Why Do We Need Robots?

It is the year 2039. You wake up at 5.30, all fresh and not at all sleepy, all thanks to your Smart Bed which logs data about your sleep cycles and habits and creates the perfect environment for you to sleep.

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When did man decide that he needed a smart and mechanical man-friday?

You jump into the bathing station; you are scrubbed and showered. You remember seeing the advertisement of the latest version of the bathing station which even dresses you up. You make a mental note to check it out later. You head to the kitchen and sit down on the dining table where your Home Assistance Butler V2.5 serves you a wholesome meal. It’s not only delicious but also has all the right nutritional values. You leave for your office in your self-driving car and reach on time. Traffic isn’t a problem anymore in a world where all cars communicate with each other. They calculate the optimum route and speed to reach their destinations. Your workstation boots up as soon as you enter and you sit down to work on your current project – a robot that helps you make more robots. Seems like a stretch?

Back to 2017, we are slowly but steadily moving towards a completely auto mated future. Take a look around you, technology giants are working hard to make self-driving cars a reality, and they are really, really close. New innovations and breakthrough technologies are coming out almost everyday. If you had told someone 30 years ago that they could see and talk to anyone across the globe in real time, they probably wouldn’t have believed you, in fact maybe even calling you just another nutjob. Nonetheless, the future is here now and the magical thing that is changing our lives currently are ‘robots’.

What is a machine and what is a robot? Is my toaster a robot too?

According to Wikipedia, a machine is any mechanical device that “changes the direction or magnitude of a force”. Machines can be divided into six simple categories:

1. Lever          

2. Wheel and axle

3. Pulley          

4. Inclined plane