Zero One: 7 Sci-Fi Robots in the Real World
See how life imitates art in the world of robots.
![Zero One: 7 Sci-Fi Robots in the Real World Zero One: 7 Sci-Fi Robots in the Real World](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt48afe0f4142c462a/65245f5ce3333d7ef93c8666/hero_0.jpeg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Do sci-fi movies, from “Star Wars” to “Star Trek,” get their inspiration from real life or vice-versa? Around the turn of the millennium, William Shatner, the original Captain James T. Kirk and sci-fi author, visited NASA in Silicon Valley for research on his novel. He was looking to ground his work in science. During the NASA tour, Shatner received a phone call. To the delight of gawking engineers, he whipped out a flip phone in the same manner as his famous fictional character. The phone design, of course, takes its cue from the Star Trek communicator. And so the answer is a little bit of both. Click on the slides above to see how life imitates art in the world of robots.
Based in Silicon Valley, Tom Kaneshige writes the Zero One blog covering digital transformation, AI, marketing tech and the Internet of Things for line-of-business executives. You can reach him at [email protected].
Industrial robots, such as welding robots on the factory floor, do the kind of labor-intensive tasks most humans shun. Inside hospitals, Aethon TUG robots (not pictured above) go about transporting medicine and supplies. At a hospital in North Carolina, a robot nicknamed Homer the Roamer travels some 840,000 feet per day. In the sci-fi movie “Blade Runner” (1982), androids known as replicants were used as slave labor. Hopefully, Homer the Roamer won’t go batty and have to be retired. (Sorry, bad “Blade Runner” puns.)
Autonomous cars have started and stopped over the years, but they’re showing some momentum recently. Driven by companies such as Tesla, Google and Ford, the robotic car promises to reduce accidents, save lives, reduce labor, and free up roads and parking spaces. Aside from flying cars, robotic cars have been the great futuristic promise in sci-fi movies. In “Minority Report” (2002), Tom Cruise’s character leaps from driverless car to driverless car. In “I, Robot” (2004), driverless cars unhindered by the potential for human error travel at high speeds.
On the sidewalks of San Francisco and elsewhere, you might come across a six-wheeled robot the size of a suitcase, like the one from Starship Technologies (pictured above). These R2D2-lookalike robots are being tested for delivery of groceries to disabled people and the elderly. They portend a future straight out of “Star Wars,” where robots blend into the hustle and bustle of society.
The delivery robot’s blue-collared cousin is the warehouse robot. Known as a co-robot, Fetch Robotics VirtualConveyor robot (pictured above) works alongside co-workers in warehouses. Humans load and unload materials onto the robot and then tell it where to go next. In the animated sci-fi movie “WALL-E” (2008), a robot trash compactor goes on an adventure where it finds obese humans relying on robots to perform most physical tasks.
Have you ever waited for a busy waiter to take your order? Or tracked down an employee in a giant store for help finding things? You don’t have to answer, because it’s obviously yes. Last fall, Lowe’s introduced LoweBot in the San Francisco Bay Area (not pictured above), a robot helping customers find products by physically guiding them to the right aisles. LoweBot also speaks multiple languages. Sound familiar? “I am fluent in over six million forms of communication,” says “Star Wars” protocol droid C-3PO.
A surveillance robot from Knightscope (pictured above) stands guard, watching out for suspicious activity. These robots may be found in parking garages, shopping malls, college campuses and office buildings and can identify phones, faces and cars (including capturing license plate numbers). In the sci-fi movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1997), Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a futuristic cybernetic organism – specifically, Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 – and does a pretty good job guarding his charge, the young John Connor.
Then there are the robots that go out in the world and gather information, usually for military purposes. Many of them are robotic drones that fly, although some argue this capability disqualifies them from being robots. The robot with the ever-watchful eye and sharp teeth appears in countless sci-fi movies. For instance, “Star Wars” heroes in hiding were often discovered by surveillance robots. Search-and-destroy robots in the “Matrix,” called sentinels, struck fear in characters and fans alike.
Then there are the robots that go out in the world and gather information, usually for military purposes. Many of them are robotic drones that fly, although some argue this capability disqualifies them from being robots. The robot with the ever-watchful eye and sharp teeth appears in countless sci-fi movies. For instance, “Star Wars” heroes in hiding were often discovered by surveillance robots. Search-and-destroy robots in the “Matrix,” called sentinels, struck fear in characters and fans alike.
See how life imitates art in the world of robots.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like