Page 57. Watch the Lecture. Part D. LISTEN FOR DETAILS

Unit six

page 57

watch the lecture

part D: listen for details

Robots; they once seemed like science fiction but today robots are part of everyday life.

so what do we use robots for?

to answer this, we’ll look at examples of where robots are used today and the tasks that they performing.

but first I’d like to review a basic definition of robot.

a robot is a machine; a mechanism that can move automatically by itself.

some of the first robots in the early 1900s were controlled by radio signals.

since the 1940s, scientists have made robots can be programmed, that can be controlled by a computer brain.

So, robots are programmable, they’re controlled by computers and all robots must do two things:

first they must obtain information from their environment; that means robots need to have at least one sense; in other words they can see, feel, hear or even smell or taste things.

for example, researchers in Mexico developed Gaspard robots to detect gas leaks that humans can’t smell.

and researchers in Denmark developed biosensor robots that can taste food better than any food critic.

and second, robots must do something with that information; they must perform a task.

for example, in an automobile factory, a robot might be programmed to see a car parked in front of it and then pick up that part and connect it to another part of the car; a robot in a food processing plant might be programmed to look for dirty surfaces and then clean them.

Increasingly, robots are performing a lot of work the people used to do. most of that work is what we call the four D’s: dull, difficult, dirty and dangerous.

in other words, robots do work that people can’t do because it’s too dangerous or difficult, or don’t want to do because it’s dirty or dull.

One Very Important Way that we utilize robots today is in industry; mostly in factories.

in fact, almost 90% of the robots in use today are in factories.

Now, robots are very useful in factories because they can do work that is very dull, very boring or work that is difficult for humans because of its repetitive nature.

that is, they can perform the same task again and again and again, without getting bored or tired.

for example, in the chocolate factory, mechanical arm and pick up chocolates and put them into boxes 20,000 times in one eight hour workday.

20,000 times! it’s impossible for a person to do a task like this as efficiently as a robot.

robots also perform work that is too dirty or too dangerous for humans.

for example, the police and military use robots with cameras to enter dangerous areas to look for criminals; these robots may go inside a vacant building or along a dark street and take pictures or audio or video which they send to police waiting in a safe area.

officials also use robots to find and destroy bombs or other weapons.

robots can even help clean up nuclear waste or search for and rescue people from earthquakes, fires or accidents.

robots are also utilizing exploration.

robots can explore and get information from places that are dangerous or difficult, often impossible for people to visit.

for example, robots can explore volcanoes where it’s very hot; people obviously can’t go into a volcano.

and robots are also very important for exploring other planets like Mars.

the US space program, often send small robots called Rovers to explore other planets.

exploration robots like these, take pictures and gather information so that we can learn about these places without actually going there.

another common use of robots is as medical assistance.

for example, robots sometimes perform surgeries that are very difficult or again impossible for doctors to perform; these surgical robots have a camera that can see inside a patient’s body and mechanical parts that can perform the surgery.

a doctor controls the robot from a computer; but the robot does the work.

these surgical robots can perform surgeries more easily and more carefully than a human can.

scientists are also developing robotic body parts for people who have lost their arms legs or feet because of sickness or injury.

these robotic body parts could be attached to a person’s body and controlled by the person’s mind.

for example a person with a robotic hand can use their mind to tell the hand to move or pick things up.

pretty cool, huh?!

personal robots are also becoming popular.

for instance, many people use robots to vacuum their homes or by robotic toys just to play with; or as pets, a pet robot instead of a cat or dog.

today almost 4 million personal robots are used all over the world and we can expect that number to increase, as scientists develop robots that can drive our cars for us, do our housework or take care of us when were sick or old; or just be our friends.

so you can see there are many ways that robots can benefit humans; at work and in our everyday lives.

but one important question on many people’s minds is “what are the dangers of robots? for example will robots take away all of our jobs and as robots start to learn and think, will they also start to control us?”

I’ll leave you with that thought.

next time we’ll talk more about the benefits and dangers of living with robots.