From robots that can complete advanced tasks,
to ones who can have a conversation with you, here are 9 of the most advanced robots on
Earth. 9. Kodomoroid
The dream (or nightmare) of various people when it comes to robots is that they'll one
day replace us! Well in some instances they already have,
including becoming a news anchor on a live TV show. This is actually what happened in 2014, when
Japan unveiled the Kodomoroid, a robot that was able to understand the news story being
fed to her, recite it to a live audience, and even interact with co-hosts to a certain
degree. Plus, Kodomoroid was designed to resemble
a Japanese woman, and she is pretty convincing!! And that was five years ago, it's grown since
then. The important thing to note here is that Kodomoroid
was fed the new story from a teleprompter, so that means her processor was able to read
the text, and interpret what exactly to say, just like a real human brain. The brain of a robot so to speak, is arguably
the hardest part to make on a robot, which is why advances like these are so important. Sadly, Kodomoroid is retired as a news anchor,
however, she is part of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, which
is in Tokyo. She's still active though, and helps people
by giving them information, and gathers information on how people interact with the lifelike robots. 8. Atlas
The two most important parts on a robot are its brain/processor, and its body, and for
the Atlas, the team at Boston Dynamics are working hard to ensure that their robot has
the most advanced robot body in the world. To an extent, they are succeeding in that
goal. Atlas is one of the few robots in the world
that can both walk and jog on bipedal legs. In fact, Atlas has very human-like proportions. It's 5'9, and weighs only 176 pounds. Which is a pretty big improvement over the
previous model of the Atlas. Anyway, the Atlas has gone through some major
improvements over the last few years, including being able to discern obstacles, and knowing
how to get around them. Previous tests had it stopping at rocks, then
slowly moving past them. And in a recent test, it understood a log
was in its way, stopped itself, and then jumped over it. Which is a big feat for a robot. More than that, the speed of the robots jog
is significant, because if it can go at a steady speed without breaking, it means it
can also go faster and further. The Atlas is so advanced that it even has
wheel feet that it can use to get around even faster. Future soldier? Maybe. 7. Milo Robot
The Milo Robot proves that in the right hands, and the right minds, robots can help do what
humans can't even think of doing. Such as helping a child deal with Autism. Autism is one of the worst mental illnesses
around because of how it affects the human brain, and in a child, it's extremely hard
to comprehend and understand things. The Milo Robot was designed by Robokind in
order to help children engage with others and understand their own emotional state. The Milo Robot will mimic the expressions
of humans, then via iPad, the child will interact with him and guess what he is "feeling", thus
helping them understand themselves. Furthermore, the Milo Robot will be able to
interact with the child using visual cues, and can monitor their heart rate with a special
vest in order to ensure that they are acting appropriately, to alert the parents to any
issues with the child. According to the tests, the Milo Robot gets
a very deep response from children, so much so that 70-90% of children who have the Milo
Robot interact with it, and with a child with Autism, interaction is key. 6. PETMAN
A collaboration between the United States Department of Defense and Boston Dynamics
has given birth to PETMAN, a unique robot with the function of helping test various
suits that human soldiers would wear in the field. How does it test this? PETMAN has the ability to walk, bend, move
about in certain ways, and more. But what's just as important though is that
the PETMAN has very high-tech sensors, sensors that monitor not just its whole body, but
the suit itself. By that, I mean that if it tested a hazmat
suit, it would be able to detect if a scratch or cut in the suit was there, thus letting
harmful chemicals in. It also has a monitor that detects its "body
temperature", enabling even more accurate data to the test itself. The groups are using this robot as a "test
dummy" of sorts, but doing far more with it than any true crash test dummy can do. Through the PETMAN, all sorts of special suits
and items can be given a "realistic" workout without having to put people in danger. As well as giving them the ability to test
things in a confined space without having to stop every time something goes wrong. 5. BINA48
The Terasem Movement teamed up with Martine Rothblatt in order to create a very sentient
robot in 2010. It was actually based off of Rothblatt's wife,
Bina Aspen Rothblatt, and because of that, it was named the BINA48. This sentient robot is capable of human interaction,
and has actually been interviewed "in-person" by the New York Times, and was also featured
on TV and in National Geographic. What's key here is that BINA48 is an example
of artificial intelligence, which is one of the most important fields in robotics today. If you watch the interview with the New York
Times, you'll see that she not only responds to questions, but she doesn't even hesitate
at times to answer, proving that she didn't need to "think" that hard about answering,
not unlike how a human does it when they chat with someone. And because of the very nature of artificial
intelligence, BINA48 gets smarter and more efficient with every conversation. Or as she notes, "my vocabulary is getting
bigger every day." And since it’s been eight years since BINA48's
arrival, AI has only gotten better, which shows just how advanced we've come in a short
period of time in the subject. 4. Ekso GT
There are many "levels" of robots, and one such level is that of an exoskeleton. These are typically used on humans to help
them do various things. In Marvel Comics, Tony Stark made himself
a robotic exoskeleton and became Iron Man. In the real world though, there are devices
like the Ekso GT, which are robotic exoskeletons designed to help people with serious spinal
injuries move again. Made by Ekso Bionics in Richmond, California,
the team have made it so that someone who wears the exoskeleton only has to do minor
movements in order to get the exoskeleton to move the rest of the body for them. Given the nature of spinal injuries, this
is a big step forward. This exoskeleton has many possible uses, including
being able to help many people walk again, assist in physical therapy for all sorts of
injuries, and, via the software embedded in the exoskeletons, it can help monitor the
subjects body and alert the necessary people if something goes wrong. 3. Nao
One of the first androids that was made was one called Asimo, named after the legendary
author Isaac Asimov, who wrote the "three laws of robotics" to help sure that humanity
never fell prey to their robotic creations. Generations later, the Nao has picked up where
the Asimo left off, and what's more, this is actually a robot that you yourself can
get. But that begs the question, "Why would I want
such a robot?" Because it's interesting to see how a robot
can move nowadays and interact with its owner. The Nao is able to walk in very lifelike ways
and at a good rate of speed. It also has sensors that ensure it doesn't
accidentally run into things (though things can run into it, obviously). Plus, the software aspect of Nao is malleable,
and due to this, people have made apps that can run with Nao's software to allow even
more tasks to be done. Some people have even used this robot to assist
with autistic children. 2. Nadine
In sci-fi, the robots and androids you see are meant to perfectly (or close to perfectly)
mimic humans, and that's exactly the goal of the robot called Nadine. She is a robot that is designed to talk and
interact with humans in a way that feels "natural". By that, I mean that she doesn't just talk
with people, but she also uses hand gestures, head moves, and other little things to make
herself seem even more human. If you were to walk into the room to talk
to Nadine, she would look at you, greet you, follow you with her eyes until you sat down,
maintain eye contact with you while she chats with you, and if this is a repeat visit, she'll
even recognize you. Or, if you talk about certain things, she
can become happy or sad to a certain extent. The robot was actually modeled after the director
of the project, Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, and the more advancements that are made on her,
the more lifelike she's going to become. 1. Kenshiro
From the University of Tokyo comes what many people consider to be one of the most advanced
robots alive today. And not just because it can mimic parts of
human behavior, but rather, it can do many different tasks that can only be done via
the right construction in terms of its "human" body". This team of scientists have built a robot
called Kenshiro, and it was designed in such a way that it could accurately mimic the movements
of humans. While this may seem like a simple task, you
have to remember that a human and a robot are different in virtually every way. We can move without a thought, while they
have to move via signals and codes. That's why many early robots were very rigid
in their movements, they had no other way to do it because technology wasn't advanced
enough. Now though, that's not the case. Kenshiro has the ability to do push-ups, sit-ups,
pull-ups, various other exercises, and he can even play Badminton. What might even be more surprising to some
is that the robot is so accurate in how its muscles move that it can actually overheat...and
then sweats to relieve the pressure. Granted, it doesn't secrete water in terms
of how humans do it, but it is a similar style via water tubes that go out throughout the
robot. The team behind Kenshiro aren't making this
robot for their own sake, they feel that having a robot that can move as accurately as Kenshiro
can will help in various tests that humans themselves can't perform. And it could be the next version of a crash
test dummy if it gets even more advanced. Thanks for watching! What do you think of these robots? Are these the future? Or is the beginning Skynet? Let me know in the comments below. Be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next
time!
