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Dean Kamen is an American inventor, a robotics engineering innovator and an entrepreneur, and he has invented a robotic arm that can be controlled by the human mind and offers the same range of motions as a human arm. The delicate sensors in the fingers allow it to wave, pick up a piece of paper, hold a wine glass or even grab a grape without smashing it. Unlike the clamping claws of the past, this new robotic hand and arm, dubbed “Luke” (Skywalker) offers a amputee a more normal life.

Starting in 1975, robotic arms have been used for industrial purposes. In some cases, they do the work more quickly, more accurately and more efficiently than human workers ever could. Yet in other instances, they simply perform work that is too monotonous, dangerous or undesirable for men and women. In the US auto industry, for example, there is one robotic arm for every ten workers. Industrial robots lift heavy objects, handle chemicals, and paint and assemble parts. Rather than replace jobs, the robotic system is intended to free up more creative, fulfilling work for people instead. After all, the Czech word “robota” translates to “drudgery work.”

There are several different types of industrial robotic arms. The Cartesian Robot/Gantry Robot has a robotic arm with three prismatic joints, which makes it ideal for pick and place work, assembly, arc welding, using machine tools and applying sealant. The Cylindrical Robot is used as a welding robot, as well as for assembling, handling machine tools and die casting. The Spherical/Polor Robot works in gas welding, spot welding, arc welding, die casting and handling tools. SCARA Robots pick and place items, apply sealant, assemble products and handle tools. The Articulated Robot also has arms with at least three joints, and can assemble, gas weld, arc weld and spray paint.

The first robotic arm was a crude device, similar to arcade games. However, the latest robotics automation technology has arms functioning more like the human anatomy, able to perform a wide range of motions, with fingers waving and wrists rotating. Perhaps the greatest challenge will be to devise a way to make these devices affordable to more people so it becomes a practical solution for hospitals, small businesses and homes.

In May 2006, sales of robotic vacuums topped two million. In 2007, robotic pool cleaners and window washers gain popularity and “ASIMO,” a humanoid robot developed by Honda, ran at 4 miles per hour, astounding Americans. As of January 2009, 4.5 million domestic robots have been sold. According to the United Nations World Robotics Survey, over a third of all robots are being developed to entertain humans, rather than perform slave labor for them, so the future of robotics may be in developing a more human-like robot to be our companions and friends, rather than emotionless laborers.

Motor vehicle production is one area where robotics automation is already being used. Yet imagine a world where we can read, have a glass of wine, talk freely on our cell phones or take a nap while our personal automobile drives itself from our workplace to our doorstep. Or perhaps we’ll abandon the wheeled prototypes altogether and kick back in our personal flying car like numerous science fiction films predict. So how far are we from such a future? Well, in 2007, the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency had 83 robotic system vehicles driving through a 60-mile urban course, navigating around other vehicles, pedestrians and obstacles; all without incident. Just three years ago, robotic vehicles couldn’t even drive straight across the wide-open desert without crashing. “The robotics industry is developing in much the same way the computer business did thirty years ago,” Microsoft founder Bill Gates observed.

More than one million industrial robots can be found in the workforce already, although nearly half of them are in Japan. The US has just 15% of the world’s working robots, with half of them employed at US auto plants (1 for every 10 human workers). Last year, there were 3,000 underwater recovery robots, 2,300 demolition robots, 1,600 surgical robots, 1,000 postal service robots and 12,500 domestic cleaning robots (which include vacuum robots and lawn mower robots). With improvements in method and affordability of vision sensors, intelligent robots will soon be working as product inspectors. Hospitals are rapidly incorporating autonomous robots into their staff, enlisting them to maneuver around hospitals, delivering tools or cleaning rooms. The future of robotics will ask the question, “What jobs do we have a shortage of? What jobs are undesirable for human workers? What jobs could benefit from programmable precision, accuracy and speed associated with robotics technology? What jobs can we alleviate to make way for more enjoyable tasks?”

We’re also likely to see the future of robotics unveil itself through private businesses before we find automated robotics in our own homes. For instance, the earliest robots sat in a boat and played music for restaurant goers in 1206 AD. More recently, a new Hong Kong restaurant called “Robot Kitchen” catches attention with a humanoid robot waiter that seats guests, takes orders via a touch-screen menu on his stomach and then returns with the correct items. “Kanji,” another Japanese android that was developed at the University of Tokyo, can wash dishes, pour tea and prepare several basic meals. More novelties are bound to come in the future.