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The word robot first appeared in the English language in 1923, and comes from the Czech word, robata, meaning drudgery or servitude. Early robot enthusiasts clearly saw robots as mechanical servants meant to give us a life free from the more mundane tasks.
So if robots aren't yet flying us to work or washing the dog, what are they doing? Today, robots are being used more and more for jobs that are too tedious or too dangerous for people to do, such as fitting parts on assembly lines or sensing landmines in war zones. Robots are also going to places that are too distant and dangerous for humans, such as the crushing depths at the bottom of the ocean, highly radioactive areas, and the hostile environments of Mars.
Security
If Mr. Worf had had a robot to handle security, the Starship Enterprise would have been a different place. No Klingon angst. Just good, functional, robot security patrols.
Today, several types of robots can perform basic security functions. Robots roam the halls of museums and detect movement, humidity level, and fire. Robots handle entry management for secure buildings. Airports have robotic devices that scan luggage for bombs, and robotic cameras that can do retinal scans and perform face recognition analyses. Police departments use remotely-operated robots for disarming bombs and negotiating with potentially dangerous criminals (put down your gun . . . beep).
Because security involves both the tedious (endlessly walking the halls of buildings at night) and the dangerous (disarming bombs and drawing gunfire), robots and robotic devices are a vital part of today's security force and will be even more so in the future.
Surveillance and exploration
Robots today go where no man has gone before, from the top of a volcano to the wreck of the Titanic in the depths of the ocean. Why are robots showing up in these odd spots? They go there to perform surveillance operations no one in their right mind would try to do.
NASA and other space agencies have found that it's cheaper and smarter to use robots to explore our solar system. To keep an eye on our own planet from space, robotic spy satellites view and remotely monitor the earth's surface from hundreds of miles above the earth. Spy bugs, as these satellites are called, have tiny legs (making them truly look like bugs) and use tiny color cameras to view their surroundings.
Your own grocery store may monitor its parking lot with remote cameras that can pan in response to movement. Some home security systems can monitor the front doorstep or the back driveway and send alerts if a presence is detected.
In short, robots are great tools for observation, and robotic surveillance has become commonplace. As this robotic application becomes more prevalent, there could be some bumps along the way — namely, issues with human privacy.
Human helper
You probably won't be surprised to hear that several robots are already ready and willing to help out with those pesky household chores. Currently, robots can vacuum your floors, mow your lawn, and more. Most of these robots are not humanoid at all, but rather resemble low-to-the-ground golf carts.
Because your average person likes a human face on a machine, much research is going on in the area of humanoid helper-type robots, from figuring out how to make a robot such as Honda's Asimo walk, to giving robots human-like facial expressions. Mitsubishi's Wakamaru, a home-caregiver robot now in development, is rumored to be capable of everything from sending e-mail to a family member in an emergency to giving its human charge a great big hug.
As robots and humans interact, various social, economic, and safety issues arise. Is the Sony Aibo dog a substitute for a real pet? Do robots make us lazy? How can robots help — or hinder — our humanity and human relationships? Robots haven't advanced so far that we need to stay up nights worrying about their effects on us, but it's a good idea to keep in mind Isaac Asimov's Revised Laws of Robotics:
- Zeroth Law: A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
- First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate the Zeroth Law of Robotics.
- Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the Zeroth or First Law.
- Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the Zeroth, First, or Second Law.
Building robots introduces us to this brave new world.
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