Top 7 ways Robotics will soon improve your everyday life
In the near future robots will be everywhere. They are already used in car production, underwater and space exploration, but in the next couple of years they will be able to do much more. This is possible thanks to the growing number of easy to use tools allowing to simplify robot development & management.
Together with our friends from Husarion, we have prepared a list of the most interesting trends to watch for in robotics. Husarion is a company that provides hardware and software modules to help robot creators make their ideas a reality. They take part in the hub:raum Low Latency Prototyping Program, organized together with Deutsche Telekom. At the beginning of next year, Husarion will introduce a new product for robotic companies allowing to outsource robot computing power to remote servers. The mentioned solution will be based on 5G network and is developed in cooperation with T-Mobile Polska and hub:raum.
Take a look at 7 most interesting trends in robotics that will change the future:
1. Robot caregivers for older people
According to the USA National Institute of Health, the world population of people aged 65 and above will increase from more than 600 million today to 1.6 billion in 2050 (which makes 17 percent of the entire population). In Europe and North America this percentage will be even higher. But why exactly do we need robots?
We need robots simply because there will be not enough workforce available to take care of the increasing number of older people. There are already robots on the market which, to some extent, can replace older people’s carers. One good example is Robear — a bear-like robot developed by Japanese research institute Riken. It can be used for carrying patients from and to their beds or wheelchairs. The functions of such robots are still quite simple, however, in the future, they will most probably not only carry the patients — they will also dispense medication, bring food or even act as a telepresence robot for a doctor or family members.
2. Robotic pet-sitters
Over the last couple of years the number of pets in an average household have increased significantly. Pet ownership in USA alone have tripled since 1970s, reaching all-time high of 70 million dogs and 75 million cats. Unfortunately, with people becoming busier and busier, many pets are left home alone. This is very dangerous for pets and may cause their separation anxiety and misbehaviours. Robotic pet-sitters, which are already available on the market, answer these issues.
Currently, they can be divided into three categories:
- Cleaning robots - automatically empty a litter box and add fresh, new litter or remove pet hair from your sofa.
- Filtered Pet Waterers - automatically refill your pet water dish whenever it is empty.
- Automatic Pet Feeders - distribute food at certain preconfigured times; quantify and sort food depending on the pet it currently feeds. Some robots have also HD cameras and microphones, so that they could monitor your dog or cat.
Robot pet-sitters are already a reality, so why to mention them? Actually, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Why not combine all the mentioned solutions into one, multi-functional robot that would serve all your pet’s needs? Your pet would always feel like you are home.
3. Security robots
Robo-policeman, well-known from action movies, has recently started to appear on the market. Knightscope, a tech startup based in Mountain View, California, has developed a security robot that monitors public spaces using 360-degree cameras, microphones and other sensors. The robot can detect law violations (e.g., it is activated by breaking glass sound), record incidents, alert police and talk to potential suspects and warn about consequences of breaking the law. Such a solution would be potentially safer and cheaper to maintain, especially in dangerous districts. The robots would take all the risk accepted previously by the police.
4. Kitchen robots
You can now program you new coffee machine to make a cup of coffee for you in the morning. It is prepared as you wake up, just the way you like it. Now, imagine there is also a fresh breakfast waiting for you — made by a robot.
Billions of people around the world spend a lot of time preparing meals each day. Do they really have to? Thanks to Moley Robotics, a startup developing a modern cooking robot, they do not. They have created a two robotic arms with robo-hands mounted just above the kitchen worktop. Kitchen robots of the future will be mobile — they will be able to open the fridge, automatically find kitchen tools and use spices of your liking. If the fridge is empty, it will be able to order the necessary ingredients for your meals. It will not be long before you you are able to eat your favourite Grandma’s dish even when she is not around.
5. Social robots
C3PO is one of the most memorable Star Wars characters. Would you like to have your own? It seems that in the near future it will not be anything surprising. For the last couple of years, there have emerged many social robots on the market. Jibo is one of the precursors of this trend. It can tell you a joke, inform about the nearest ATM, order a pizza and much more — just tell him what you want. Interestingly, not only startups are interested in this trend. LG Smart Hub Robot announced during CES 2017 is an example of a social robot developed by a big tech company. It will recognise voice commands, play music, alert about weather conditions and control LG’s smart appliances in the house. It will be your digital assistant and interface for your smart home in one device. It is possible that LG Robot will be commercially available in the following year.
6. Telepresence robots
Wouldn’t it be great if we could move around the apartament, lock the door, turn off the iron when we forgot to do it or take a package from a courier when we are not at home? You can make it real now with telepresence robots.
Telepresence is not about replacing humans, but allowing them to be physically present in many places at once. Husarion has prepared an open-source robotic kit that allows you to build a segway-like telepresence robot in just under five minutes, so the development of this kind of robots becomes easier and easier. The platform provided by Husarion handles secure, real-time communication between a robot and web browser with robot’s UI or mobile app, so the user can focus only on mechanical aspect of the robot without worrying about controlling it through the Internet.
7. Exoskeletons
Many physical tasks are still too complicated to be handled by robots. Probably, it will take a couple of years before autonomous humanoid robots are as versatile as humans. But what if we combine machine strength with a human brain? Exoskeletons allow us to do that. Today, they are mostly used to carry heavy weights in warehouses and to help people with disabilities. One such good example is SuitX’s Phoenix exoskeleton — designed at the Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. It weighs only 27 pounds and, as Signe Brewster says, wearers can control the movement of each leg and walk at up to 1.1 miles per hour by pushing buttons integrated into a pair of crutches. It seems that when the price of the exoskeleton drops, it might become a good alternative to wheelchairs. Maybe we could all have Ironman-like powers sooner than we thought?
What will be the future of robotics? There is no strict answer — especially now, in the times of rapid pace of change in the field of robotics as well as in the interconnected areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence. There is one sure thing - robots will greately change our lives and businesses.
The article was written in cooperation with Dominik Nowak (founder and CEO Husarion) and Filip Kramarczyk (COO & Co-founder Husarion). If you are interested to learn more about Husarion’s work and products, check the website: www.husarion.com
