How Humanoid Robots Will Change The World
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The Reality of Humanoid Robots
Before we proceed further, let’s clarify a common misconception about the advent of humanoid robots. It is important to emphasize that not everything that appeared in science fictions is reality. For example, popular science fiction movies like ‘Terminator’ and ‘I, Robot’ had given us the impression that humanoid robots are killing machines that are out to destroy mankind.
First of all, you might be disappointed to know that your typical humanoid robot cannot move as fast and agile as an average human being. In terms of intelligence, real humanoid robots are also no where as smart as what is depicted in movies. This means you will need to spend a considerable amount of time teaching your robot to recognize different objects and people and how to appropriately respond to varied situations.
On the contrary to destructive purposes, an advanced humanoid robot can play a crucial role in search and rescue operations. Imagine the tremendous help you can get from a robot that can carry heavy loads of equipment and move heavy weights like a superhuman. Such a robot will be especially invaluable in earthquake rescues. A robot that can traverse difficult terrains will also be a very useful team member in mountain rescues.
So let’s put aside the ideas of scifi humanoid robots with killing tendencies. Instead, you should watch this video that will give you a better idea of what real world robots are meant to do.
World’s Most Advanced Humanoid Robots
Video by Xplained
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Current State of Humanoid Robots in Industries
Healthcare
In healthcare, humanoid robots are being used to assist in surgeries albeit not on a large scale. You may also see robots in hospitals assisting with minor patient care tasks. Elderly care robots like Robear and Pepper have demonstrated how machines can assist the elderly or people with mobility issues. Sales of these robots however did not take off and they were eventually retired. It seems that these two care robots failed in being fully autonomous and still need human intervention. This defeated the purpose of having the robots because it was actually meant to free up some of the duties of human carers.
Manufacturing and Logistics
Specialty robots have been used in manufacturing environments for decades. The machines are able to work with precision, speed and stamina that human workers just cannot match. Advanced humanoid robots like the Optimus are expected to be put to work in Tesla factories to perform repetitive and physically demanding tasks. In logistics, humanoid robots are increasingly being tested in warehousing and logistics facilities. A notable company that has embraced humanoid robots is Amazon, the retail giant. These are just a couple of examples of pilot projects that will test out the capabilities of humanoid robots in actual working conditions. It could take years for the pilot projects to advance to the next phase if they prove to be successful. So don’t worry just yet about a mass-scaled invasion of humanoid robots happening anytime soon.
Hospitality and Retail
The hospitality and retail sectors are also experimenting with humanoid robots to provide customer service. Whether or not human workers will really welcome having robot co-workers in this sector has not really been tested yet. We have already seen the failure of social robots like Softbank’s Pepper which had stopped production in 2020 due to weak demand but the cute BellaBot robot waiter is still quite popular in restaurants. As its function is mostly limited to just delivery of food and beverage to tables, restaurant service workers seem to welcome the robotic co-workers as the human workers can then focus more on attending to customer queries.
Public Safety and Defense
Looking at how advanced humanoid robots have become, you can be quite sure that governments are taking serious interest in the technology. You can certainly imagine how humanoid robots can serve as an effective law enforcer in public spaces. Equipped with facial recognition and real-time data analysis, humanoid robots can be deployed for surveillance and crowd control. In defense, advanced humanoid robots like Atlas by Boston Dynamics are being tested for combat support, bomb disposal, and search and rescue missions in hazardous environments.
