Robots are reliable helpers in our homes, workplaces, and industries. They make work easier for us and can be simple or complex in nature. A robot is a programmable machine that is fitted with sensors to help it interact with the surrounding environment and adapt to changing conditions in a constructive way. These mechanical marvels come in many shapes and sizes to fulfill a variety of purposes in our lives. For example, automated vacuum cleaners and auto assemblers are both robots despite their proportional differences. We have performed thorough research to bring you 5 common applications of robotics technology.
Cleaning
We rely on robots extensively to clean up our homes, offices, workshops and warehouses. The automated vacuum cleaners that we implement are actually robots because they can observe their surroundings and make decisions towards meeting the cleaning objective. For example, the Dyson Robotic Cleaner can learn and completely memorize the layout of an entire house. Afterwards, it can clean every inch of each room. To do this successfully, the robot makes up to 10 decisions every second! A similar programming approach is used with pool cleaning and yard mowing robots. With this in mind, cleaning is a common application of robotics technology.
Medical care
We rely on medicine and surgery to stay alive when we fall ill. Did you know that robots are used quite a lot in medical care? Hospitals often program robots to distribute medicine among the patients. Robots can also be used to navigate to literally any floor in the hospital and then return to the pharmacy to be refilled. Robots are also used to complete highly complicated procedures such as microsurgery. A surgeon can sit at a camera and manipulate special controls to influence the movement of a robot arm. Through this application of robotic technology, precision can be maintained to a very high degree!
Food sorting
A little known application of robotic technology is food sorting where ideal food items are allowed into packaging while imperfect ones are disposed of. Robots can be programmed to be excellent at food sorting. An outstanding example is the rice sorter robot which ensures that every single grain of rice in your pack is perfect. The rice sorter takes a picture of every single grain of rice while relying on a combination of high-speed cameras, laser light and a computer program for analysis. Each grain is assessed to find out its grade so that the ideal ones are allowed into packaging while the imperfect ones are discarded using jets of air. It is a complex robot performing a very difficult task with excellent results every time!
Package management
Whenever you shop for a product online, there’s a very high chance that a robot handled it before the item was delivered to you. Amazon and Alibaba are well known for using autonomous robots to sort packages for delivery in their giant warehouses. Interestingly, Amazon regarded their autonomous robots as so important that they bought their manufacturer for $775 million dollars! Sea ports also use robots extensively for organizing containers before transportation. Human operators control cranes to move the containers from the ships to the mainland. After that, giant robotic cranes known as straddle carriers move the containers around the port area. They stack the containers as required and eventually load them automatically on trucks for transportation.
Domestic surveillance
Robots are used quite often for domestic surveillance where they automate the process of monitoring a home, performing lock-downs, and contacting the necessary authorities in case of a breach. An outstanding example of such a robot is Spykee because it is Wi-Fi capable so you can control it over the Internet. The robot can watch, listen, speak, and make commands based on the instructions that you have programmed into it. Through automation, robots make domestic surveillance much easier for us.
Conclusion
Robots are instrumental in our day to day lives and industrial processes because they are mechanical, diligent helpers. They can be utilized in numerous applications around us. We have described 5 common applications of robotics technology above for you. After going through them, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that there’s a helpful robot in your home!
