Looking forward in the world of robotics
Not so long ago, the thought of having intelligent droids walking around our homes had always been something we could only imagine, but the latest innovations seem to be making the reality of that seem much more possible.
Here we have rounded up four of our favourite robots unveiled in the past 12 months.
3D-printing robots
Back in August 2019, Danish designers proposed an idea that pushes the boundaries of 3D-printing and robots.
Brick the Grid, part of Danish AM-Hub’s Moonshots initiative, follows the idea that fleets of autonomous repair robots will roam around buildings and coastlines to monitor and repair environments. This concept would be done using 3D-printing technology that can move.
The roaming 3D-printers would have the ability to travel across land, air and sea, making for a better world by repairing damaged facades for energy efficiency, building artificial reefs to protect coastlines from erosion and even providing habitats for marine life.
However, as recently seen at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, robots could get a whole lot more lifelike than that.
Living robot
A team of scientists at Tufts University in the US have managed to successfully create micro robots made from the skin of frogs and heart cells. These ‘xenobots’ can walk, self-heal and work together.
The skin and heart muscles are modelled by computers, which use them like LEGO bricks to build different organism structures.
Living for up to seven days, it is hoped that these living robots can be used to deliver drugs into people’s bloodstreams, clean up microplastics from the ocean, or manage radioactive waste spills.
Ballie the rolling robot
Whilst there are a lot of ideas surrounding utilising robots to make the world – and its environments – a better place, another use of robots on the horizon is using them as personal assistants to enhance our everyday lives.
Samsung unveiled a spherical, yellow robot at the recent Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2020 in Las Vegas.
A step further from the likes of AI Personal assistants Google Home and Alexa, this personal assistant can roll around the house, make gestures and respond to commands like a pet such as “good boy”, “say hello” and “come here Ballie.”
Ballie was among a range of impressive robots at this year’s CES 2020 show.
Spot the robot
Boston Dynamics have recently launched Spot – an agile mobile robot that you can customise for a wide range of applications. The base platform provides rough-terrain mobility, 360-degree obstacle avoidance, and various levels of navigation, remote control and autonomy.
The development of Spot is particularly exciting as it’s already in mass production and currently shipping to select early adopters. Early customers are using Spot to monitor construction sites, provide remote inspection at gas, oil and power installations, and in public safety.
Find out more about Spot the robot.
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