May 14, 2009
Types of Household Robots
Household Robots Can Make Your Life Easier
How nice do you think it would be to simply place a robot on the floor, select the cleaning time and go about your shopping trip or walking the dog or anything else you have planned? This is quite possible with the technology of today. There are robots that can clean your floors, mop them, clean your pools, and mow your lawn.
These robots can clean your floors when you are not even there. All you have to do is plug in the robot‘s base station, turn it on, choose the time you want it to clean, and it will clean your floors spic and span. When it if finished, the robot, with the help of an infrared beam returns to its station, empties the dirt into a filtered bag, and recharges its batteries.
How about those dirty kitchen and bathroom floors that not only need swept but mopped as well? Your wishes have been granted. The robot that vacuums and scrubs your tile or linoleum floors and dries them is here. With one battery charge this robot can clean 4 rooms and will wash your kitchen floor. One tank of cleaning solution is all it takes and you can walk into your freshly cleaned home and relax.
Here is a smart alarm clock which has you all figured out. This alarm will make sure you are awake by sounding the alarm and running. This requires getting up and chasing it down to silence the alarm so the odds of your going back to bed are slim.
Scientists are working on robots that can do almost anything. With hands that are fitted for easier gripping they can pour a drink and deliver it to you. Universities all over the world are getting into the robot game and developing robots to do a multitude of tasks.
Honda and Sony have developed a robot that can walk and talk. The preliminary results have been compared to the advent of computers in the 1970s. When they were in the first stages of development and the kinks were being ironed out they were big and bulky and were not quite accepted by the general public. Give it a few years and a few improvements and the world will embrace them with the same enthusiasm that computers generate today.
Many of the universities are working on robots for the purpose of assisting the elderly and those who are unable to perform certain tasks for themselves. There are robots that can open doors and carry groceries. The advances that are being made when it comes to humanoid robots are concentrating on three aspects - walking, talking, and control - to make robots as human as possible. The hopes for these types of robots are to make them clean, do dishes, and take out the trash. All of these chores that we do not like to do can eventually be done by robots.
The Japanese and Americans are working on robots that are not necessarily the type of robot as we would think of in terms of a humanoid robot but the small type that can work with a home that has been equipped with sensors to monitor and take care of the elderly. The robots will go from room to room and wake the occupants, tell them it is time to eat, and call for help if the situation should arise. This would allow more people the option of being able to stay in their own home and reduce the number of people who rely on nursing homes for this type of care. In time it is thought these robots will be as commonplace as the cell phone.
How about a robot that is a telephone? The phone rings, instead of having to go track it down, it comes to you. The technology that creates these robots has been used to consider other aspects when it comes to multi-tasking robots. The reconfigurable robot (polycot) is being studied so that different tasks can be performed by the same robot. The robot that can wash dishes, for instance would need smaller arms and hands. The change to one with bigger arms and hands for gardening eliminates the need for more than one household robot. This would be a huge savings when it comes to building the robots as making just one is expensive.
Robotics research costs billions of dollars every year but an exciting result of the research has produced a robot that can do many things humans can do. ASIMO is the result of over 20 years of this type of research by Honda. The outcome is a robot that can walk on uneven ground, turn with no problem, climb stairs, pick up items, turn lights on and off, and open and close doors. The ASIMO can also follow voice commands and recognize a certain face. The eyes of the ASIMO are a camera and this allows the robot to maneuver around objects as well as wait for people to move out of its path.
Honda Motor Company has made some of the most tremendous breakthroughs with the ASIMO when it comes to robots. The latest which was reported on in April of this year is a robot than greets people as they arrive. It can bring them drinks and move around a crowded room. They can even communicate with each other and share work.
The advances that have transpired over the last couple of decades are an indicator of the way the world of robots is improving. With every step taken the time when robots will be able to perform almost any task to make life easier for humans is getting nearer.
Written by: John
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