A personal robot is one whose human interface and design make it useful for individuals. This is by contrast to industrial robots which are generally configured and operated by robotics specialists. A personal robot is one that enables an individual to automate the repetitive or menial part of home or work life making them more productive. Similar to the way that the transition from

mainframe computers A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

to the

personal computers A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

revolutionized personal productivity, the transition from industrial robotics to personal robotics is changing productivity in home and work settings. Turning a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

like ASIMO or

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

into a universally applicable personal robot or artificial servant is mainly a programming task. As of today vast improvements in

motion planning Motion planning, also path planning (also known as the navigation problem or the piano mover's problem) is a computational problem to find a sequence of valid configurations that moves the object from the source to destination. The term is used ...

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

(esp. scene recognition),

natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of computer science and especially artificial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with providing computers with the ability to process data encoded in natural language and is thus closely related ...

, and automated reasoning are indispensable to make this a possibility.

History

* iRobot Corp. introduced the Roomba in 2002 * The Institute for Personal Robots in Education introduced the concept to teach computing using personal robots in 2006. *

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Personal Robotics Program introduced PR1 in 2007. * Willow Garage introduced the PR2 robot in 2010. * RoboDynamics introduced Luna in 2011. * Milagrow HumanTech introduced India's 1st Robotic vacuum cleaner, the RedHawk in 2011 and then the World's 1st Body Massaging Robot in 2012.

Toys

Robotic toys, such as the well known Furby, have been popular since 1998. There are also small humanoid remote controlled robots. Electronic pets, such as robotic dogs, can be good companions. They have also been used by many universities in competitions such as the

RoboCup RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition founded in 1996 by a group of university professors (including Hiroaki Kitano, Manuela M. Veloso, Itsuki Noda and Minoru Asada). The aim of the competition is to promote robotics and AI ...

. There are many different kinds of toy robots that have been invented since the late 1900s. There were many robotic toys invented that were used for entertainment. One popular example was called the Furby, a toy that children nourished every day. The toy robot made it seem like it was alive, like a pet that you have to watch and give attention to. There are many different kinds of toy robots that are animal related, such as robotic dogs. Another type of robotic toy is the phone-powered robot. Using this toy, you are able to connect with your phone and control the toy while using an application. Now, robotic toys are becoming more integrated with mobile device platforms. This in turn is creating a larger demand for these types of products. The increase in demand has a direct effect on the advancement of the technology used in the toys.

Social robots

Social robots take on the function of social communication. Domestic humanoid robots are used by elderly and immobilized residents to keep them company. Wakamaru is a domestic humanoid robot developed in Japan. Its function is to act as a care taker. Wakamaru has a number of operations and “can be programmed to remind patients to take their medicine and even call a doctor when it appears that someone is in distress.” Paro, a robotic baby seal, is intended to provide comfort to

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

patients. Home- telepresence robots can move around in a remote location and let one communicate with people there via its camera, speaker, and microphone. Through other remote-controlled telepresence robots, the user can visit a distant location and explore it as if they were physically present. These robots can, among other applications, permit health-care workers to monitor patients or allow children who are homebound because of injuries, illnesses, or other physical challenges to attend school remotely. Kuri, JIBO and ConnectR are family robots that includes telepresence.

Entertainment services

Network robots link ubiquitous networks with

s, contributing to the creation of new lifestyles and solutions to address a variety of social problems including the aging of population and nursing care.

Therapy

Robots built for therapy have been in production for quite some time now. Some of these uses can be for

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

. As for robots designed to help autism, authors Daniel J. Ricks and Mark B. Colton suggest that these robots will elicit and bring out specific behaviors of children, ones not previously seen before the use of these robots. This shows the goals set for robots in therapy for children with autism is to help form social behaviors. A large number of children with autism have communication issues, these robots can assist them and help them learn. They can also be used to assist adults with physical issues involving muscles or limbs.

References

External links

EZ-Robot

Stanford University Personal Robotics Program

Cornell University Personal Robotics Program

Imperial College London Personal Robotics
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