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5 robots that will save your life

5 robots that will save your life

Robots help us build cars, explore the deepest oceans and farthest regions of space, and even take one for the team when it comes to bomb disposal. Now, we've got another trick to teach them: keeping us alive longer. The field of robotics offers limitless possibilities when it comes to improving our quality of life, or even — you know — making sure we're around long enough to enjoy said quality of life.

Click the Continue link below to see five awesome robots that will totally save your life.



Click on the thumbnails to see larger images.



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1. Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR)

Manufacturer: Vecna (USA)

Equipment: Hydraulic-powered arms for heavy lifting; jointed, tracked legs; different postures for different jobs.

Friend On The Field: The BEAR is designed to scoop up injured soldiers and ferry them out of harm's way, but it can do more than just that. With clawed articulators, maneuverability and its ability to carry heavy loads, the BEAR could perform jobs such as loading a truck, moving inventory or searching for explosive devices.



Robot-Lifesaves-da-Vinci-surgical-system.jpg
2. da Vinci Surgical System

Manufacturer: Intuitive Surgical (USA)

Equipment: 3D HD playback and four arms: two that act as the surgeon's "hands," one for an endoscope, and an optional fourth for additional, specialty tasks.

Cold Cuts: Robotic surgical systems are more precise than humans, and that accuracy translates into smaller incisions, faster healing time and less pain all around. Right now, the enormous costs of keeping a machine such as the da Vinci running are a barrier to them being installed far and wide, but in the future you can expect a lot of surgery to be done by surgeons operating via a robotic system.



Robot-Lifesaves-KAIST-welfare-bot.jpg
3. Welfare Robot System

Manufacturer: KAIST (Korea)

Equipment: A friendly face and the programming to be a good steward.

Robo-Nanny: KAIST (the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is providing robotic wheelchairs and beds to rehab clinics in Korea. The real star? This robotic nanny is basically our very own Rosie from the Jetsons. The role of nanny is a popular job option for the robots of tomorrow, as they provide continuous care and attention, remind patients of medicine cycles and can even help find misplaced objects.



Robot-Lifesaves-MedicAir-courier.jpg
4. MedicAir Courier UAV

Manufacturer: BFA Systems (USA)

Equipment: Prop-powered body capable of carrying an 18 ounce payload in 30 mile-an-hour winds.

Life Flight: In rural and undeveloped regions, a road (or lack thereof) may not be the easiest/quickest way to get medicine from point A to B. Tiny UAVs such as BFA System's MedicAir could, with the help of a human operator, transfer samples — or even medicine, with larger UAVs — to hospitals, villages or anywhere, really. A pair of MedicAir UAVs are already doing just that in South Africa.



5. Mystery Rescue Robot

Operator: Tokyo Fire Department (Japan)

Equipment: Two claws and a conveyor belt to gobble up humans.

Hungry, Hungry Robo: What seems like a wild concept isn't new to Japan, where powerful earthquakes and dramatic landslides can create the need for amazingly difficult rescue operations. Fire departments across the country have experimented with robots equipped with powerful claw-arms such as the one in the video above (the more compact successor to the Robokiyu), which could sift through rubble and pull survivors into the safety of its body, carting them away to receive medical attention.



Click on the thumbnails to see larger images.

Know a robot that may save your life one day? Sound off in the comments below!

 
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(9) COMMENTS

Mark:
That's right! Pride in your country is EVIL! Listen to jefa and marg!...More »


Comments

By Clarksa at 11:58 AM ON 09/23/09

My sister had cancer surgery via the daVinci surgical robot...cut her surgery recovery time down to about 4 weeks vs 8-10 weeks. Amazing machine.

By Hank Jekyll at 5:10 PM ON 09/23/09

Wow, im impressed that the US is manufacturing a majority of these machines. GO USA! I knew we were smarte!

By Shaun at 6:02 AM ON 09/25/09

I'm not sure if we're smarter. Then I guess we are smart to let our TAXES fund institutions like DARPA.

By Spasmodeus at 5:06 AM ON 09/27/09

Wow! I am impressed by the technology. But like Shaun has pointed out, if we so smart, why did we allow socialists to take over our government, and use our TAXES to fund organizations like ACORN?

By marg at 6:14 AM ON 09/27/09

As much as I am awed by these works of technological art, I have to admit I find the idea of a robotic maid/nurse ever so slightly unsettling. There are some areas in which human contact is simply irreplacable and priceless. I look forward to a world with robotic surgeons, but dread a future populated by robotic hostesses and stewards.

(Oh, and Americans - please get over yourselves for once. This is a topic discussing advancements in robotics, not a platform for lauding American brilliancy or aggressively expressing political views.)

By jjlasne at 3:58 PM ON 09/27/09

Americans are not being smarter. American companies are being smarter, by importing Indian and Chinese engineers and scientists and using the local workforce to manufacture. Socialism, not communism, works wherever it was chosen by the people to improve their standards of living. Finally, the future is an robotic hospital, where labor costs are soaring demeasurely, where surgeons, doctors and especially nurses - in short supply in the 1st world could easily be replaced. The question remains: who needs humans when machines are so much better?

By jefas64 at 4:20 PM ON 10/01/09

At spasmodeus -- PLEASE tell me that you're being ironic! If you're not, well... Normally I wouldn't extend myself to flaming the ignorance that occasionally takes up space here, but try reading something more incisive than the side of a cereal box (maybe a history book???), and STOP listening to people who espouse opinions or disinformation as fact only to further their own economic or political agendas (no names but their initials are RUSH LIMBAUGH, GLENN BECK, SEAN HANNITY, and BILL O'REILLY). Anyway, as Marg says, this is not a forum for politics (especially as misinformed as what you espouse). As regards the robots -- kudos to HUMAN (not AMERICAN) ingenuity.

By jefas64 at 4:22 PM ON 10/01/09

At spasmodeus -- PLEASE tell me that you're being ironic! If you're not, well... Normally I wouldn't extend myself to flaming the ignorance that occasionally takes up space here, but try reading something more incisive than the side of a cereal box (maybe a history book???), and STOP listening to people who espouse opinions or disinformation as fact only to further their own economic or political agendas (no names but their initials are RUSH LIMBAUGH, GLENN BECK, SEAN HANNITY, and BILL O'REILLY). Anyway, as Marg says, this is not a forum for politics (especially as misinformed as what you espouse). As regards the robots -- kudos to HUMAN (not AMERICAN) ingenuity.

By Mark at 9:57 PM ON 10/01/09

That's right! Pride in your country is EVIL! Listen to jefa and marg!


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