Interstellar wouldn’t have been complete and as entertaining as it is without the two goofy, sarcastic, humorous and scientifically important characters TARS and CASE. The two robots, “Articulated Machines”, as referred to by the director Christopher Nolan, helped the lead, Cooper, accomplish the task of saving humanity that was assigned to him.
The very first thing that comes to attention and thought is their very basic, box like appearance. Who would’ve thought of such a simple and lifeless body for such an intelligent A. I.?
Speaking of the Intelligence of the Robots, Thomas Messerschmidt, founder of the Riverside Robotics Society said, “There’s nothing close to TARS right now”. The Asimo robot can do things like walk around and pour a glass of water but a full on conversation with a robot where it can fully comprehend what one is saying and have it respond appropriately is decades away!
Instead of opting for a human like structure that would include arms and legs with various joints, as many movies have presented to us before and after, TARS and CASE were given a four bars containing body with each bar pivoted to another.
This barred and pivoted structure not only reduced the number of motors and actuators required for motion to just a mere number of 7-8, unlike the humanoid structure that would require a lot more, but also made the balancing of the machines a lot less complex.
Nevertheless, the concept of being able to change the response setting of humor and honesty of an A. I. is surely excellent! We hope our current engineers can someday in the near future, taking cues from these intelligently designed robots, get close to building a TARS or a CASE for deep space and sea explorations! . . . . . . credits: Krushi Panchal
