Whenever we talk about robots, we either picture the same old clunky robots that we have seen for decades now that do not function very well and are called robots only for namesake or the highly advanced ones that we see in the movies.
For the longest time, futurists have predicted that we will ultimately all own robots that will take care of most of our work for us and that they will be as common as smartphones are today.
Advanced robots capable of carrying out any tasks we assign them would surely make life a lot easier, providing free time that can be used for other productive or recreational activities.
But how close are they? Given the level of cutting edge technologies and sophistication required to achieve the creation of one, it seems like they are still at least a decade away. But that doesn't mean we won't start seeing less advanced versions crop up from here on. They will be akin to the keypad smartphones before the true smartphones came along.
Boston Dynamics To Sell Robots
Image Credits: Boston Dynamics
Last week, news broke out that Boston Dynamics is planning to sell robots soon. If you're wondering where you've heard that name, they are the creators of those dog-like robots as well as those humanoid robots, whose videos surface from time to time doing all sorts of impressive tasks.
Boston Dynamics has really achieved a lot in terms of technology in a relatively short period of time. They were part of Alphabet's basket of companies but were sold to Japan's SoftBank Group in 2017.
The company designs and is developing several robot models. BigDog, Cheetah, LittleDog, LS3 and Spotmini are four-legged robots while Atlas, PETMAN and Handle are bipedal robots.
It seems like the company plans to sell its four-legged Spotmini robot by 2019. The cost or the exact date, have not been announced yet but they plan to mass-produce up to 100 of these within this year.
Don't hold your breath though, as the company has made similar announcements in the past but no commercial robots have materialised as of now. Could this time be different and finally mark the beginning of advanced robots augmenting human life?