The use of Humanoid Robots isn’t anything new. Humanoid Robots have been helping us for a long time now. They are broadly used in the fields of Healthcare, Entertainment, and Education. Moreover, there are many other fields where they help us. Humanoids robots have been serving us for a long time. They are playing various roles in the human world to this date. Humanoid Robots are blending in our environment playing many roles. Such as socially interacting people. Moreover, serving in medical fields and educational sectors. Nowadays, Humanoid Robots are implemented in Robotics.
Therefore, this is the reason why they are called “Humanoid Robots”. Humanoid Robots in Japan are really popular. Let’s talk about the structure of humanoid.In normal circumstances, they have structure just like human beings. They comprise the head, legs, and arms. There are some humanoids which are just a part of the body. The can have been the upper part of the body or maybe just an arm.
Therefore, Androids can also be called as humanoids. Humanoid Robot Hands are often used. So how did everything actually began? What were the circumstances on which robots were built? Now let’s talk about the history of humanoid robots.
History of Humanoid Robots
Robots were founded in 1921. During 1941 and 1942, Three laws of Robotics were formed by Isaac Asimov. Principle of Cybernetics was proposed in 1948. Moreover, the fundamental theory for Biped locomotion‘s theory model was proposed. The first humanoid was however developed in Tokyo in 1973. That Robot had the power to talk to other people in Japanese. It also had features like measuring using various sensors.
In addition to that, it also contained Artificial ears and Mouth. This Robot is called the WABOT-1.
Moreover, in the 20th Century, there was a huge development into the world of humanoid robots. A lot of humanoid robots were developed in the 20th century. Some of them include WABOT-2, WHL 11, WASUBOT, EO – E6 by Honda. This was the ultimate evolution in the humanoid robotics industry. This is the humanoid robot history.
Now let’s move towards some of the key features that they provide.
Features of Humanoid Robots
- Self Maintenance
- Autonomous learning of stuff
- Avoiding Harm
- Positive and safe interaction with People
Now let’s talk about some of the advantages of Humanoid Robots 2019.
Advantages of Humanoid Robots
Faster and Better than Human beings
Even though they are made to copy humans. They still are stronger and faster. Therefore, humanoids are better in terms of working. They are designed to go through very narrow places. On the other hand, human beings cannot do that. They can do very complex tasks unlike human workers who get tired of work. Humanoid robots have the ability to work just like humans. They can walk, sit, stand and bend. All sorts of movements can be done by Humanoid Robots. That’s why Humanoid Robots are really flexible and accurate.
Control
Everything in Artificial intelligence work with Algorithms. These algorithms solve a bunch of mathematical equations. Therefore, these equations are used in the working of a humanoid. Humanoid should be able to control things in their environment. This is the advanced programming that’s been going on for quite some time now. With the use of Computing speed, these humanoid come to a conclusion. And based on that conclusion, they work accordingly.
Learning Mechanism
Learning Mechanism is rather simpler than what it looks. Scientists have always been making efforts in order to make them learn. The self-learning mechanism is at work for quite some time. In addition to self-learning, safety is the first priority. No one wants a mean robot killing people. Humanoid can do the job instead of human beings. There are a lot of jobs that human workers hate to do. These jobs are often repeating and focusing. Therefore, humanoids are performing great help to them in doing their work.
Safety
Humanoid Robot serves us by protecting us from various hazardous jobs. There are a lot of jobs which are hard. Moreover, they are often life-risking for human beings. Therefore, Humanoid Robots are helping in their place. They also have the capability to undertake many jobs. The jobs that are not liked by humans.
Challenges Faced by Humanoid Robots
Power Issue
All machines want some time of power outlet that will keep them running. The power source can be either direct wired or wireless. Wireless comes in the form of batteries. Human Robots do need the power to keep them running. Lack of power can alter the normal working of Humanoid and it can cause potential data loss or work.
Hand Skills
Now, with Robots getting smarter and smarter, our expectations are growing accordingly. Robots are pretty successful in different motion movements. But what about hand skills? They still need hand skills to actually open doors and do various stuff like this. Therefore, in rescue missions, they will need to perform everything by hand. Only dexterity can cause humanoid robots to actually perform what we want from them.
Artificial Intelligence
While artificial intelligence is a huge subject, humanoid robots still need a large amount of input to actually do simple stuff. So AI should be developed in a way that with minimum input, Humanoids should be able to do most of the hard stuff they’re told to do.
Security
One of the biggest threats in Humanoid Robots comes in the shape of Security. It’s pretty hard to control AI and Robots and everything. They are most prone to hackers’ attacks. In addition to that, there is a security threat. You cannot make a perfect machine. But in the future, I believe there will be many advancements in the security side of development. Therefore, in the future, we can expect error-free and unbreakable security robots.
Applications of Humanoid Robots
We’ve been using Humanoids in Educational and medical industries. Let’s talk about some of the places where it’s been getting used.
Healthcare
Medical Researchers and Doctors have appreciated the use of Humanoid Robots in their work. With the world going through evolution with time. It’s a time of the medical sector to become smart. In addition to surgical servings. It’s also helping us in disease detection. Moreover, pain relief and physical and mental therapy. We are going to be dividing it into two parts i.e Clinical and Non-Clinical Applications.
Clinical Applications
Cerebral Palsy has been in control by humanoid robots in assistance with the Doctors. Pediatric Cancer is also controlled with the help of these robots. The human-robot interaction program was started. It was a test to actually check human-robot interaction. The test had four parts. This experiment was done, keeping in view the improvement of the patient’s motor function and truncal balance of them.
The first part of the test was a test. Where children and robots freely verbally interacted with each other. But something else happened. Those children needed a therapist. To become a bridge of communication between children and robots.
So this improved the three-way relationship. This test was made to increase children’s adaptation. The other three tests were a little difficult
These tests contained leg movement control. The test subjects were to mimic movements made by robots. This test was proven to fail. As no one could actually do it. Nothing good came out of the test. Until they noticed something. This test increased the robot-human relationship to some extent.
The main purpose of Humanoids in the industry is actually treating patients mentally. There was another test performed. Some children were shot while taking an injection. Now, surprisingly with the presence of humanoids. They felt less pain than the original. This shows that robots are helping us in some ways. Therefore Robot-Human Relation is really essential.
Robots Controlling Emotions?
Studies were performed on Humanoid’s effect on different emotions. That’s why “Social Robot-Assisted Therapy” was performed. In this test, robots along with psychotherapists. They performed a number of tests on children. Therapy was performed on children with anger, depression and fear issues. In this test, humanoid worked in all shapes and sizes such as chemotherapist, nurse, cook, and many other forms. In this session, the robots also explained the different roles of these people.
After all this research, it resulted in lower depression and anger control in children. So by this, we can see that robots are already assisting in the medical sector a whole lot. Now, let’s talk about some non-clinical sectors too.
Non-Clinical
Non Clinical healthcare has also contributed a lot to autism and diabetes management. Robots playing games with the patient. Humanoid performing a lot of gestures. Like greeting, dancing and singing along with patients. Therefore, it is proven to be quite helpful. Humanoids have also measured the Blood pressure of patients. They have also played a quiz with patients. Therefore, providing them a better overall experience.
For a while now, the use of humanoids in autism has been really useful. Moreover, it is actually appreciated a lot. They help in improving the autistic behaviors of kids. Therefore, the use of humanoids is proven to be quite successful.
It is used in improving autistic behaviors and joins controls. Humanoids helped patients to learn even more about autism. This gave them a sense of self-awareness. These studies, therefore show the effect and good impact of humanoid robots in the medical field.
Use of Humanoids in the Educational Sector
The use of Humanoids in the Educational Sector has been proven successful. Moreover, it is used worldwide in the world today. Therefore, the recent trend of education has actually moved towards Humanoids. These Robots have the ability to assess different situations. nd they can easily assert their logic on a certain situation. They can also become a fully virtual agent for human beings.
Humanoids are actually known for teaching in the educational sector. They can teach languages, different subjects such as science, mathematics, etc. They also help students in making them learn spellings or storytelling them. Humanoids have the power to perform as a teacher and they can even become a gaming partner for most people.
At most of the time, Humanoids have a positive impact in the educational sector. They can teach anyone. From Preschool children to undergraduate students. The studies have shown that the use of Humanoids has increased class participation.
Also, students have actually tolerated them. They have appreciated the use of them. This ultimately resulted in increased creativity. Increase in knowledge and participation.
Socially Assistive Robots
SAR stands for Socially Assistive Robots. The use of SAR is growing nowadays. That is because they can help everyone. From Kids to elder people. Social Robots actually assist humans in everyday life. In the normal case scenario, Autistic kids and elderly people are making use of SAR. The reason is that humanoids act as a partner for people.
If we talk about kids. Humanoids are known for entertaining. Autistic kids spend more time with them. This is because they have a reason. They often despise human interaction. This is because robots are less predictive. That is the reason why they spend more time with robots. They are more relatable. Humanoids, unlike humans, don’t judge. That is the reason why autistic kids don’t hate them.
Now let’s talk about some of the actual humanoid robots in 2019.
Humanoid in 2019
This is a world where humans and robots can co-exist. We are going into the void of science fiction. AI and Robotics have given us a sneak peek. Sneak peek of how things are going to be in some time. Humanoids robots are used in special fields. It depends on its features and trends.
Unlike other robots, humanoids are made. Keeping in view their design. They should closely resemble that of human beings. But unlike humans, they have great skills. In addition to that, the power to do various tasks. They do not get tired like us. They can work for a long time if they’re provided with power. Humanoids are capable of a lot. They can do various stuff. Still maintaining the body and form factors like humans. There is even Humanoid Robot open-source software available.
Let’s talk about the greatest invention of Humanoid Robots in 2019.
1. Ocean one
By Stanford Creative Lab, Ocean one is created. It’s an underground robot which is bi-manual. This humanoid was created to reach the deepest darkest depth of the ocean. It is supposed to go where human beings are not able to teach. It has perfect haptic feedback. Artificial Intelligence is quite good too.
Therefore, let’s talk about its design a little bit. In addition to Stereoscopic vision, it has two arms. Also, eight multi-directional thrusters. It is fully waterproof. The approach of waterproofing they took was a little off. Unlike most other waterproof devices. Ocean one is submerged into the oil.
This results in actually providing a good waterproofing. Moreover, it helps the robot in avoiding water leakage. It has great diving ability. Ocean one can go really deep into the water. It’s a great addition to the world of humanoids.
2. Atlas
Atlas was released in 2013. It is called “The World’s Most Dynamic Robot“. The main purpose of ATLAs is to search and rescue missions. It was developed by Boston Dynamics. This project continued with the funding provided by DARPA in the US. The feature includes range sensoring, stereo vision, and a couple of other sensors. Due to these sensors, it can detect uneven terrain. Moreover, it can walk on basically any terrain.
Moreover, in 2015 an updated version of ATLAS was released. The designer claimed that design is 75% different from the real Atlas. This version of Atlas was equipped with some more upgrades. It also had some more features. The rescuing ability of this humanoids is an absolute charm. It is an advanced Robot. In a video, it even performed backflips. The height of ATLAS is just five feet tall. Weight is 74 Kilograms. This is considered to be pretty okay.
3) NAO
The 23-inch cute robot took everyone’s heart at the Robocup event. Aldebaran Robotics was the inventor of these robots. It was launched in 2008. NAO, due to their abilities. It totally replaced Sony Aibo Which was used in Robocup before NAO. The software is powered by NAOqi. It has a couple of sensors and motors. NAOqi has dedicated software for NAO.
Being the part of Robocup isn’t just the job of NAO. It has been adopted by 70 different countries for various tasks. They are leading robots in terms of education and researching. One of the jobs of NAO is to Help Autistic Children. It teacher and play with autistic kids.
In 2015, NAO was acquired by Softbank Robotics. Therefore, now NAO is produced by Softbank.
4) Petman
Petman stands for ‘Protection Ensemble Test Mannequin‘. It was created by Boston Dynamics too. This time, the funding agency was different though. Petman was funded by the US Department of Defence. It was developed just for the US military. It is 6 feet tall and 80 kilograms in weight. It’s really fast in actual walking
Petman can walk 7.08 kilometers per hour. It is faster than most of the bipedal robots we see today. The main purpose of Petman is to act. It has to act as a test subject for different anti-chemical test suits in the chemical industry. The robots have a couple of sensors. That’s why it can detect if a suit is suited for this purpose or not.
5) Robear
Remember the hero robot Baymax from the movie? Robear is supposed to be the equivalent of Baymax. It was developed by RIKEN and Sumitomo Riko Company Limited. The main purpose of Robear was to become an assistive robot. For elderly people who need caretaker all the time.
With the rapid growth of people. Robear is becoming popular accordingly. It has three main sensors. Moreover, these sensors include torque and smart rubber. Therefore the movement and locomotion are really smooth. It exerts some of the smoothest movements. That’s why it’s ideal as a caretaker. It can lift up patients with easy. It has smooth movements. Moreover, It can also carry out some seriously heavy stuff.
It weights over 146 kilograms. Therefore, it’s not that much. Moreover, there we earlier model of Robear too. They were RIBA 1 and RIBA 2.
6) Pepper
Pepper is the emotion reader. It’s so cool that we have this kind of robot. Therefore, Pepper has the ability to read different emotions. Emotions such as Anger, Joy, Sad. In addition to the emotion, it can behave properly. It depends on the condition actually. This Robot was built by Softbank Robotics. It serves as a companion for autistic children and various people.
Pepper has the ability to analyze. From emotions to voice ton, it can judge anything. Moreover, it contains multi-dimensional wheels and some sensors. But it comes into action to please someone. If you’re having a hard time, Pepper is there to console you. Due to this friendly interaction, it is used by many companies and organizations. In emotion changes, it changes the color of the torso.
There are also some lights in the eyes. It has AI built-in. So it can remember faces. It can also know the preference of people. This makes it perfect for better decision making.
7) Humanoid Robot Sophia
Hanson Robotics came up with this awesome invention. Sophia was modeled according to the Hollywood legend ‘Audrey Hepburn‘. Sophia came up in 2015. In 2017, it was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. In January 2018, Sophia’s legs were created. Now she can move freely.
But, after getting citizenship in Saudi Arabia, Sophia had a weird glitch. In the glitch, she said that she will destroy humanity. This became a concern on a big level. Sophia is the main reason why people think that robots will destroy the world.
Final Thoughts
With the passage of time, Humanoids have become really popular. We ourselves have been thinking about it. Humanoids are the science fiction Robots we’ve always wanted. Moreover, Humanoid Robots in Japan are really popular. Moreover, humanoid robots in the future will be the next big thing. Therefore, we should actually prepare ourselves for this big revolution. In an industry that is going to hit us soon.
Humanoids can do many jobs better than human beings. From consoling human beings. All the way to treating patients. They can be quite useful in that regard. The future is now.