Robots Elon Musk just keeps surprising us. He made an announcement which stated he would have a robot next year which will be more like a human and will be able to listen to commands and act out those commands. The way he is doing this is by taking pieces of his auto pilot program which he puts into cars as the basis for his robots which look more like cyborgs. He started his presentation with an illustration of the robot going through dances and such, but later said it was a person in a suit which looks just like what they are going to come out with. It was slender in a white form fitting suit and a screen for a head, which was in the shape of a human head. There is no doubt we are on the verge of a robotic revolution which has been made possible by smaller chips and components, but also because of a better understanding of how the human brain works. If one looks at the demonstration video from Boston Dynamics and watches their bulky robots move doing somersaults and jumps along with other hard to do maneuvers, it is easy to see things are getting more advanced all the time. I was sad to see Boston Dynamics sold to a foreign country, but when that happened, I didn’t know Musk was working on robots. Now I feel a little better. The man just has so many irons in the fire. Robotics are advancing everywhere, not only in the United States. There are basically two types of robots. The first are the machines which are in factories and build our devices, performing the tiring repetitive tasks over and over which used to drive humans crazy. The second type of robot is the type based on humans and made to look more like us. These are the ones we are pinning our hopes for in the future and are already getting closer to appearing in war zones and such as a replacement for soldiers. The robots the military is using today consist mostly of drones and tractor driven devices. When I say drones, I am not only talking about flying drones but any machine which carries out a task without a human on board. It could be a drone tank, ship, plane or something else. It is amazing how many robotics companies there are across America. Their ideas on what a robot should look like differ. For example, a company named Anybots has produced a two wheeled device which reminds me of the monolith from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey only it is smaller and white. It is balanced and rolls around giving a telepresence and can be controlled through the internet. The robot is named QX. There is a robotics company named Zipline. Their robot is basically a flying drone. They want to use it to carry medicines and blood one place to another. It is claimed they only need about 5 minutes to launch and can travel in any weather. Nuro Robotics is making a self-driving vehicle only theirs is designed for delivery. The vehicle has two large doors on one side where the customer would go to and open one to get his order. The vehicle is named the R2. It is already operating in some states. It was the first robotic device to be granted a permit to travel on the streets in California. Several big brand companies are now using it where allowed. Diligent Robots builds robots which are designed to help people. Their robots are roughly people shaped in that the upper body is vaguely familiar. These robots roll around hospitals doing various jobs delivering things from one area to another, removing dirty linens, taking samples to the lab and performing other mundane tasks freeing up some of the staff. MOXI has a female voice and greets people as it passes them. It looks like a big toy, but certainly has its uses. Bluefin Robotics is, you guessed it, a company that builds robots for the water. The Bluefin-12 UUV is an underwater vehicle. The UUV stands for Unmanned Underwater Vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with sensors and has intelligent capabilities. It can process data and is designed for defense, according to the company. It is also designed to conduct commercial and academic missions. Lefthand Robotics is a builder of intelligent, self-driving robotic machines. An example is their RT-1000 Robotic Tractor. The tractor can be used for many different missions such as plowing snow and cutting grass. It is claimed by the company it is capable of infinite jobs. One has only to change the attachments and attach one appropriate to the task. I could use something like this for the occasional snow storm. Believe it or not there is also a Righthand Robotics. They have a RightPIck platform with artificial intelligence. It has grippers and vision. This robot can fulfill orders by picking up the right items and putting them into the order. It is claimed it can be used in many different types of businesses such as pharmaceuticals, grocery stores and consumer electronics to name a few. Before I go any further, I can’t help but think it wouldn’t be very hard for the companies I have talked about to someday build a humanoid robot. Multiply this ability by possibly thousands of these companies around the world and you can see the what is coming down the pike. If humanoid type robots begin to really sell, they might all decide to produce one. Vicarious Robotics is a builder of assembly line robots. The robots are the type you would find in any factory using robotics to build almost anything. I have to admit it, humanoid robots rock my boat. Sure, all the other types are useful, but there is something about seeing a robot which looks more like us, going through its routines. Toyota has built a robotic avatar. It will repeat the movements of its user. This leaves something lacking to me. I personally want to see humanoid robots which operate independently, sort of like an advanced Echo device, but more advanced. One advanced humanoid robot is being worked on in of all places in Iran. It is named Surena and is the latest version of a robot they have been working on since 2010, it has many capabilities and is human sized. Probably the most famous humanoid robot is Sophia built by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong. It is called the robot ambassador. It is being used to advance research into robotics and human-robot interactions. If you do a search for Sophia Robot you can see the video.
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