Robotics - When Machines Insanely Function And Look Like Humans
Robotics have been part of this world since the 20th century, with its presence, significance, and impact continuously growing way into the 21st century. Industries and individuals benefit from the kind of technology it has created. Robots find their rightful places in the different sectors of society, helping improve the lives of humans.
Whether it was American Canadian sci-fi writer William Gibson who really said that “the future is already here” or not, one thing’s for sure: roboticsis the future - and it’s here. Now.
In fact, it has been here since the 20th century.
Orly Lobel’s The Equality Machine: Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter, More Inclusive Future (2022), one of The Economist’s best books of 2022, will attest to it.
According to an excerpt from that 368-page book, as shared by New York-based media company Freethink, the Japanese plan to integrate robotics right into their very own homes - as “part of the family.”
Not a surprising move from the country where the first humanoid robot came from back in the ‘70s.
Roboticists - people who design, program, and build robots - in Japan already accomplished remarkable things:
robots that offer physical therapy
robots that provide company to the sick and to the elderly
robots that put out fire
Amazing, isn’t it? Wouldn’t anyone want to welcome those kinds of robots in one’s house?
Robotics has fascinated minds not only in Japan but from around the world for decades now. What’s new now?
Ameca conversation using GPT 3 - Will robots take over the world?
Gerard Johnstone’s “M3GAN” (2022), shot with a $12-million budget, raked in $30.2 million on its opening weekend in the U.S. this January.
The horror-sci-fi film is about a robot doll named M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android) created by a roboticist, who then assigned it as a caretaker of sorts to her young niece.
No spoilers here, though, but the AI (artificial intelligence)-powered M3GAN eventually turned out to be a killer robot.
Uh, oh. Should people start worrying now about robotics? Will it do more harm than good?
TechTarget offers a simple straightforward definition to this term:
“„
Robotics is a branch of engineering that involves the conception, design, manufacture and operation of robots.- TechTarget
When American writer and biochemistry professor Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) wrote the short story Runaround (1942), he introduced the term “robotics.”
Yes, robotics commonly take the form of androids (like M3GAN) - robots that resemble a human being or humanoid robots - but they also can be in the form of softwaretechnology.
One example of the latter is the RPA (robotic process automation) software, aka software robotics. It’s a kind of technology, according to IBM, that imitates how human beings perform certain administrative office tasks.
Not all robots are androids.
In robotics, according to Robots Guide by the New Jersey-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; est. 1963), robots are classified through these categories:
In robotics, according to Robots Guide by the New Jersey-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; est. 1963), robots are classified through these categories:
Category
Example
Aerospace (robots that can fly and can be operated in space)
Robonaut (NASA), RQ-11B Raven (surveillance drone), SmartBird (a robot seagull)
Consumer
Aibo (robot dog), Roomba (robot vacuum cleaner)
Disaster Response
PackBot (bomb disposal and other dangerous military operations)
Drones (unmanned aerial vehicles)
Anafi, Global Hawk, Phantom
Education
3D printers, ChihiraAico (sign-language robot), EMYS (teacher robots),
Entertainment
Navi Shaman (Disney World), RoboThespian, Partner Robot (Totoya; plays the violin)
Several industries, among them, the automotive and manufacturing industries, have long benefited from the wonders that is robotics.
It’s applied in material handling, from logistics to case packing. In the manufacturing sector, robots are used in assembly, painting and dispensing, and machine tending, among other things.
The number of industrial robots to be used in 2018 alone, according to an article by Ohio University, was predicted to reach an estimated 1.3 million.
Below are the top five industries utilizing robotics:
It’s been mentioned here how robotics supports the manufacturing industry.
By 2030 (just seven years from now), according to Simplilearn, automation will be the thing.
When that finally happens, in 2030, an estimated 20 million jobs in the manufacturing sector could be lost resulting in an enormous unemployment crisis.
This could also be one of the challenges in robotics that scientists and business owners should tackle head on.