August 21, 2006
The Robots are Coming!
Forbes magazine this month features an article on some robots that are up and coming, and others that have already been made. While it is clear to everyone that robots will be part of our future, how we (as a society) get there from here is not necessarily clear. The nice thing about this article is that is has stories on all of the robots featured. A recommended read.
Posted by elkaim at August 21, 2006 10:39 AM
The robots are on the move--leaping, scrambling, rolling, flying, climbing. They are figuring out how to get here on their own. They come to help us, protect us, amuse us--and some even do floors.
Since Czech playwright Karel Capek popularized the term ("robota" means "forced labor" in Czech) in 1921, we have imagined what robots could do. But reality fell short of our plans: Honda Motor trotted out its Asimo in 2000, but for now it's been relegated to temping as a receptionist at Honda and doing eight shows a week at Disneyland. The majority of the world's robots are bolted to a spot on a factory floor, sentenced to a repetitive choreography of welding, stamping and cutting.
No more. In our eighth annual E-Gang (our group of tech innovators to watch), we present the masters of robotic innovation--entrepreneurs and researchers who are fusing advances in biomechanics, software, sensor technology, materials science and computing to create new generations of robotic assistants.