Understanding the Basics of Humanoid Robots
Humanoid Robotics are a subset of robotics designed to resemble human beings. Unlike their industrial robotic counterparts, humanoid robots incorporate bipedal movement mimicking our biological structure.
With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the prevalence of humanoid robots is reaching new heights as we integrate more advanced algorithms into these machines using Deep Learning models. Over time, future developments could even lead to a new society of machines that live among us, creating unique legal challenges and room for cooperation.
What Are Humanoid Robots?
Humanoid robots are machines built to resemble humans. They mimic noticeable features like our limbs, body shape, and facial features to be more familiar. Their design operates under the assumption that humanoid robots will work and reside in areas or environments that are populated with humans.
Developments in humanoid robots first began in the early 1970s in Japan at the Waseda University where the WABOT-1 was being built. This machine was the first to perform human-like tasks such as walking, gripping objects, and talking in Japanese.
By the turn of the century, Japan continued innovating humanoid robotics. Honda, for example, began developing its ASIMO line of robotics and leading the way with improved sensors for computer vision, along with more intelligent processing from neural networks to create some of the most advanced robotics for the time.
Examples of Humanoid Robotics include:
Atlas: Developed by Boston Dynamics, Atlas is an advanced robot that is capable of leaping large distances and navigating through obstacles.
T-HR3: Toyota’s T-HR3 mimics human operations like remote manipulation that require precise human dexterity.
Sophia: Developed by Hanosn’s Robotics, Sophia is a social robot that can carry a conversation using Natural Language Processing.
Key Characteristics of Humanoid Robots
Based on humans, humanoid robotics are easy to identify because they contain many of the same features that we do such as cameras for eyes and microphones as ears while the brain is controlled by AI.
While these features make sense, the real difficulty lies in the balancing act of recreating bipedal movements. Walking with two feet is a rare trait in nature and was one of the first challenges for engineers to solve before adding other components like arms or torsos.
The head is where many key features such as the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ are installed. These sensors give the machine computer vision and help feed its AI-powered brain with real-time data for operating human-like tasks such as walking a certain path or moving an object.
Uses of Humanoid Robots
Due to their human design, humanoid robots have many uses in and around human environments like shopping centers and tourist locations instead of warehouses and factories where most industrial robotics reside. Some examples include:
Healthcare: Robots like Softbank’s Pepper are helping provide patients with assistance and companionship as they overcome their health issues. More advanced machines like the da Vinci Surgical System are also creating new potential for humanoid robots that can assist with surgery.
Service: Humanoid robots have an exceptional place within the service industry, acting as the perfect waitress, host, or bartender for any situation. This can reduce the costs for employers while also removing the need for patrons to tip.
Military: A more extreme example, humanoid robotics can serve many obvious roles as soldiers. With human-like features, these warfaring bots would be able to operate vehicles and weaponry designs for human hands and bodies.
Challenges and Concerns with Humanoid Robots
Designing humanoid robotics takes much effort and relies on advancements from both robotics and AI separately. While both fields are complex, developments in robotics began at a faster pace, originally relying more on mechanical and electrical engineering than software engineering. This made initial developments in bipedalism quick to solve but has led to new limitations as features become more complicated such as developing fine dexterity for hand movements and facial expressions.
AI, on the other hand, has required more time to develop in the same way that a human brain takes more time to mature than a human body, resulting in a gap between mind and machine. Fortunately, AI has come a long way since then with breakthroughs in Deep Learning that can be installed into humanoid systems.
The largest obstacle ahead of humanoid robotics though is their energy consumption. Every machine will require an energy source and our planet is already being pushed to its limits with climate change. For humanoid robotics to become more commonplace, we’ll need to find efficient, clean energy sources to supply them with.
The Future of Humanoid Robots
The potential for humanoid robots in the future is far-reaching, opening up many new doors for businesses around the world. Improvements to industries like service could have a major impact on tourism and logistics, giving humans more opportunities to enjoy leisure.
However, many technical challenges await and it will be a long time before we see a massive proliferation of humanoid robots. Fortunately, patient development time gives society many moments to determine how integrated they want these new humanoid robots to become with human societies.
