Tying together science fiction, blockbuster movies, hard work, learning and a large dose of fun, James McLurkin captivated his audience Friday evening.
Speaking to an estimated 400 attendees at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium, the MIT graduate student gave a program whose title barely hints at his boundless curiosity and zest for life: "Dances with Robots: The Story of One Engineer, 112 Little Robots and the Toys, Insects and Stars Wars Movies that Made it all Possible.”
Launching his talk with popular images of robots and ranging into the complex field of artificial intelligence, McLurkin also discussed the nature of intelligence, the development of robots on the market and various applications of the technology.
His specialty is swarms of robots, where software guides multiple units toward a united goal. McLurkin brought along a swarm of five-inch tall miniature robots to demonstrate his work. He showcased the programming that allows the simple interactions among the robots to produce a global pattern quite different from individual actions.
McLurkin's miniaturized machines included a radio for user interface, camera, batteries, infrared communication, audio system and series of lights to communicate status. As they scooted around the stage, different color lights flashing to signal different statuses — with one occasionally straying off course — he described for the audience the different tasks they were performing.
"One of the things you have to embrace when you're working with large numbers of robots is that they make mistakes,” said McLurkin. "But as long as more robots do what is right they will still accomplish their goal.”
The program was the third annual event in what SCI-MA-TECH informally bills as the Famous Science Speakers series, which hosts a talk geared to excite students and the public about science. This year the event was co-sponsored by the TBA-ISD's Manufacturing Technology Academy. Proceeds of the event will benefit supplemental projects for each sponsoring program.
McLurkin spent Friday morning meeting with students in the two programs as well as some Traverse City East Junior High students. In the afternoon, he talked to and patiently answered questions from Central Grade School's Montessori students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades.
In addition to McLurkin's talk, Friday evening's event also featured demonstrations of robots made by SCI-MA-TECH and MTA students as well as creations by students from the Sault Ste. Marie Career Tech Center. MTA students also demonstrated their Trebuchet, a form of a catapult, using water balloons for armament.
"Getting James here gives us a chance to showcase what some of the kids are doing,” said John Failor, director of the SCI-MA-TECH program. "James was here all day and I feel smarter having spent the day with him.”
McLurkin, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, built his first robot in 1989. Recognized as an expert in field of distributed robot systems, he harked back to insects as a model for the algorithms that guide a robot swarm. The behaviors of ants, honeybees, wasps and termites provide insight into managing multiple units assigned a group task.
"Insects are useful because biologists have been studying them for hundreds of years,” he said. "Their behavior has been debugged for 120 million years.”
Winding up his talk with a demonstration of his robots playing the Star Wars theme and executing marching band formations, McLurkin also emphasized the fun of engineering and the drive needed to pursue any dream. He outlined a nine-step plan for success, interspersing each step with anecdotes, goals and milestones from his own life.
"Plan = list + dream,” he quantified for the crowd, giving an intangible process a concrete formula.