disaster zones to looking for signs of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. This week, that technology is on display at an artificial intelligence conference in Austin.
A soccer game showed off the talents of University of Texas researchers, where they program robots to talk to each other through wireless internet and go after the ball using cameras.
"Even if it's using a camera, all its getting is numbers and not seeing in the same way we see. We have to personally write the algorithms to do that," said Nathan Sturtevant, an assistant professor at the University of Denver.
The fully autonomous robot athletes are among the advances in artificial intelligence on display at a conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Austin.
Texas A&M University is using drones and other robots to help in 17 disasters throughout the world. They're working on how to better respond to emergencies from Ebola to flooding.
"Our research is about disaster robotics, land, sea and aerial vehicles and how to make responders able to do their job much faster, much better, much safer," said Dr. Robin Murphy, the director at the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at Texas A&M University.
A robotic arm developed by UT students can draw shapes and even erase what it's written. Another virtual agent can ask you questions, analyze your answers, and look for signs of depression and PTSD.
A team from the University of Alberta created a computer game named Cepheus that can't be beat at Texas Hold 'Em poker. The artificial intelligence is self-taught, by playing trillions of hands of poker against itself. Go here to play against Cepheus.
