Robots Finding Their Way - How Robotics are Defining Today’s and Tomorrow’s Devices

As we were told yesterday at the RoboBusiness Conference, multi-function robots with advanced location awareness and interactivity aren’t on their way anytime soon.

But according to Paolo Pirjanian, President and CEO of Evolution Robotics, we’re getting closer every day.

During his keynote this morning (Thursday) titled The Next Generation of Smart Robots, Pirjanian showed films of robot vacuums, cars, tanks and helicopters interacting in ways you might never imagine.

For instance, with beacons attached to a common remote control car, there was a “grand theft robot” session filmed in which three robot cars would zero in on the remote control car no matter where the operator drove it. Robot responses were frighteningly fast and accurate.

The tank and helicopter interacted using the same locator beacon. Using that technology, the tank was able to shoot the helicopter down with ease.

This technology is being used to help home robot cleaning devices find their docking stations and map the home. Being able to map your home quickly saves time and energy and allows the Roomba or other robots to patrol and/or clean your home in less time than previously available.

Pirjanian explained that the technology we were seeing has been in development for three years and products will soon be on the market.

He also said that living rooms weren’t the only place that these technologies would show up. On a subsequent slide, he showed attendees how an unmanned flying vehicle would still be able to operate in a GPS-free zone.

To do this, the plane would use an onboard database of landmarks to navigate the skies and find its target or destination.

Essentially, Pirjanian said these products - the vacuum and plane and vehicles - weren’t going to be successful solely because they were robots. These devices are going to be successful because they are good at accomplishing their defined tasks - and their robotic underpinnings are a just one factor in how they complete these tasks.