Robotics Technology

From vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers to military landmine detectors, robots are becoming increasingly present in our daily lives. May be obots will be found everywhere in future…

Robots may soon be everywhere, in homes and at work. They could change the way humans live. If this happens, it will most likely raise many philosophical, social, and political questions that will have to be answered. In science fiction robots become so intelligent that they decide to take over the world because humans are deemed inferior. In real life however they might not choose to do that. Robots might follow rules such as Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, that will prevent them from doing so. If the Singularity happens robots will be indistinguishable from human beings and some people may become Cyborgs, with some parts half biological and half artificial.

Economic impact

Given that in the next two decades robots will be capable of replacing humans in most manufacturing and service jobs, economic development will be primarily determined by the advancement of robotics. Given Japan’s current strength in this field, it may well become the economic leader in the next 20 years (part 1, part 2). Marshall Brain also discusses the emergence of robotic economy.

Market evolution

Today’s market is not fully mature. One or more software compatibility layers have yet to emerge to allow the development of a rich robotics ecosystem (similar to today’s personal computers one). Microsoft is currently working in this direction with its new software Microsoft Robotics Studio. Other candidates to reach this goal might be Free Software solutions such as Player/Stage or cross-platform technologies such as URBI.

Timeline

Developments related to robotics from the NISTEP 2030 report :

• 2013-2014 — agricultural robots (AgRobots⁾.
• 2013-2017 — robots that care for the elderly
• 2017 — medical robots performing low-invasive surgery
• 2017-2019 — household robots with full use.
• ???’ — Nanorobots

Robotics in 2020

Robots may be commonplace: in home, factories, agriculture, building & construction, undersea, space, mining, hospitals and streets; for repair, construction, maintenance, security, entertainment, companionship, care.

Purposes of these Robots:

• Robotized space vehicles and facilities
• Anthropomorphic general-purpose robots with hands like humans used for factory jobs - Intelligent robots for unmanned plants - Totally automated factories will be commonplace.
• Robots for guiding blind people and home automation for the elderly and disabled.
• Robots for almost any job in home or hospital, including Robo-surgery.
• Housework robots for cleaning, washing, transporting etc - Domestic robots will be small, specialized and attractive (= cuddly).

Properties of these robots:

• Autonomous, with environmental awareness sensors .
• Self recharging, self diagnostic and self repairing.
• More sophisticated artificial brains, perhaps with ten thousand or more cells, combined with electronic circuits.

Legal rights for robots?

According to research commissioned by the UK Office of Science and Innovation’s Horizon Scanning Centre, robots could one day demand the same citizen’s rights as humans. The study also warns that the rise of robots could put a strain on resources and the environment.