Introducing the Spelman SpelBots: imaginative researches of artificial intelligence make their mark in history

Dog training has really gone high-tech. In a nondescript computer lab located on the pristine campus of Spelman University, several robotic puppies bark, whimper, frolic and wag their tails as they compete in a moderately paced state-of-the art soccer game.

The adorable metallic pups chase--sort of--a bright orange ball with their noses as one especially feisty pup carefully maneuvers the ball closer and closer to the goal. The goalie pup steps toward the orange ball, "glances" to the left and right, but doesn't move quickly enough to block it. From the sidelines the pups' puppet masters, the SpelBots, Spelman's Robotics team, cheer uncontrollably.

For the SpelBots--Ebony Smith, 21 (Memphis, Tenn.); Ebony O'Neal, 20 (Barnesville, Ga.); Aryen Moore-Alston, 22 (Memphis); Shinese Noble, 21 (Long Island, N.Y.); Brandy Kinlaw, 22 (Goldsboro, N.C.), and Karina Liles, 19, (Bennettsville, S.C.)--it doesn't matter which team of pups wins; all that really matters is the robotic pups are playing the game.

"What we're doing here, although it looks fun and cute, is actually serious research," explains Andrew B. Williams, Ph.D., assistant professor in Spelman's Department of Computer and Information Sciences, and director of the SpelBots RoboCup Soccer Team.
The SpelBots are actually researching artificial intelligence, the science of programming robots to think, respond and function with the intelligence of humans. The research team, which is funded by NASA and Coca-Cola, develops software program for the robotic pups, which are Sony AIBO Entertainment Robot models. An AIBO robot understands and responds to more than 100 words and phrases; it also sits, lies down, rights itself, and uses its face, tails, ears and sounds to express emotion. With a price tag of $2,000, the AIBO is a favorite among university artificial intelligence researchers, according to Dr. Williams, because it represents the latest in robotic technology--and it "is affordable."

In a nutshell, the Spelbots are programming the robotic pups to do all the things that a human has to do in order to play soccer--seeing the ball, thinking about the ball, communicating to other teammates and scoring a goal, all without human interference.

And the SpelBots have programmed their pups with lightning speed. Just last September the team was formed under the guidance of Dr. Williams, whose immediate goal was to encourage more African-American students to get involved in the field of artificial intelligence. His next immediate goal was to enter his team into the prestigious International RoboCup competition (held in Osaka, Japan), which is widely considered the "Olympic Games" of robotics research.

After logging thousands of hours of research, the SpelBots felt confident enough to compete against the world's finest graduate robotics programs. Thirty-three robotic teams from around the world applied to compete in the RoboCup competition, but only 24 teams made the cut--one of them was the amazing SpelBots.

The six Spelman Sisters pulled it off on their first try, and SpelBot Ebony O'Neal was convinced all along that her team could do it. "Being a part of Spelbots provides the support, foundation, inspiration, encouragement and motivation for African-American females to succeed," she says. "I knew we had developed the mind-set to go far in science and technology."

At EBONY press time, the SpelBots had qualified to compete in the RoboCup's 4-Legged League, where two teams of robots play soccer on a field without external human intervention.

Win, lose or draw, the SpelBots have already made history as the first and only participants from a Black college or university, an all-female institution and a U.S. undergraduate institution to qualify for the international competition.

And the young women realize their significance in the field of science and technology, says Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College. "I am very excited about the opportunity for the world to see what we already know, which is that Spelman is producing women who are prepared to do anything, particularly in the area of science and technology, where Black women are so woefully underrepresented," says Dr. Tatum. "This is very exciting for them to not only make their own mark in this area of robotics, but also to be able to inspire other young men and women in the community."