Details:
- author: Daniela Rus, Gregory Mone
- full title: The Heart and the Chip - Our Bright Future with Robots
- narrator: Andrea Gallo
- genre: nonfiction, science
- topics: #technology, #robotics, #futureofrobots
- publisher: Recorded Books
- publish date: 05 Mar 2024
- timing: 10:39:00
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙💙
- narration: 💙💙💙💙💙
Excerpt from the Book:
While I am a dreamer, I’ve also been intimately involved in the everyday grind of trying to move these machines from the pages of comic books and daydreams into our everyday lives. I understand the limitations, risks, dangers, and potential as well as anyone. But I’m also incapable of dampening my enthusiasm and excitement, because I’ve seen the future taking shape firsthand. I’ve built intelligent machines that crawl, walk, jump, drive, heal, swim, clean, shapeshift, think, and fly. I know how robots work and what they will and will not be able to do today, tomorrow, and years in the future.
Most people think of metallic humanoids when they hear the word robot, but intelligent machines take many forms, and they’re made from many different materials. We’ve created soft robots, microscopic robots, and shapeshifters. Researchers are designing robots out of biological cells. We can turn almost anything in the built and natural environments into a robot, from robotic honeybees to robotic furniture.
My Thoughts:
Finally, after a long time, I listened to a tech audiobook. About robots! Yes!
The author, Daniela Rus, a leading roboticist and computer scientist, presents us with intriguing ideas about what the future in the field of robotics will bring us. The author mainly refers to robots that work in symbiosis with humans, from wearable robots to self-driving cars. While some solutions are in use today, others are momentarily just ideas and will not be available anytime soon.
I like how the author enthusiastically talks about her work and inspires the readers. But we, readers (potential users of these robots), are significantly less patient than scientists. We would like everything to be done immediately. Meanwhile, scientists get excited about every little progress on the way to a solution.
An enjoyable read for those interested in technology, computer science, and robotics. In the audiobook edition, the narrator, Andrea Gallo, reads the book with the same enthusiasm as the author wrote it.
About the Author:
Daniela Rus is a pioneering roboticist, the first female director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow. She lives in Massachusetts.
Gregory Mone is the author of fourteen works of fiction and nonfiction for both children and adults, including Atlantis: The Accidental Invasion, Fish, and the Jack and the Geniuses series with Bill Nye. He is a contributing editor at Popular Science and an award-winning science writer. A graduate of Harvard College, he lives with his family on Martha’s Vineyard.
