Photo courtesy of the Lego Group
Robotics is a relatively new industry. It is where computers were thirty years ago, according to a Scientific American article written by Bill Gates, published December 16, 2006. The robotics industry is now viewed as the computer industry once was. The field of robotics is a slow moving industry, highly specialized, with few practical applications, much like the computer industry was in the 1970′s.
“What is more, the challenges facing the robotics industry are similar to those we tackled in computing three decades ago. Robotics companies have no standard operating software that could allow popular application programs to run in a variety of devices. The standardization of robotic processors and other hardware is limited, and very little of the programming code used in one machine can be applied to another. Whenever somebody wants to build a new robot, they usually have to start from square one.” ~Bill Gates
The toughest problems of robotics, such as visual recognition, navigation and machine learning are currently trying to be solved, with some success, by leading scientists. Robotic vehicles, iRobot Roomba Intelligent Floorvac, a vacuuming robot, robotic pets such as Aibo to name a few.
Photo courtesy of Sony Electronics
Lego Mindstorms, a robotics invention system, named this year, byPC Magazine ‘s 23rd annual Technical Excellence Awards for robotics. Some of the robotic research and development currently taking place is being funded by DARPA, who also had funded Arpanet, a precursor to the Internet.
Bill Gates also states in the Scientific American article:
“When I talk to people involved in robotics–from university researchers to entrepreneurs, hobbyists and high school students–the level of excitement and expectation reminds me so much of that time when Paul Allen and I looked at the convergence of new technologies and dreamed of the day when a computer would be on every desk and in every home.” ~Bill Gates
Viewing trends, Mr Gates says he envisions a future in which robotic devices “will become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives”. New technologies currently in use, such as distributed computing, voice and visual recognition, and wireless broadband connectivity may be the beginnings of a new generation of technology which will enable robotic devices to perform our tasks.
“We may be on the verge of a new era, when the PC will get up off the desktop and allow us to see, hear, touch and manipulate objects in places where we are not physically present.” ~Bill Gates
