Robots need no introduction. They have been a part of the assembly line for decades. In many countries, domestic bots are helping us lazy humans with menial jobs. Every year, popular tech events such as the CES are packed with cute little companion robots from dozens of companies. More recently, our neighboring country fascinated the world with its efficient use of robot swarm in parcel sorting facilities. However, every once in a while, we get to see robots that make us wary of the technology as whole. And of course, we decided to make a compilation of such robots:
Japanese Child Robot
No list about robots can be complete without an entry from Japan. The country’s obsession with robots has roots in its dominant Shinto religion with animist beliefs. For the uninitiated, animism considers animals and plants are created by humans. Surpassingly then, Osaka University’s professor, Minoru Asada, decided to build a child robot (CB2). This droid is incredibly good at mimicking natural behavior of babies. It is capable to improve upon its social skills with more human interaction. Its eyes with cameras inside are capable of tracking faces and objects. With hundreds of sensors under its silicon skin, it can even register a human touch. The CB2 can also move around using 51 artificial muscles actuated by air. What it can’t do, however, is try not to give you a panic attack.
Tesla Charging Robot
Elon Musk is the closest you ever get to Avengers’ Tony Stark. Using sheer will and truckloads of funding, Elon single-handedly made the electric cars cool. His Tesla cars are packed with features that no one thought would be feasible to mass produce. He proved them wrong, and Tesla cars can now be summoned or parked automatically using your phone. Seeing how you still have to manually charge the vehicle; the company built a prototype charger that can automatically find its way to the charging point of Model S. But, while topping up your car, this snake-like robot also fills you up with a disturbing sight. Seriously, how do you sleep at night after seeing your lovely car get violated by a robot?
US Navy’s Firefighting Robot
With good intentions, the US Navy developed a fire fighting robot named Octavia. Using voice and gestures, humans can notify this robot about fire incidents. The Octavia can then douse the fire before it gets out of control. The robot uses speech and visual recognition to identify trusted individuals too. It is equipped with two infrared cameras to locate the fire. Its backpack houses compressed air and water. The US Naval Research Laboratory accepts that it needs to work of Octavia’s naturalness in human interaction. But of all things, the researchers should make it less creepy. Just look at that blank remorseless face! It looks like Hollywood’s serial killer Jason sans perforated mask. And have you noticed those cold eyes that stare right down at your soul? Seriously, the Octavia looks more like an arsonist that would smother your family than rescue it.
Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog
Boston Dynamics is the company that developed a prototype robotic dog to serve the US military a few years ago. Dubbed as BigDog, this bot was funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). It ditches conventional wheels in favor of four legs to work in rough terrain. In coming years, Boston Dynamics introduced similar design in a compact form factor. Called as Spot, this four-legged robot uses on-board array of sensors including stereo vision and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to comprehend terrain. Using this data, Spot balances itself on electrically powered hydraulically operated legs. It can carry 23 kg payload and can run around for 45 minutes on single charge. However, this robotic dog’s movement is so natural that it freaks out real dogs. Considering that its stands 0.9-meter-tall and weighs in at 75 kg, you know why its natural counterparts go nuts at a mere sight of it.
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