Reality 100 years behind imagination?

In recent years, whether it is Marvel superheroes Iron Man and The Vision, or the highly mechanical intelligence Tars in Interstellar, especially the recent launch of the new season of Westworld, it has attracted the attention of the global audience with its big scenes and clever design of the robot world. In the world of imagination, human beings have already created the ideal robot, even in terms of appearance, practical considerations are perfect.

In reality, the design and manufacturing of robots is still focused on materials, batteries, machinery and core technologies. So the cutting edge of robot design and manufacturing companies, including Boston dynamics, Google X project, their every little release will bring us a lot of surprise and shock, immediately before Google before security team of engineers design of robot, is to let us see the silver lining of the robot to replace human work.


Robots aren’t exactly cool yet

Speaking of the recent news about robots, it seems that robots may gradually replace human beings.

A start-up called Cobalt Robotics makes roving security robots, also known as “robot security,” for use in offices, data centers and commercial buildings like hospitals. Such robots could help companies save money on human security. According to the survey, companies spent nearly $68 billion on physical security in 2016. It is expected to exceed $125 billion by 2022, with much of the spending going to indoor safety.

Cobalt Robotics CEO Travis Deyle, who founded the company in 2016, previously worked on the Smart contact lens project for Google X, the company’s research lab.

The company’s CTO, Erik Schluntz, is also an engineer who turned down a position at Space X to work with Deyle. Cobalt now has robots that can: scan employee or visitor badges, detect open doors, leaks, spills or intrusions. It can also detect unusual conditions in buildings and alert security experts, who in turn send guards to patrol as needed.

Investors see Cobalt robots as empathetic, unlike broadcast surveillance systems that use microphones and cameras to record people’s every move. And in the wake of horrific mass shootings and other incidents, operators of commercial buildings are increasingly under security pressure, and operators can’t always afford enough full-time security. Cobalt security robots can help large employers and facilities fill the gap, so this is a good opportunity.


Years of human obsession with robots

In fact as early as in 1927, which is nearly 100 years ago, humans began to imagine the future and the life of the robot, in this year, Germany’s release of the current can verify the first movie concept have robots in cosmo, the movie takes place in a dystopian future city, time set in 2000. The main character is a female robot brought to life by a mad scientist. In the story, in 2000, human society is divided into two classes, and these two kinds of people live in two completely different worlds. The working poor are trapped in a life of toil in a dark underground city with cold machinery.

Sound like “Beijing fold” in particular, as the first in human history theme movie can verify the robot, the heroine’s story of the robot’s appearance also inspired the C3PO “Star Wars” series, and even the world’s first industrial robots, also in the film after more than 30 years, in 1959.

So for now, the movie is very forward-looking and ambitious.

In addition to movies, science fiction has also created many classic robot characters, the most famous of which is asimov’s “THREE Laws of Robotics” in a short story in his “I, Robot” series:

– Article 1 robots shall not endanger human beings. Or to stand by and watch someone get killed;

– Article 2: a robot must obey a human order, but will not obey if its order violates Article 1;

– Article 3: The robot must protect itself without violating articles 1 and 2.


Compared with the movie plot, it seems that the development stage of robots in reality is still in the Stone Age, but asimov’s appearance of the iron law of robots put forward a more profound question about the relationship between humans and robots. So many movies have talked about the end of the earth with machines. Directors and writers have a strong desire to survive in times of peace.

But from now, it seems, whether it is a reality for mechanical intelligence continuously explore, or in the “western world” is also really man-machine scuffle, for now the industrial robot, is still very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long very long way to go.