Science Article

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Precision surgeons

Operating on the human body requires high skill but also great control, something robots can provide. The idea of robotic surgery prompted early fears of unsupervised robots let loose to operate, but the reality is that robots now assist surgeons to perform precision procedures. The most successful of these is arguably the da Vinci robotic surgical system, which is used for keyhole surgery, to operate on anything from gall bladder removals and brain surgery to heart bypasses.

Similarly, tiny, wireless and robotic camera-capsules have been used diagnostically, by allowing them to pass through a patient's digestive system. Others have been designed to move about by remote control in the abdominal cavity, beaming images back to the surgeon, or even taking biopsy samples. Robot hands have even been developed to scan for breast cancer.

Actuators and sensors

But despite all the successes, there are still many challenges in robotics. These include producing better actuators (which control how robots move), sensors (which allow them to detect their environment) and ultimately making bots much smarter. Current motors, and hydraulic or pneumatic actuators, are either too weak, or too bulky and noisy. 

Bipedal and humanoid robots have proved a particular problem. Robots on wheels, or those that move like insects, have found it much easier to balance and get around.

And while much early research in robotics focused on using sonar sensors because they were cheap and easy to use, the focus today is on the more challenging, yet richer, vision-based navigation systems.

Similarly, while there is much research on making robotic arms and hands, the difficulty lies in making electronic skin sensitive enough to detect fragile or slippery objects by touch alone. A robot that mimics human speech is also under development.

The ultimate test perhaps is robot soccer. This is driving development in just about every area of robotics from the ability to run and kick a ball to communicating and demonstrating teamwork. The grand aim is to have a team of humanoid robots that can beat the best human soccer team in the world by 2050.

LIKE PCs, robots may soon become a key part of our everyday lives, but they present unique communication challenges that PCs do not. So roboticists are turning to people who have already solved many of these problems - actors, animators and dancers.