How many times in the past week do you think your life was affected by a robot?
Unless you have arobot vacuum cleaner, you might say that robots had no real impact on your life.
So what is a robot?
Before we start, we need to define what actually is a robot.
Hence, your vacuum cleaner that you leave to do its job while you are away is a robot.
It senses the world around it and makes driving decisions as it sucks and sweeps.
But your washing machine is not a robot.
You tell it how to wash when you choose the cycle and it gets on with it.
There are grey areas and the definition is debated, but lets leave it there.
On to your past week.
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Rice-sorting machines are miracles of automation and most people have no idea they exist.
Every grain of rice passes through a robotic machine that uses very high-speed cameras, lights and a computer.
The image of each rice grain isanalysed by that computerand a decision is made as to its grade.
Jets of air are turned on and off to steer or flick the grain into the correct bin.
This happens hundreds of times per second.
Robotic machines are available to sort wheat, pulses and seeds.
Robots for medical training
Did you see a health care professional?
If you did, you should have noticed if they were human or a robot.
Chances are they were a human.
But did you know that many nurses, paramedics and doctors nowtrain on robot patients.
Robots for police training
Have you been taken hostage in an armed robbery?
Robots for extracting poison
Did you take medication?
Robots down the sewer
You must have used a toilet?
Fatbergs have become a major problem inmany cities around the world.
Robots and your shopping
Did you go shopping or order anything online?
Some container ports arenow partially automated.
The huge containers are offloaded from ships by human operators controlling cranes.
But from then on, the containers are handled by giant robotic cranes on wheels known as straddle carriers.
Many warehouses are also operated using mobile robots.
The best-known example ofwarehouse automationis Amazon.
The retail giant built many of its warehouses specifically for mobile robots that could autonomously transport shelf units.
The point is that the so-called upcomingrobot revolutionthat is often talked about in the media is already happening.
Its just that most people dont notice.
