Robots are the electro-mechanical machines which are run using a computer program. These robots are designed for assisting humans. Robots are used in various industries for human help. Domestic help to industrial assistance, robots have replaced human labourers mostly in those works which needs physical strength. Robots do the work they are programmed for much efficiently. However, it is not possible for them to make a decision like any human could take in certain situation. Though scientists are moving a step ahead every day with new addition to the robotic feature’s advancement, there’s a long way to go where robots can beat a human in intelligence.

Fact 1: There are currently 4000 robots serving the US military. Two main types here are the reconnaissance Talon that scout for roadside bombs in Iraq and PackBots that are mainly used for searching operation. PackBots are the robots which were unsuccessfully poked around for Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Afghanistan.

Fact 2: With an intension to create a robot which is not dependent to humans for its power supply, Chris Melhuish of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory created a robot which used bacteria-filled fuel cells to produce electricity from rotten apples and dead flies.

Fact 3: The first human to have a computer chips implanted in his left arm is Cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick. He calls himself as the first cyborg. He can remotely operate doors, an artificial hand, and an electronic wheelchair.

Fact 4: Earlier this century Honda ASIMO created a robot which could learn just like a child learns through observation.

Fact 5: According Robotics expert Henrik Christensen, within four years human will get so intimate with robots that they will even start having sex with them.

Fact 6: One more prediction about robots by Hans Moravec, founder of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute is that by 2040 robots will have their own feelings and expectations and will be emerging as an individual species.

Fact 7: Archytas of Tarentum had invented a flying pigeon which was powered by steam. It is known as the first robot in the history.  Archytas of Tarentum was a Greek Philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and a strategist. He lived from 428 to 350 BC. Hence the first robot was invented around 400BC.

Fact 8: Japan is the country which uses robots the most. There are more than a million industrial robots being used across the world and half of them are being used in Japan. Robots are preferred over humans by this country as an industrial worker for the following reasons:

• Machine tool utilization is improved.
• The wasted wait time, unattended operations and missed cycles are reduced greatly which results in improvised performance.
• Improves machine throughput consistency.
• With their ability to handle parts more consistently and without human error, robots improve part quality of the machines.
• A robot doesn’t need payroll taxes, insurance and the cost of benefits, leaves and offs.

Fact 9: Not just humans, researchers are trying to invent robots which will mimics bacterial functions as well. Australian researchers are trying to develop a micro-robot which functions like an E.coli bacteria which could enable in taking a biopsy from inside the patient’s body.

Fact 10: Recently there’s an introduction of sociable robots. These robots have various facial expressions. This is a learning robot. It adapts itself as per carers. Just like a child, it starts off helpless who needs care and help from a human. Later they learn from their surrounding just like a child. The world’s first such robot is named ‘Kismet’. He has lips, ears, eyebrows and blue eyes and looks a bit like Gremlin.