There’s a lot of hype around robots in our cities at the moment as we begin to slowly integrate more with our artificial intelligence (AI) friends. Pretty soon robots of some description will be seen in every area possible including stores, restaurant, garages, and our homes. There will be no getting away from them and guess what – many of them are already here now walking and talking among us. Keep reading to check out where you’re most likely to see some of these robots.
Transport: Autonomous modes of transport can be seen all over the world currently. In Copenhagen, their metro system is driver-free, and the entire system is run autonomously with just four people monitoring the system and working as back up in the city’s Control Centre. There are also certain lines that are either fully autonomous or at least partially autonomous in Vancouver, London, Barcelona, Paris, Honolulu, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, and Seoul too. Autonomous cars are old news and another area that’s proved successful but is slow getting off the mark. There’s also Amsterdam’s ROBOATS to consider which have been developed as a collaboration between MIT and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solution. These autonomous boats transport both goods and people through the waterways measuring water and air quality as the go.
Logistics: Autonomous freight trucks are already hitting the roads with thanks to companies such as Otto. The company has recently been taken over by Uber but has already completed a successful 120-mile beer delivery in Colorado. There was a driver onboard, but mostly he stayed asleep in the onboard sleeping compartment and took over only when the truck neared the distribution center and delivery point. Amazon too is making the most of the robots and now employ 45,000 of them in its warehouses. Shipyards are another area robots are becoming more widely used where cargo is moved around by automated cranes and trucks relying on laser and radar systems. On a slightly smaller scale, there are even drones around now that will deliver your goods to you.
Inspections: Robots are soon to be used in our sewer systems to help with inspections, detect gasses, and measure water pressure and quality. At the other end of the spectrum, flying drones are already in use inspecting landfills and streams while inspection drones to be used on offshore windfarms are currently being developed.
Food: Robots are used a lot in the food industry. From the big reefers that transport meat and keeps it at a steady temperature during shipping, to the factory robots that continuously mix ingredients, this technology has become vital to food production everywhere.
Security: Robot police are due to join the team in Dubai in may this year with them eventually making up 25% of the force by 2030. Although their exact role has not been disclosed we do now the robot will have a touchscreen on it somewhere that can be used to report crime as well as pay traffic violation fines. Dubai Police are also working alongside IBM and Google to enhance the robot so that it has a virtual assistant onboard that can follow voice commands. China’s also employing robots to work at various train stations and airports patrolling the premises’. One particular bot named AnBot is used at Shenzhen International Airport that uses four integrated cameras to carry out security checks an has even been fitted with a Taser.
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