Browsing: robotics

FNB

During the course of a day, robots might be expected to do everything from making a cup of tea to changing the bedding while holding a conversation. These are all challenging tasks that are more challenging when attempted together. No two homes will be the same, which will mean robots will have to learn fast and adapt to their environment. As anyone sharing a home will appreciate, the objects you need won’t always be found in the same place – robots will need to think on their feet to find them.

The end of humanity isn’t going to come as a result of military robots taking it into their silicon heads to wipe us all out. It’s going to be the result of domestic robots doing that very thing. At least, that’s how the science fiction goes. And seeing Digit, the creation of Ford and a robotics startup called Agility Robotics, hasn’t really assured us that things will go otherwise. But that’s mostly because we can see this bipedal critter being really useful. 

Your vacuum cleaner that you leave to do its job while you are away is a robot. It senses the world around it and makes driving decisions as it sucks and sweeps.
But your washing machine is not a robot. You tell it how to wash when you select the cycle and it gets on with it. There are grey areas and the definition is debated, but let’s leave it there.