October 24, 2005
Robots – are they that great?
We don't get on very well with robots, do we? We don't mind if they do our dirty and dangerous work but don't want one as a friend. It is irrational but we do not trust them.
When you think of the term ‘robot’, automatically images of metallic versions of humans or animals are conjured up. Some may even think of media interpretations of the robot, as for many, robots still seem to reside in the land of science fiction, or blockbuster movies such as Star Wars, The Terminator or I, Robot.
However, when researchers or businesses who are increasingly turning to the robotic technology market use the term, they do so to describe a variety of inventions, from giant, automated systems that are used in the car building process to small electronic or mechanical parts, which are found in many consumer products.
Dan Kara, president of a Robotics research and consultancy firm, recently concluded that for years, people thought that ‘the robotic industry was always thought to be just around the corner, and now it is really just around the corner’. However the robotics industry as a whole has yet to make its way out of the lab to create a strong presence in the consumer market. Researchers have argued that this is due to the lack of funding from venture capitalists. Whilst robotics remains very popular with research labs, venture funding has been sparse, as investors see the robotic industry as a ‘deadly pursuit’.
All for good reason it seems, as the robotics industry does not have a strong history of returning an investor’s money. In the 1980s many venture capitalists eagerly invested more than $400 million in 202 robotics ventures, unfortunately many of these companies failed. Yet experts are arguing that now things are starting to change.
After years of suffering from failed expectations and excessive hype, the robotics industry is starting to show signs of becoming a ‘burgeoning multi-billion dollar market’. In order to be successful in doing so, the robotics industry needs to widen its appeal from the military, the largest investor of robotics research, and from the factory floor; the industry now needs to open up to the mass consumer market.
Robots, our saviours
There has always been hope that the robotics industry, and more specifically robots, will turn out to be our saviours, that they will somehow free us from the toil and drudgery of everyday labours, giving us time to do whatever it is that we want to do. In fact iRobot, one of the world’s leading robotics companies, has entered the consumer market by focusing largely on how robots can perform everyday chores.
The researchers in the iRobot Consumer Robotics Division believe that they have created various solutions to ‘the daily grind you face around the home, making chores easier, quicker and almost fun’ leaving the consumer time to do more of what they want, ‘and less of what they don’t’. When we think of robots it seems that our laziness has driven our musings about robotics and how they could fit into our everyday lives.
In turn it seems that this has generated what can be broadly described as a fear of robots, a view of the robotic industry that has not been helped by the entertainment industry, which it seems has always managed to focus on rather sinister portrayals of robots, never more so than in the recent cinema offering ‘I Robot’.
However great our mistrust of all things mechanical, robots are today being developed to create realistic robotic solutions to real world problems. They are being developed to do the tasks that we just do not, cannot or should not perform, be it because the task is dangerous, dirty or even dull. ‘You may not necessarily have to have a robot that looks like a human coming in to set your table’ says Alex Beavers, CEO of a newly emergent robotics company, ‘because there will be hundreds of other robotic applications that will affect our lives on a daily basis.’
Nowhere has research produced so many useful innovations, affecting so many businesses as in the field of robotics. In the business world, robots are being developed to help businesses perform more lucid, fluid business transactions. For example, until now business people have relied heavily on techniques such as videoconferencing to participate in meetings that they are unable to attend.
More often than not however, this has proved to be a frustrating experience. Not only do the participants have to sit still in front of the camera to be understood, but the equipment involved in videoconferencing is not very mobile. iRobot have developed a ‘telepresence robot’ that can travel anywhere, enabling the business to observe the activity in a company’s warehouse, or to inspect deliveries on the loading dock.
Explosive growth
Advances in robotic technologies are at the forefront of what is, according to experts, poised to be an explosive growth over the next few years for the robotics industry. This is because the robotic technologies used in industry today are nothing like their earlier counterparts, which actually paved the way for automation in the workforce.
Back in the early 1970’s robot makers and the media were able to hype up the transforming power of robots. But behind the scenes these robots proved less than a successful replacement for humans on the factory floor. Today, robots used in the business sector are great examples of the advances made in technology.
Particularly in terms of computer processing power these advances have turned yesterday’s ‘intransigent robot into a fast, accurate and versatile leader of the assembly line.’ Industrial robots are reducing labour costs, boosting productivity and minimising error, not to mention freeing workers from dangerous and even merely repetitive tasks.
There are about 100,000 robots in American factories, while Japan has about 400,000. As competitive pressures force more companies to seek innovative ways to lower costs, increase reliability and shrink product cycles, robots seem to be emerging as the answer.
Researchers have worked tirelessly for decades to refine and perfect the robotic technologies of vision, movement and speech. At first, robots were mainly used in industrial manufacturing, but now the latest robotic technologies are showing up in better products of every kind.
Industrial automatons have proved significantly valuable, as their precision and reliability have enabled businesses to lower the costs of manufacturing consumer products, silicon chips, cars and even pharmaceuticals. Today, robots are being used for a variety of applications, from taking 3D measurements of cityscapes for urban planning, to finely crafting the micrometer-sized mirrors used to switch pulses of light that carry telephone and Internet traffic.
Materials handling
Overall, the robotics industry has leveraged the power of the microprocessor to improve upon traditional industrial robot applications such as welding, painting and dispensing. But it is material handling that has become the dominant robotic application and it is used in a wide range of industries. Manufacturers such as Adept Technology are leading the way in building robot systems for industries as wide ranging as electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles and even food producing.
Today, robots are capable of packaging materials as delicate as light bulbs or assembling electronic components that are too small for human fingers to manipulate. Robots have become very adaptable devices that can accommodate swift changes in products or models; this is especially true in the electronics industry, where product cycles have shrunk to as little as six months, - think of the advances made in the mobile phone industry.
With continuing advances in technology the robotics industry is ‘just going to get better’, but for consumers and businesses alike the integration of robots in their everyday life is not based on any technological problems or lack of technological advancements, but rather it is argued to be based on psychological problems. It is very hard to imagine having a robot as a ‘co-worker’, sitting next to you in a staff meeting.
Whether this can be described as a ‘psychological fear’ can be argued either way, but in truth there is a feeling of displacement that will be caused to humans, if they know that there is a mechanical alternative to them, a ’machine’ that can perform a task as well or better than they can. One way to overcome this is if robotic companies promote the robot as a supplement to their everyday lives, not a replacement. That way humans will still feel needed.
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