Robots come in many shapes and sizes and life for humans can only get better as more of these electronic helpers are created, reports TAN CHONG YAW

IN WHAT smacks of a Transformer, Panasonic has designed a bed-shaped robot (below) that can morph into a powered wheelchair and back again.

No need for a bedridden patient to move – he remains on the robot in either bed or wheelchair mode.

The first trial in the world of this prototype Robotic Bed announced in Osaka last September started in January at a local hospital, which Panasonic did not identify.

It will be at least two years later before this robot-bed is commercially available.
 
Elsewhere in Singapore, a prototype robotic sentry on wheels (left) is making its rounds in trials since early this year.

Designed by ST Engineering, the unmanned vehicle which looks like an armoured truck but is the size of a golf buggy, can patrol sprawling areas like airports and military camps, to save on labour.

Developed over 1 1/2 years, this surveillance vehicle can work on its own, recording video and detecting intruders through motion-detection sensors. The command centre is alerted wirelessly by this wheeled guardian.

Robots – as sensing, thinking and reacting machines – involve many disciplines. They include artificial intelligence, mechatronics and material science.

Even psychology plays a part in their design. People are repulsed by robots that look too lifelike – think of characters in movies like Polar Express and Final Fantasy.

So robot creators take care to make them more robot-like – like Honda’s humanoid Asimo and the tail-wagging, four-legged Sony Aibo, which was discontinued in 2006 as part of Sony’s cost-cutting measures.

Robots either make things for humans – for instance, as assembly arms in automotive plants and electronics factories – or serve humans – for instance, milk cows, inspect the bowels of sewer pipes – or
entertain people.

About one million industrial robots were slaving away in factories at the end of 2008, according to the World Robotics 2009 Industrial Robots report. The report was published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

Based in Frankfurt, the IFR is the umbrella agency of national robotics bodies in countries like the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Service robots
The next wave is expected in service robots – like those used in the military, hospitals and homes.

These mechanical minions perform tasks for humans that are hazardous, mind-numbingly repetitive or with more accuracy than humanly possible.

They include those for professional use like those used in defence and medicine.

The robot mechanic R2-D2 from the Star Wars movies is an example. Then there are also personal robots – like the Star Wars protocol droid C-3PO.

IFR predicts that professional service robots, which numbered 63,000 at end 2008, will increase by 49,000 units by 2012.

In Singapore, such robots can be found in hospitals, such as the da Vinci system which assists surgeons perform heart, urologic and colorectal surgeries with more precision at the Singapore General Hospital.

At the National Heart Centre, a surgeon sits at a console and works the $1.5 million da Vinci system.

It enables a 15cm incision previously needed for heart surgery to be reduced to a 4cm one.

Surgeons do not have to cut through the breastbone during open heart surgery, speeding up the patient’s recovery.

But personal robots will see the sharpest growth – with almost 12 million new ones by 2012, up from seven million at end 2008.

These could be labour savers like the iRobot Roomba – a vacuum cleaner that looks like a large disc – which cleans the floor on schedule and recharges itself when it runs out of power.

Or, they could be for entertainment like toys.

One toy robot that has wormed its way into children’s hearts is the Zhu Zhu.

With a mixture of smarts and kawaii (cute in Japanese), the furry robotic hamster beats the real thing as it does not “poop, die, or stink” – as described on the toy maker Cepia’s website.

Given that robots can be built with abilities that exceed those of man, will there not be a day when the machinesmade in the image of man will supplant their makers?

The five robot experts whom Digital Life spoke to all say a firm “no”.

“Robots will always be programmed to serve and assist people and take orders from humans,” says the Singapore Polytechnic’s Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Control Centre director, Dr Zhou Changjiu.

With a growing silver market of senior citizens and dwindling birth rates, there is a potential market in Singapore for robots designed to help the elderly.

No need for high technology – just a smart pet as a companion that can raise an alert if its aged owner falls.