A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
In a letter I received from my friend Leon the other day, he mentioned that he had gotten interested in “Robots & Droids.” I had no idea where he was getting his information, since I knew he didn’t have a computer. So, I decided to check out the internet to see what I might find there that might interest him. WOW, was I surprised! We are surrounded by robots, whether you realize it or not. Wikipedia started off by saying, “A robot is a mechanical or virtual agent, usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry.” Then it went on for pages to describe all kinds of Robotics, Soft Robotics and Virtual Software Agents (otherwise known as Bots).
This immediately brought to mind the “Star Wars” movie series with all its robotics in action and living color. Of course, there were the “Good” robots that were always there to help Luke Skywalker and his friends with whatever had to be done. These robots were even lifesavers at times, giving up their vital parts for their owners.
Then there were the “Bad” robots, coming (as it seemed) out of the woodwork, lead by the evil Darth Vader. This guy was determined to get rid of the good guys and take over everything they had, not to mention the whole Galactic Empire. Boy, did we enjoy watching the good guys defeat the bad guys for a change, even when they were bigger and badder that anyone could imagine.
Then I thought about the trip to Alabama I made last year to see another friend. On the way back I stopped in Montgomery, at the Hyundai plant, for a tour and, saw how the automobile industry is using computer assisted processing and robotics. It was amazing to see how most of the heavy and dangerous jobs have been replaced by robots.
Of course there is the military use of Teleoperated robots, or telerobots, which are devices remotely operated from a distance by a human operator rather than following a predetermined sequence of movements. These units are being used for such dangerous jobs as bomb locating and disposal.
—– To Be Continued—–
Old Things R New 