Kafka’s equally imaginative brother-in-law Karel Capek coined the term “robot” in his 1921 science-fiction play, Rossum’s Universal Robots, to describe artificial, humanoid, slaves churned out in a factory. In 1942, Robert Heinlein’s short story Waldo described a paralysed genius who invents powerful mechanical devices remote-controlled by twitching fingers inside an electronic glove.
The scientific community loves science fiction. So it isn’t surprising that both terms were promptly borrowed to become part of the technical lexicon. Of course, even as such devices were being developed in real-life, science fiction writers speculated about new, and more unlikely usages.
The reality is now fast-outstripping fiction — more and more uses are being found. The modern waldo can be defined as a remote-controlled tool, whereas robots have autonomous decision-making capabilities and much more mobility.
Waldoes are used extensively in hazardous, or downright hostile environments, which can be monitored but where human beings cannot go safely — in mining, in undersea pipe and cable laying, in nuclear plants, and nowadays, in space exploration. They are constantly monitored and remote-controlled.
Robots are used even more extensively, on factory assembly lines, to do micro-surgery, to do specialised cleaning and house-keeping tasks, like after oil spills, and increasingly often, on battlefields. Most robots are programmed to do certain tasks and while they are closely monitored, they take their own decisions within those narrow frameworks.
Casualty rates in battle and in hazardous industrial environments can be dramatically reduced by the use of such devices. Japan, which is a pioneer in the use of both robots and waldoes (are you surprised?), is very likely to deploy new versions to assess and clean up damage post-tsunami.
The radiation levels inside the Fukushima plant and in the surrounding exclusion zones will most probably be tested by intelligent mobile devices, rather than humans clad in radiation suits. Miniaturised robots are also likely to be put down sewers and into cable lines and under debris, to assess the damage and locate bodies, among other tasks. Quite a lot of repair and rehab is also likely to be performed via remote-controlled waldoes and robots.
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Many of those new devices will be civilian adaptations of designs that have been tested on battlefields. US forces routinely deploy creatures like the PackBot, BigDog and Warrior along with their infantry forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Israelis use them a lot in hostile urban environments as well.
The PackBot is a tracked robot beloved of hazardous materials teams and bomb squads. Weighing around 20 kgs, it can cross rough terrain and climb stairs. It’s equipped with hazmat sensors that test for chemical, biological and radiological contamination. The Warrior is a 120- kg beast that can deliver 70-100 kgs loads of ammo, food, etc, as well as do terrain mapping and bomb disposal. BigDog is a four-legged “beast” — it can carry 125 kgs of supplies and run across any terrain that a wolf can cross. It can even limp along, if one or two legs are damaged, courtesy a brilliant gyro-stabilising balancing system.
All these device can receive real-time orders and instructions from over a kilometre away. They come equipped with multiple cameras (including infra-red) that offer 360-degree vision and movement recognition, even in total darkness.
They can, therefore, be configured to find people, move rubble, put out fires, defuse electrical short circuits or deliver supplies in situations where humans would be risking their lives. At the same time, a whole range of very small (coin- sized) robots have been developed to get into very small spaces such as inside electrical ducts. Some of these can fly as well.
Another high-focus area is robotic emergency medical services. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – the US defence research organisation that funded the Internet – is developing a small 10 kg Autonomous Critical Care System unit (ACCS) that can be flown out to deliver medicines and administer injections, as well as to monitor the vital signs of critically injured people until they can be evacuated. This ties into the concept of the “golden hour” — if you can get medical assistance to a severely injured person within an hour, the chances of survival are exponentially higher.
The Israelis are also developing unmanned aerial ambulances (including helicopters) that can carry out wounded troops and administer emergency medical care until they reach hospitals. They reckon that these could reduce fatalities by around five to six per cent in battlefield conditions and of course, they can reach places where normal wheeled vehicles cannot go. Since Unmanned Aerial vehicles can already be operated by voice command and carry upto 2 tonnes of equipment, it’s not so difficult to envisage that these will soon be in operation.
Obviously, there are massive civilian applications for all these. We may never see a robot nanny or lover, as envisaged by Isaac Asimov (PackDog manufacturer iRobot inc. borrows its name from a Asimov story) or an R2D2- C-3PO team. But even more unlikely electronic specimens may soon be commonplace.