Down the “Robot” Hole
Last September, I watched a video where Elon Musk and team introduced the most current iteration of their Optimus humanoid robot. The evolution in skills and features has been exponential, including many electronic and AI technologies already being used in Tesla vehicles.
I’ve finally gotten around to digging a little deeper into the current state of robots in our world.
Humanoid robots have come a long way in recent years and are now capable of performing a wide range of tasks. Some of the most amazing things that humanoid robots can do today include:
Mobility and navigation: Some humanoid robots, such as those developed by Boston Dynamics, are capable of navigating difficult terrain and performing a wide range of movements. They are able to walk, run, jump, and even perform gymnastic feats such as back flips.
Speech and language understanding: Humanoid robots such as Sophia from Hanson Robotics are able to understand and respond to natural language. They can participate in conversations, answer questions, and even tell jokes.
Facial and emotional recognition: Some humanoid robots are able to recognize human faces and emotions, and respond appropriately. This allows them to interact with people in a more natural and intuitive way.
Performing complex tasks: Humanoid robots are increasingly being used in manufacturing, construction and in some fields, they can also work alongside humans, performing tasks such as welding, painting, and assembling.
Adaptive learning: Some robots can adapt to different scenarios and be able to execute new tasks on the fly based on the information they’ve been fed, or the learnings they have acquired during a task.
Human-like grasping and manipulation: Humanoid robots are making rapid progress on grasping and manipulation, they are increasingly able to handle objects, using both hands and fingers, in much the same way that humans do.
I knew about Boston Dynamics and Optimus, but I didn’t realize how many other robots with Omni-purpose AI brains were nearing real commercial viability. It was surprising to see how the human-likeness-technology of Ameca, has become so advanced. And the list of robots with highly functional commercial applications is now surprisingly long. Then I went down the rabbit hole (or perhaps it was a robot hole!) even further to explore the technology and potential use/services of robots today. Here is a great link that you may wish to follow as well. And, if you decide to explore beyond the humanoid robot category, you can find a whole new “robot hole” to dive into — with products like evoBOT.
Where will all this lead? Expect to see robots quickly expanding their presence and performance in the workplace across a growing number of industries from warehousing to healthcare to retail, hospitality, food service and more.