After Tuesday's lecture, I found myself intrigued by the idea of robots. After a little research on the internet I found a great article,"NASA and GM develop ‘Robonaut2’ robot", detailing the unveiling of a brand new robot. Nasa and GM have partnered together to create R2, a robot designed to assist both the space program and the auto industry.
After three years R2 was finally shown to the public. He is the "world's most dexterous robot", thus creating new opportunities for robot use that never existed before. R2 was built to look like a robot from the waist up, this allows him to work in the same spaces meant for humans. Due to his design, he can do some of the same jobs humans can do and in some cases work right beside people as well. As of now, R2 does not have legs but Nasa and GM are looking into mobility options for the future.
So what can R2 actually do? The auto industry benefits from R2 because he can help develop advanced safety systems for future cars. Also, R2 can promise increased factory efficiency and promote the safety of factories as well. For the space program, R2 can be sent to space to assist Astronauts on their missions. R2 can be used for both programs to pilot vehicles autonomously, or without a human present.
With all that R2 can already accomplish, improvements to him are still being made. Nasa and GM plan to continue their research and continuously improve R2 making him capable to do more in the future.
What is it about a robot that makes them that much better than a human? I understand that they should have less errors. It's sad when you think that we could build enough of these to completely take over all the jobs at a GM warehouse. It seems as though this robot is already extremely advanced, it's a wonder to even think what it will be able to do with legs!
ReplyDeleteWe are being replaced by robots! Robots are cool, but we need to be careful about the whole idea of having more technology taking over jobs that human can do.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe what we can accomplish these days. That robot is absolutely insane! I think we can put robotics to great use by using them medicinally to perform operations with absolute precision and minimal error. But, i do agree with the fact that we need to maintain our dominance as humans and avoid any terminator-esque scenarios!
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