Robotics

Hollywood’s fascination with the danger and threat that robotics pose has led to wide speculation on the merit of robotics in everyday life. Will robots steal our jobs? Are robots going to take over the future? As the use of robotics become more wide-spread in our everyday lives, people have started to embrace the use of advanced technologies to take over menial or repetitive tasks.

The Industrial Manufacturing sector was one of the first to realize the advantages of robotics, and has been deploying the technology for quite some time. This investment has paid off for many companies, in particular the automotive sector who reported increased sales from 19,300 to 69,400 in 2013 due entirely to robotics. The key users of robots are USA, Japan, China and Germany.

Robotics in Everyday Lives:

• Over a million robots are in use and almost half of them are used in Japan
• Over two million “Roomba” robotic vacuum cleaners are in use.
• Studies showed that people were emotionally attached to these
  “Roomba” robots and even gave them a name.

Reference: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/20-things-you-didnt-know-about-robots/

http://www.howitworksdaily.com/top-5-facts-robots/

Made in Canada Robotics Advancements

Kidsarm

The first visually guided surgical robot hand was created in Canada which was based on the model called Canadarm. This medical robot was meant to help children in reducing the need for invasive surgery.

This robot is skilled to function in miniature and elusive places and is beneficial in terms of providing accuracy and agility.

Facts about KidsArm:

• The Canadian Government funded this project.
• The federal government donated 10 million to the SickKids foundation in order to support this endeavour.
• This venture was part of a plan to bring medical professionals, engineers and software developers together to work as a team to achieve a higher purpose.

 

Reference: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=946009

http://www.sickkids.ca/AboutSickKids/Newsroom/Past-News/2010/KidsArm.html

Dextre

One of the most refined space robot is known as “Dextre.” This is a handyman robot created in Canada to make sure the International Space Station is in proper form. The key purpose of Dextre was to perform the routine maintenance tasks.

Reference: http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/dextre/

Future

The increased use of robots in everyday life like vacuum machines, lawn mowers and even pets has proven the success of robotics. Sony is a good example of success because after introducing the first robotic dog called “Aibo” have gone further to introduced a humanoid entertainment robot called “QRIO.” There were a lot of other creations as well by various companies such as “partner robots” to help the elderly in daily life along with robotic car races.

With so much potential and the keen interest of researchers, the future looks to be filled with new possibility for the field of robotics.

Reference: http://www.electronicsteacher.com/robotics/interesting-points.php