Remember those childhood days when we used to play with robots! Or, how could we even forget WALL-E – one of the all-time best movies made on robots! Well, it seems all of these is a reality now. With rapid advancements being made in automation and robotics, there has been a constant attempt to deploy robots for performing different mechanical and logical tasks, across different industries, that had to be carried out by humans even some years back. In general, any robotic process ensures higher repeatability and precision along with shorter task completion time that has prompted the industrial sectors to employ these robots. Very recently, there has been some incredible innovations made in the space of robotics – absolutely worthy of taking a look at!
Lets
start off with Google and their recently patented worker robots. Google has recently
come up with the idea to design robots having personalities and traits – just like
a human being. The company plans to store different personalities as data on
the Google cloud. The robot is designed in a way such that it could download
one or more types of personalities from the cloud within its system. The cool
thing about this is that the personality could be downloaded on the basis of
what kind of person the robot is interacting with. Still in the initial stage,
these robots are supposed to facilitate sensible human interaction as a part of
day to day activities.
With
the goal to kill life-threatening viruses, Xenex came up with its Saul robot.
The robot uses high energy pulses of ultraviolet rays to kill bacteria,
pathogens and virus within a short span of time. The company plans to install
these robots in hospitals and clinics where the chances for the presence of
virus is maximum and hence require high quality quarantine supportable
ecosystem. The robot is said to even kill some of the deadliest organism like
the Ebola virus. Currently deployed by the US Air Force Hospital, Saul promises
to save a thousand lives!
Another
robot that has created an impact in the healthcare sector is Paro, that looks like
a seal and is built by the Japanese automation company AIST. Paro provided
animal therapy services to patients in hospitals. Animal therapy has been a
desired mode of therapy for quite a while now; whoever live animals often pose
a challenge to ongoing treatments or logistical settings. By introducing Paro,
it is expected that these challenges would be overcome at the same time
providing the necessary therapeutic support to the patients. Already put to commercial
use, Paro has shown to reduce patient’s stress, and improve interaction of a
patient to the caregiver.
In
the hotel and food industry, the Japanese robot BellaBot built by Pudutech has stirred
up some real excitement. With the face of a cat, the robot serves as a waiter
in hotels and cafes. With the capacity to carry 120 small plates, 39 large
plates and 30 bowls at once, BellaBot could automatically deliver food to the
respective tables and also pickup plates from the table after the meal is
finished. It might not be too far before we see these cats hovering around our
tables at the restaurant!
Asus
recently came up with the Asus Zenbo – a low-cost robot capable to
understanding verbal instructions from humans and provide support in daily
tasks. Zenbo helps users by giving them reminders on exercise, meditation or
doctor’s appointment schedules, looking around the house for any emergency situation,
connecting to security cameras, and even controlling lights, door locks, etc.
Talking
about automation and not speaking about Amazon is almost impossible! Amazon
recently launched their Scout robots that are enabled to automatically carry
orders and deliver to households. Amazon launched this robot in the current
situation of the covid pandemic to ensure lesser man to man interaction. For a
company that is built on the idea of customer obsession, it is probably not so difficult
to gage that the company is stretching its capabilities to serve customers
better. Currently, the Scout robot service is available only to Amazon Prime
members.
It
goes without a saying that Robotics is indeed the present and the future of
mankind. Supported by the coolest technology innovations, we have been able to build
robots that could serve in possibly all areas – mimicking what a human being
does or rather much better, in most cases. Whether too much interference from
robotics could be a potential threat to employment or emotional quotients of
humans might be something to argue on. But, looking at the broader perspective
and analyzing how technology and mankind have evolved over the ages, we can
surely say that with time we expect to say more of these robots speaking to us!
To learn more:
1.https://qz.com/373658/google-patented-building-robots-with-personalities/
4.https://www.zdnet.com/pictures/ces-2020-the-best-tech-gadgets-on-show-so-far/9/
Nice one Rudra! I liked it.
ReplyDeleteNice one Rudra! I liked it.
ReplyDeleteFascinating topic to any engineer from electrical, mechanical and computer science. Combined with socioeconomic constraints and with the current needs of reduced carbon footprint, robotics never gets old-fashioned!
ReplyDelete