From robots that can complete advanced tasks, to ones who can have a conversation with you,
here are 9 of the most advanced robots on Earth.
9.
Kodomoroid The dream (or nightmare) of various people
when it comes to robots is that they'll one day replace us!
Well in some instances they already have, including becoming a news anchor on a live
TV show.
This is actually what happened in 2014, when Japan unveiled the Kodomoroid, a robot that
was able to understand the news story being fed to her, recite it to a live audience,
and even interact with co-hosts to a certain degree.
Plus, Kodomoroid was designed to resemble a Japanese woman, and she is pretty convincing!!
And that was five years ago, it's grown since then.
The important thing to note here is that Kodomoroid was fed the new story from a teleprompter,
so that means her processor was able to read the text, and interpret what exactly to say,
just like a real human brain.
The brain of a robot so to speak, is arguably the hardest part to make on a robot, which
is why advances like these are so important.
Sadly, Kodomoroid is retired as a news anchor, however, she is part of the National Museum
of Emerging Science and Innovation, which is in Tokyo.
She's still active though, and helps people by giving them information, and gathers information
on how people interact with the lifelike robots.
8.
Atlas The two most important parts on a robot are
its brain/processor, and its body, and for the Atlas, the team at Boston Dynamics are
working hard to ensure that their robot has the most advanced robot body in the world.
To an extent, they are succeeding in that goal.
Atlas is one of the few robots in the world that can both walk and jog on bipedal legs.
In fact, Atlas has very human-like proportions.
It's 5'9, and weighs only 176 pounds.
Which is a pretty big improvement over the previous model of the Atlas.
Anyway, the Atlas has gone through some major improvements over the last few years, including
being able to discern obstacles, and knowing how to get around them.
Previous tests had it stopping at rocks, then slowly moving past them.
And in a recent test, it understood a log was in its way, stopped itself, and then jumped
over it.
Which is a big feat for a robot.
More than that, the speed of the robots jog is significant, because if it can go at a
steady speed without breaking, it means it can also go faster and further.
The Atlas is so advanced that it even has wheel feet that it can use to get around even
faster.
Future soldier?
Maybe.
7.
Milo Robot The Milo Robot proves that in the right hands,
and the right minds, robots can help do what humans can't even think of doing.
Such as helping a child deal with Autism.
Autism is one of the worst mental illnesses around because of how it affects the human
brain, and in a child, it's extremely hard to comprehend and understand things.
The Milo Robot was designed by Robokind in order to help children engage with others
and understand their own emotional state.
The Milo Robot will mimic the expressions of humans, then via iPad, the child will interact
with him and guess what he is "feeling", thus helping them understand themselves.
Furthermore, the Milo Robot will be able to interact with the child using visual cues,
and can monitor their heart rate with a special vest in order to ensure that they are acting
appropriately, to alert the parents to any issues with the child.
According to the tests, the Milo Robot gets a very deep response from children, so much
so that 70-90% of children who have the Milo Robot interact with it, and with a child with
Autism, interaction is key.
6.
PETMAN A collaboration between the United States
Department of Defense and Boston Dynamics has given birth to PETMAN, a unique robot
with the function of helping test various suits that human soldiers would wear in the
field.
How does it test this?
PETMAN has the ability to walk, bend, move about in certain ways, and more.
But what's just as important though is that the PETMAN has very high-tech sensors, sensors
that monitor not just its whole body, but the suit itself.
By that, I mean that if it tested a hazmat suit, it would be able to detect if a scratch
or cut in the suit was there, thus letting harmful chemicals in.
It also has a monitor that detects its "body temperature", enabling even more accurate
data to the test itself.
The groups are using this robot as a "test dummy" of sorts, but doing far more with it
than any true crash test dummy can do.
Through the PETMAN, all sorts of special suits and items can be given a "realistic" workout
without having to put people in danger.
As well as giving them the ability to test things in a confined space without having
to stop every time something goes wrong.
5.
BINA48 The Terasem Movement teamed up with Martine
Rothblatt in order to create a very sentient robot in 2010.
It was actually based off of Rothblatt's wife, Bina Aspen Rothblatt, and because of that,
it was named the BINA48.
This sentient robot is capable of human interaction, and has actually been interviewed "in-person"
by the New York Times, and was also featured on TV and in National Geographic.
What's key here is that BINA48 is an example of artificial intelligence, which is one of
the most important fields in robotics today.
If you watch the interview with the New York Times, you'll see that she not only responds
to questions, but she doesn't even hesitate at times to answer, proving that she didn't
need to "think" that hard about answering, not unlike how a human does it when they chat
with someone.
And because of the very nature of artificial intelligence, BINA48 gets smarter and more
efficient with every conversation.
Or as she notes, "my vocabulary is getting bigger every day."
And since it’s been eight years since BINA48's arrival, AI has only gotten better, which
shows just how advanced we've come in a short period of time in the subject.
4.
Ekso GT There are many "levels" of robots, and one
such level is that of an exoskeleton.
These are typically used on humans to help them do various things.
In Marvel Comics, Tony Stark made himself a robotic exoskeleton and became Iron Man.
In the real world though, there are devices like the Ekso GT, which are robotic exoskeletons
designed to help people with serious spinal injuries move again.
Made by Ekso Bionics in Richmond, California, the team have made it so that someone who
wears the exoskeleton only has to do minor movements in order to get the exoskeleton
to move the rest of the body for them.
Given the nature of spinal injuries, this is a big step forward.
This exoskeleton has many possible uses, including being able to help many people walk again,
assist in physical therapy for all sorts of injuries, and, via the software embedded in
the exoskeletons, it can help monitor the subjects body and alert the necessary people
if something goes wrong.
3.
Nao One of the first androids that was made was
one called Asimo, named after the legendary author Isaac Asimov, who wrote the "three
laws of robotics" to help sure that humanity never fell prey to their robotic creations.
Generations later, the Nao has picked up where the Asimo left off, and what's more, this
is actually a robot that you yourself can get.
But that begs the question, "Why would I want such a robot?"
Because it's interesting to see how a robot can move nowadays and interact with its owner.
The Nao is able to walk in very lifelike ways and at a good rate of speed.
It also has sensors that ensure it doesn't accidentally run into things (though things
can run into it, obviously).
Plus, the software aspect of Nao is malleable, and due to this, people have made apps that
can run with Nao's software to allow even more tasks to be done.
Some people have even used this robot to assist with autistic children.
2.
Nadine In sci-fi, the robots and androids you see
are meant to perfectly (or close to perfectly) mimic humans, and that's exactly the goal
of the robot called Nadine.
She is a robot that is designed to talk and interact with humans in a way that feels "natural".
By that, I mean that she doesn't just talk with people, but she also uses hand gestures,
head moves, and other little things to make herself seem even more human.
If you were to walk into the room to talk to Nadine, she would look at you, greet you,
follow you with her eyes until you sat down, maintain eye contact with you while she chats
with you, and if this is a repeat visit, she'll even recognize you.
Or, if you talk about certain things, she can become happy or sad to a certain extent.
The robot was actually modeled after the director of the project, Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, and
the more advancements that are made on her, the more lifelike she's going to become.
1.
Kenshiro From the University of Tokyo comes what many
people consider to be one of the most advanced robots alive today.
And not just because it can mimic parts of human behavior, but rather, it can do many
different tasks that can only be done via the right construction in terms of its "human"
body".
This team of scientists have built a robot called Kenshiro, and it was designed in such
a way that it could accurately mimic the movements of humans.
While this may seem like a simple task, you have to remember that a human and a robot
are different in virtually every way.
We can move without a thought, while they have to move via signals and codes.
That's why many early robots were very rigid in their movements, they had no other way
to do it because technology wasn't advanced enough.
Now though, that's not the case.
Kenshiro has the ability to do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, various other exercises, and he
can even play Badminton.
What might even be more surprising to some is that the robot is so accurate in how its
muscles move that it can actually overheat...and then sweats to relieve the pressure.
Granted, it doesn't secrete water in terms of how humans do it, but it is a similar style
via water tubes that go out throughout the robot.
The team behind Kenshiro aren't making this robot for their own sake, they feel that having
a robot that can move as accurately as Kenshiro can will help in various tests that humans
themselves can't perform.
And it could be the next version of a crash test dummy if it gets even more advanced.
Thanks for watching!
What do you think of these robots?
Are these the future?
Or is the beginning Skynet?
Let me know in the comments below.
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