The Robots Are Coming - Are You Ready?

Will our New Bot's be our Buddies or cause us Robot Rage?

Courtesy of  en.wikipedia.org

By Carl Weiss

Is there a robot or android in your future? More importantly, what will the ultimate effect on society be once robots start taking over. How will what has until now, been a unique human experience change? Until recently, robots, (aka androids for star Trek fans or droids for Star Wars fans)  have for the most part been relegated to factories and the living room rug. But all that is about to change. A number of firms are currently making robots that are designed to work alongside us in warehouses, retail establishments and offices. More importantly, as these droids become more autonomous, will they slowly but surely push their human counterparts out of the picture altogether? Will their growing intelligence become a threat to the human species itself, as a number of scientists believe? Whether human beings embrace these automated assistants as a boon, or people begin to rage against the machines that were meant to help them, is still too soon to tell. Love them or hate them, join me today as I take a look at the rise of the robots in the 21st century.

The Next Generation - Putting Your Best Robot Forward

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of world.honda.com

I don’t know about you, but I grew up watching all the cool and scary science fiction movies featuring all kind of fantastic things especially and killer monster robots that were ready to take over the world. Companies around the world are furiously work hard to bring robots to life, (not the killer kind but their more benign helpful counter parts). We have been using industrial robots for the better part of 20 years now but none of these robots have been the walking talking, come along with me and do this job for me kind. Well robots are getting ready to take the next step in their evolution. I am talking about the walking, talking, climbing, and looking more like people kind. In this article, we will explore the next level of robot evolution. So read on and meet our 21^st century robotic contestants.

Praise the Borg and Pass the Ammunition

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of Flickr

In a take right out of one of those late night sci-fi movies the race is currently on to determine who is going to conquer the world first: autonomous robots or cybernetically enhanced humans.  If you have been paying any attention to the newsfeeds recently, there have been a number of articles and videos that have clearly demonstrated that a major shift in the way we look at and deal with technology is now under way.

When most people think about robots today, they either get a picture in their heads of the industrial automatons that now assemble things like cars and vacuum cleaners, or they think of mama’s little helper the Roomba.  But what most folks don’t appreciate is that everyone from Google to the Dept. of Defense is on the verge of creating robotic systems that are capable of doing everything from fighting fires to driving on California’s interstates with little or no input or oversight from anyone.