“Innovation is the key to success,” they say. Thanks to Artificial Intelligence that has helped generate and reshape the ways disruptive innovations should be organised.
While thinking about disruptive technology and AI, the first thing that pops up in our minds is robots – a talking and task accomplishing machine that is no longer a fantasy. And a fascinating implementation of complex locomotion and AI are humanoid robots – the long-dreamt robots with top-class intellectual capabilities that mimic humans.
But what are humanoid robots, and how can their implementation revolutionise the way we live? To learn more, read on.
What are Humanoid Robots?
Humanoid robots, a new and intriguing form of professional service robots, are structurally designed to imitate the human body, interactions and emotions. It means they have legs, arms, heads, and torsos. However, some human robots do not mimic the entire human body but a few parts, for instance, the limbs.
Though its configuration was for functional intents initially, like interacting with human surroundings, space investigation and research (analysis of bipedal locomotion), and more, the use is far more encompassing now.
WABOT-1, constructed by Unimation in 1972, is the first-ever full-scale human-like robot in the world’s history.
How radically the humanoid robot market is booming in recent years can be understood better by a study conducted by Verified Market Research. It says that the Global Humanoid Robot Market size was valued at 903.5 Million dollars in 2020 and is forecast to hit the milestone of 26401.4 Million dollars during 2021-2028, rising at a CAGR of 52.53%. And it is anticipated that amongst all kinds of humanoid robots, the usage of the bipedal robot will be skyrocketing during the mentioned forecast period mainly because of its compact structure, sophisticated capabilities of navigating an environment like humans, and more.
Materials for Robots
The outer structure of a robot may seem an afterthought issue to many scientists, but the materials it is constructed of highly influence its sturdiness, security, or aesthetics. So, before outlining the project, you should decide on the robot’s activities, and optimal weight, the area and its environment where it will operate, etc.
Now let’s dive into the materials robots are mainly constructed of:
- Steel: It is a smart choice that robot builders rely on for making the exterior skeleton of industrial robots, particularly if they require the robots to withstand severe weather. For stiffening the structure, using high carbon-content steel is a smart choice as it can be hardened to a maximum of 30000 psi.
- Rubber: As metal alloys are harder and cannot execute tasks promptly, a mix of metal and rubber is used. It is mainly suitable for constructing robotic arms and cobots for its smooth and flexible texture. Robots with rubber parts are generally securer than those made from stiffer constituents. Plus, rubber tracks are long-lasting, light and fire-resistant, and resistant to corrosion. They are better for traction than metal plates, particularly in off-road conditions with mud and stones.
- Aluminium: Despite being less stiff and more expensive than steel, Aluminium is extremely popular among robot builders because of its higher strength-to-weight ratio and thermal conductivity. Another exclusive benefit of skyrocketing usage of Aluminium in robot building is it is rust-resistant – it rusts initially and forms an Aluminium oxide layer to prevent further oxidation. As a harder material can scratch your robot’s Aluminium surface and make it wear, you can opt for anodization and build a hard protective layer on the Aluminium surface. Of course, it will add up the expenses, but it is worth the price.
- Kevlar: Industrial robots specially programmed to withstand severe conditions like high pressure, heat, or cold require a protective layer over the outer surface. Kevlar can be the most befitting solution here. Plus, you can shape or customise this material, colour it differently, and more.
- Bioplastic: The world is accelerating towards sustainability, so does the robotic industry. Though the use of biodegradable materials, especially bioplastic, in manufacturing the exterior of robots is still under research, the recent analysis has shown promising results. Bioplastic is excellent for constructing delicate portions in movable robotic joints that need to be flexible and robust at the same time.
How Do Humanoid Robots Function?
We know that a humanoid body emulates human behaviour and body. Let’s look through how these life-like machines function:
- Control System: The core functionality of a humanoid robot lies in its control system – a specially built silicon chip known as CPU that receives feedback from sensors and acts accordingly.
- Sensor: They sense and quantify physical qualities like pressure, light, sound, temperature, etc., and send the measurements as electric signals to the CPU to act appropriately.
- Actuator: Inside the outer frame of the robot, there should be pneumatic, electric, or hydraulic actuators of low mass, small form-factor, and high power. Usually a combination of inter-connected step motors, these actuators receive electric signals from the CPU and execute the command to make the joint segments and muscles move – they convert the input energy into mechanical energy. For instance, actuators pivot robot arms, make the wheels spin, or robot gripper close or open, etc.
Implementation of Humanoid Robots?
Household
The AI-powered ML-based robotic assistive technologies and automation functionalities enable humans to use robots to facilitate household works. For instance, some superstar domestic robots are autonomous cooking bots, lawn-mower, vacuum cleaner Roomba, etc.
Although humanoid robots still have a long way to go before getting more affordable and having the intelligent capabilities of Rosie the Robot – the famous character in The Jetsons, that day is not so far when they will co-exist in human homes and transform our daily lives. From cleaning your filthy pool, petting animals, and doing laundry to lifting heavy furniture, a ‘realistic robot’ will help you accomplish every household task you hate to do yourself, confronting a wide spectrum of objects in dynamic unstructured environments. A prominent example is Kuri – a fully functional humanoid domestic robot that can be the key to power households with Artificial Intelligence by seamlessly integrating with smart homes.
Industrial Use
The use of intelligent robots has revolutionised the way modern industries operate. The outcome is improved production quality, efficiency, speed, and profitability.
Thanks to industrial robots that can handle dangerous industrial activities and improve the working environment ensuring better safety. Plus, they are programmed to handle repetitive tasks. Now, employees can focus on core production functionalities rather than tracking things manually.
Healthcare Sector
Medical robots are a tremendous help with immense potential to radically transform healthcare organisations. They can streamline hospital logistics and routine activities, offer 3D views, help provide intelligent therapeutics, ensure customised monitoring of patients with chronic issues, and the list goes on. With incredible accuracy and exactness, medical robots can help lessen human-made mistakes using computer vision in micro-procedures in surgeries.
Humanoid robots are a recent addition to biotechnology, biomechanics, medicine, and cognitive science. Medicals continuously use them to devise complex prosthetics for disabled patients like missing arms or limbs. For example, WABIAN-2, a sophisticated medical humanoid robot, can help rehabilitate lower extremity trauma. Humanoid robots led to a boom in the healthcare sector during the Covid-19 pandemic- hospitals were hustling to deploy automation technologies and humanoid robots, as physicians were grappling with the life-threatening highly-contagious virus.
Education
Implementation of robotics in education, categorised as General Purpose Technology, has immense potential to act as an intelligent learning tool. For instance, mechatronic specialists have constructed a specially engineered robot that can oversee classrooms and operate its body and eyes to communicate with teachers and students.
Thanks to humanoid robots that are eradicating the limitations of those old-school classrooms by:
- Nurturing struggling students
- Teaching them computational thinking to understand coding, logic, and STEM subjects better, enhancing student engagement in learning
- Helping kids with special needs, operating as an interactive yet programmed autistic teaching aid, and the list goes on.
Some prominent examples are Pepper, and Nao, two multilingual humanoid robots that can level up learning in loop-based education. They can speak up to 21 different languages and translate them via Cloud platforms, proactively enabling students to develop language proficiency.
Space Exploration
Space robots are an excellent help to astronauts in space research and exploration. They help perform tasks dangerous or even impossible for the astronauts, place tools for measurements, collect specimens from other planets to facilitate analysis, and more with utmost accuracy. Though the mass use of real-life replicants – humanoid robots are still far in the future, leading space companies like NASA are using humanoid robots (Robonaut, Valkyrie, RoboSimian, etc.) to make space research and exploration more convenient and precise.
