Talking Robots - The Podcast on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

In this episode we interview the biologist Laurent Keller on his experience with using robots for Biology. He talks about the advantages of using robots rather than theoretical models and computer simulations alone, and he comments on whether we should build animal-robot hybrids and artificial animals.

In this episode we interview Jun Tani on robot cognition and robot consciousness. He talks about robot, animal and human brains, meta-level cognition, and on his interest in building schizophrenic robots.

In this episode we interview Auke Ijspeert on his amphibious salamander robot. He explains how central pattern generators are a powerful tool to link simple high-level commands to complex patterns of locomotion including gait changes, and how they are used in his robot.

In this episode we interview Metin Sitti on nano-materials such as artificial gecko hairs for robotics. He talks about his wall-climbing robots, about the advantages of down-scaling robots, about the state of the art in micro-robotics, and about the potential of hybrid bio-mechanical robots.

In this episode of "Talking Robots" Marco Dorigo discusses his research in swarm robotics and swarm intelligence, and gives his views on the goals that should be targeted in these young disciplines as well as the challenges that researchers in these fields will face.

In this episode of "Talking Robots" we interview Rolf Pfeifer, about the last 50 years in artificial intelligence, the "new AI", the central role of embodiment for intelligence, and his new popular science book.

In this episode we interview Owen Holland about his rediscovery of the first autonomous robot ever built, his research in artificial consciousness and his life-size 'anthropomimetic' humanoid robot which closely copies human muscular and skeletal structure.

In this interview we talk to Olivier Michel, the founder of Cyberbotics Ltd., about his business experience with robot simulation, his current and future customers, software patents and on how robotics can help us to keep factories in Europe.

In this episode we interview Hod Lipson and Josh Bongard about a highly adaptive robot they built together with Victor Zykov that can continue working in spite of damage such as a lost leg, and on the future of this technology.

In this episode we interview Raja Chatila on the state of the art in robot navigation, on how to marry traditional Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) with bio-inspired, reactive approaches, and on why your living room is more complex to navigate than an extraterrestrial planet.