Humanoid Robots; What are they?

In robotics, you will often hear the term “Humanoid Robot” but what does it mean? 

 

 A Japanese Humanoid Robot 

Humanoid robots or sometime also called as anthropomorphic robots are the robots that has the body shape like that of a normal human. That means a humanoid robot will look almost exactly like a human. However in some case only a part of the body may resemble a human body, for example from the waist up.

Androids are a type of humanoid robots that are built to aesthetically resemble humans. These humanoid robots are designed using artificial materials that are meant to resemble the natural appearance, for example special plastics are used to resemble the skins, eyes and ears.

Each humanoid robot is designed by studying the human body structure and behavior. That means a perfect humanoid robot should not only include similar structure but also the emotional and psychological characteristics. However creating a perfect humanoid robot is still a thing of future.

Humanoid robots are designed to enhance the human capabilities. That includes both physical and mental attributes. It means a humanoid robot can carry heavy weight, solve complex mathematical problems within seconds and work 24/7. They will act under your command and will perform the task you demand.

Purpose of Making Such Humanoid Robots

The only reason humanoid robots are created is to make our life easier and safer. They can perform tasks like personal assistance, where they can assist sick or disabled person. There are humanoid robots out there that will wash your clothes, do the dishes, cook food and even clean the house. Some robots are designed for entertainment purposes that can sing and dance like a normal person. For example a female Robert at Universal Studios called Ursula who can sing, play music, dance and speak to her audiences.

Humanoid robots are commonly used in the industrial sectors where they can use tools and operate machines and vehicles. In factories they are used to carry heavy loads or perform risky tasks. A humanoid robot can do work equivalent to at least 10 people and what is more it will not hesitate to work around the clock. That is why they are found in almost every factories and industries in a developed country.

Besides the personal assistance, the humanoid robots are also used as a research tool in several scientific results. They often carry out dangerous task or those tasks that a human can never be able to do. One example is exploring and collecting data on another planet like Mars or at the bottom of the ocean. They are also used to collect samples in an infected area. Recently in Japan during the meltdown of Fukushima plant, few humanoid robots were used to determine the radioactive rays which helped to rescue several individuals.

A Perfect Humanoid Robot, Is it Possible?

Robots, almost everyone are enthusiastic to this term and the science behind it. They imagine Robots as the artificial humans that can almost do anything. But the reality is a bit different, humanoid robots are still in the progress of development and advancement.

Humanoid Robot Performing Dance

It has been a dream in science to replace humans with the humanoids in those dangerous working areas where the risks are too high such as aftermath of terrorist attack, industrial accidents, and natural disasters. So basically humanoids robots are designed to save lives rather than hunt down human warriors.

Advance humanoid robots like seen in the Hollywood movies are not just an imagination. Science says that such robots will be seen among us in near future. Yeah of course it will take decades but it is not impossible. Until now science has faced many challenges and as a result has gained several achievements in the field of robotics.

The humanoid robots these days can play ping pong like a normal person, climb ladders, clean and cook food for us and even drive a vehicle without any assistance from anyone. You know want is surprising? Media has covered that a number of humanoid robots are emerging on the commercial market. These robots although may not meet your expectation but this is a great step towards that perfect humanoid robots.

In the robotic technology, United States and Japan along with some other countries like China and Russia are in the lead. Every time a new prototype is developed. Recently Japan has developed a prototype of a humanoid robot that can shake hands, laugh and communicate with us.

NASA is among the lead organizations that has been developing several prototypes. The organization focuses on creating advance robots that can explore planets, search extra terrestrial life in the universe. Recently NASA has succeeded to land a robot on Mars that has been exploring the planet, searching water sources and extra terrestrial life. The robot is constantly sending data to the earth which is a major achievement in robotics.

It is said that few robots played a crucial role in the major disaster that happened in Japan which was a combination scenario of both the natural disaster and the meltdown of Fukushima nuclear facility. Since there was a high risk of radioactive materials within the nuclear facility, they used a wheeled Robot to explore the area and measure the amount of harmful rays. And thanks to these robots, many were rescued from the plant.

Robots are commonly used in the industrial facility like factories that built vehicles and other machinery equipments. Since they can work faster, carry heavy loads and act the way you command, they have decreased the amount of manpower needed to complete the task. And what is more; they can work 24/7. That is why in almost every industry and factory you will find at least one robot doing the work of about 100 employers.

An ideal humanoid robot should not only look like a human; it needs to perform tasks that we normal people cannot. And this does not only mean the physical work; the robot should be able to make decision on its own. Emotions are the next characteristics of an ideal humanoid. Like we normal people, it should know when to feel sad and when to feel happy.

Although robotics is considered to be a complex science, an ideal robot needs to be simple and user friendly. It needs to understand human feelings and act in the way the situation demands. Basically, that perfect humanoid robot needs to be exactly like the one we imagined; of course in a right way. And seeing all the achievements it might just be a matter of time when our imagination becomes the reality.

Challenges in creating a perfect Humanoid Robots

A perfect humanoid robot; although it might sound like something you will hear in a sci-fi movie, in reality it is actually possible. In a few decades, humanoid robots will be among us, helping and making our life easier and safer.

There is a saying “It is easier said than done”. This applies in robotics as well. There are many challenges once has to face when creating that perfect humanoid robots. And here in this article we will discuss about those challenges.

Money; this is the first challenge that will rise in creating that perfect humanoid robot. And we are not talking about few thousands or millions here, the project needs billions of dollars. Even a small prototype will need at least a million dollar to complete.

Just take an example of the U.S Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. They started a project that replaces humans doing dangerous work in risky environments with humanoid robots with 2 million dollars. And this is just an early expenses, the project is yet to be completed.

Next challenge is the lack of qualified manpower. Robotics is among the most expensive education and joining a training program is not what everyone can do. Although student aid programs are available, the competition is too high and only few are selected for the program.

That is why there is not much manpower qualified for the task. And since a new project needs both confidence and experience alongside the right knowledge, there are not much people to take the risk.

The final challenge is none other than creating a perfect humanoid robot. Although there have been great achievements in robotics, we are still far behind from that perfect humanoid robots.

Creating a perfect human structure is a simple task. But what comes after is where the challenges start. A perfect humanoid robot should not just look like a human but should act one too. That means all our emotional as well as physical characteristics should be implanted on that robot.

1. We cannot incorporate emotions into a machine

So the first challenge is to program emotions in a robot. Until now we have just succeeded to make a robot laugh or cry. But these are not the only emotions human show. The robot needs to understand the situation itself and should act like the way a human would act in that situation.

For example, if someone let’s say the loved ones of the owner dies, the robot needs to feel sad or in some case may cry as well. If the robot meets someone new then it should smile and should greet him/her. Although there might have some progress on this matter, we are still far behind.

 2. Only Living creatures have the self deciding power

Next is the self decision making feature. The humanoid robot should acquire new knowledge from autonomous interactions with the environment and should accomplish task even the designers did not implement. This also includes taking decisions.

Another one is to interact with people. Human are the species that tends to interact with other human like entities. So it is quite challenging to create a robot that people want to interact to. This does not only include casual greetings, the robot should get involved in serious discussions or debates. And it should not look unnatural in any way.

 3. A machine cannot think, act and behave like a human

The last one is to create a robot that can do almost anything we have imagined. It needs to do almost everything a normal human can and even more like flying, calculating large numbers, capable of carrying heavy weight and so on. Until now we have succeeded to create a robot that can do no more than two tasks. So creating the one that can do almost every task is really challenging.

The Bottom Line

Although the challenges look tough and may seem impossible, the way we are progressing in the field of robotics shows us the possibility of creating that perfect humanoid robot one day. There is something more important than the method and it is the faith.

Source : UltratechTalk ( Nov 2012)