Humanoid robots will look different...more cameras and use wheels instead of feet

Humanoid robots will look different

                                

Expert: Humanoid robots will look completely different in 15 years

Famous roboticist Rodney Brooks has revealed his predictions for the development of human-like robots in the coming years, and his suggestions may surprise you.

Brooks, an AI pioneer and entrepreneur known for pioneering behavior-based robotics and co-founder of iRobot and Rethink Robotics, stated in a recent article that although there will be many humanoid robots 15 years from now, "they won't look like humanoid robots or humans today." He believes some will use eyes mounted in the pubic area to better understand the terrain they traverse.

The expert, who also served as director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, highlighted how a group of robotics companies—such as Figure, LimX Dynamics, Apptronik, and Tesla—are targeting the mass deployment of humanoid robots in industrial settings, working alongside or completely replacing humans.

Brooks notes that some of these companies believe such a feat could be achieved "in about two years," but he believes that "it's a stretch to imagine it could happen any time in decades." A large part of the problem lies in trying to mimic the complexities of the human hand in natural movement. "No robotic hand has been demonstrated to match the dexterity of the human hand, in general," Brooks says. "And none have inspired designs that have been used in real-world applications."

The robotics scientist also points out that humanoid robots the size of an adult human pose significant safety challenges in shared human environments. Their massive mass and powerful motors can cause severe injury if they fall or move unexpectedly, unlike current smaller humanoid robots, which pose a lower risk.

 "My advice to people is not to approach a full-size walking robot less than three meters tall," Brooks says. "Until someone creates a better version of a bipedal walking robot that is safer to approach, even touch, we won't see humanoid robots being approved for use in areas where humans are also present."

The expert said he believes humanoid robots will eventually switch to using wheels instead of legs, "at first two, and perhaps more later, without anything resembling human legs in general," adding, "but they will still be called humanoid robots." Brooks also suggests versions with "different arms. Some of these arms will have five-fingered hands, but many will have parallel jaws with two fingers. Some may have suction cups, but they will still be called humanoid robots."

He suggests that other robots will have many sensors that don't function as passive cameras, and thus will have eyes that see in active light, or in non-human frequency bands. They may have eyes in their hands, and even eyes that look down from near the pubic area to see the ground, allowing them to navigate better over uneven surfaces. Brooks said that in the coming years, huge sums of money will be spent developing humanoid robots, and current versions will eventually fade away.