You may remember (or own!) the Rumba—you know, those robots that will scoot around and clean the floor?! Well robotics has come long way since then! Another Engineering Ambassador from UNT and I have been mentoring high school kids in programming robots, so I have been doing some research. Since the Rumba, engineers have developed a robot floor-waxer and lawn mower. But that’s not even the most incredible invention. Engineers in China and Japan have developed human-looking robots. There’s actually a robot that can do yoga! Japan recently unveiled their new Robot Nurse (Actroid-F). She knows how to mimic facial expressions—everything from a pleasant smile to a concerned brow-frown. These new realistic robots even respond to touch! Check out the video…
The nurse robot will be such a big help for hospitals. While they can’t perform surgery (yet!), they can talk to patients and try to make them feel better. I’m still undecided as to whether I’d be delighted or frightened by a robot telling me my cut-off arm was looking better. It’ll just take some getting used to!
The aforementioned robots clearly have a purpose and function, but there are some that were created simply for entertainment purposes. There is an annual competition called the Bacarobo, or stupid robot, contest. The sole purpose of the robot is to make the audience laugh. Check out this video…
These new breakthroughs are so inspiring. Right now I’m simply helping high school students program a Lego robot for a robotics competition, but maybe one day I’ll be programming a robot to program a robot!
Random Fact: Laughing can burn off 6 calories per minute!
