Future Of Robotics

Robotics is the art and commerce of robots, their design, manufacture, application, and practical use. Robots will soon be everywhere, in our home and at work. They will change the way we live. This will raise many philosophical, social, and political questions that will have to be answered. In science fiction, robots become so intelligent that they decide to take over the world because humans are deemed inferior.

In real life, however, they might not choose to do that. Robots might follow rules such as Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, that will prevent them from doing so. When the Singularity happens, robots will be indistinguishable from human beings and some people may become Cyborgs: half man and half machine.

These Magnetic Nanobots Could Carry Drugs Into Your Brain.

These tiny cages, each 100 microns long and 40 microns wide, may not look like much, but they are the new semi-trucks of targeted medicine delivery. Developed by a team of Chinese researchers, in conjunction with Swiss and South Korean institutes, the nickel-coated microbots are steered wirelessly by electromagnetic fields. Thanks to that external control, these microbots can carry precious cargo to exactly where the body needs it, including to sensitive places like brains or eyes.

Tiny robots swimming through blood for medical purposes are a relatively new phenomena. In 2011, researchers published a paper on miniscule motors that could propel such machines. Other microbots can carry medicine, but their spiral shape and smaller bodies limit how much can carry. Magnetically steered robots inside living animals have also been tested before.

What makes these microbots unique? Size! Zhang Li, a researcher on the project, explains that "a microbot is like a vehicle that ships drugs directly to the affected area. And I want to design a truck, not a car." Larger robots mean more medicine delivered. Human trials of these robots are likely decades away, but they have been tested in rabbits and mice.

A summary of the research was published in Advanced Materials in July, 2013, and these latest developments will be the cover story in an upcoming issue of Advanced Materials.

The real world and the virtual are merging, it's called augmented reality.

A documentary featuring the future of robotics!