An autonomous robot is a robot that performs a task without
human intervention. There are many autonomous robots in existence today, such
as those used in the automotive industry to assemble cars. In the future there
will be many, many more autonomous robots all around us performing a variety of
everyday tasks.
A specific task that autonomous robots will likely perform
is the act of driving our vehicles for us. An article by Prof. Seth Teller of
MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory wrote an article
discussing the ability of robots to drive our vehicles for us. Teller’s article
states that there are a multitude of benefits from having robots drive our
vehicles including, safety, productivity and energy efficiency. Imagine being
able to talk on your cell phone, write a report or finish work that you did not
complete; all on your way home. Smart cars like these will be able to increase
fuel efficiency and prolong the life of the car. Additionally, accidents
between vehicles may be reduced if vehicles were able to communicate between each
other, something that human drivers are not always able to do.
In order for these vehicles to function there must still be
a human and machine interaction such as telling the vehicle where to go. The
system must also be able to communicate with the world around it effectively.
This is done by placement of sensors that will give the car its bearings; the vehicle
must know where it is specifically in the world, as well as what is in its
vicinity. Technology like this already exists in retail warehouses on a smaller
scale. Hundreds of robots know exactly where they are located inside of a
warehouse, interact with eachother, and are able to travel down "robot
highways" in order to pick products off of shelves. It is just a matter
of time till the scale is increased to aid the human race in
transportation. The future of robotics, especially in this case, can be scary to some
people, but with proper engineering, the benefits that it can bring to the
human race are limitless.
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