Robots and the Environment

How robots can improve our environmental condition?

Robots: Overview
A few decades ago robots were either characters in a story that were to be feared or science fiction movies. Today however people rely heavily on the technology of robotics for everyday life. With the major advances in technology robots have also evolved. What once was just a tale has become a fully functional and very useful tool in many industries. Science has really become real with today's robots and how they function.

 Stories of robots dates a few hundred years back with automated beings in Jewish folklore. Many cultures have their own tales of robots throughout history. In 1948 the first robot that functioned properly was introduced. Since then the robot has drastically changed. The ancient model was box like and limited in function. As time marched on and technology improved robots became more automated and capable of doing more. Today's robots can move and speak.

 In the field of medicine, robots were introduced to take care and diagnose patients. Many surgeries today are

performed by robots. Countries like Japan and Great Britain are contemplating the use of robots to care for patients in their homes. Pacemakers are robotic devices that regulate the hearts of many patients. Any laparoscopic surgery is done by robots with a much smaller opening than any doctor needs to do the task. Many diagnostic tools such as x rays and MRIs are robotic in nature. These technologies are fairly new in designs but are used heavily and will continue to evolve.

Robots : Valuable environmental tools.

They have investigated and cleaned up after nuclear power plant disasters, saving countless people from exposure to deadly radiation. Some robots are built to withstand intense temperatures, navigate through smoke with ease, and lift heavy items. Robots clean asbestos from pipes, and safely strip paint from ships. They have helped biologists tackle pollution and safeguard the environment.

 Global Response Group came up with an idea to create automated robots that will be able to clean the oil spill. Airplanes drop the robots near the oil spill area where, being guided by a GPS, gather the oily water. Afterwards the collected substance is refined and 99 percent of clean water is dispensed out. Dustbot, a robot developed at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna's CRIM Lab, in Pisa, Italy. Led by Prof. Paolo Dario, the laboratory created a robot designed specifically to collect garbage at people's homes. Dustbot can be summoned to your address through a mobile phone at any time of the day. Basically the machine -- built using a Segway Robot Mobility Platform -- uses a GPS system and motion sensors to drive around the city and show up at your doorstep. Once it arrives, the user just selects the type of garbage he wants to dispose using a touch screen. A compartment opens on the robot's belly where the user places the garbage, which is them transported to a drop-off location.

The robot integration industry itself is environmentally conscious. The use of robotics is not a novel idea; robots play a great part in history. The technological advances have paved the way for bigger and better robots. What once was a clunky piece of metal with limited operations now are completely autonomous and serves a multitude of functions. Tomorrow can only tell what the next generation of robots will look like and what they are capable of.