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Running head: The Past Present and Future of Robotics 1

The Past Present and Future of Robotics

Grant C Caskey

Professor Gabrielle Turgeon

UNC Charlotte

The Past Present and Future of Robotics 2

Abstract

This report is about the history of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). The report

provides information on some of the industries using robotics and AI, and some of the interesting

technology being developed and used in those industries. The report also talks about the impact

robotics and AI are having on society and jobs. Finally, the report provides an idea of the types

of skills and background needed to get a job in the field of robotics and AI.

Introduction

The discipline that will be discussed in this paper is the field of robotics and artificial

intelligence, and how these two technologies have evolved over the years to change the world

that we live in today. Robotics is the design and development of robots. Artificial intelligence is

software that simulates human activities. A career in robotics and AI requires a strong technical

background and good social skills. The technical skills needed to be successful in the field of

robotics requires a degree in computer engineering, but also a very strong understanding of other

types of engineering like mechanical, systems, and programming. Since robotics is designed to

replace human functions, and involves a lot of human interaction, good social skills are also

needed to understand the impact that robotics has on people. Robotics and AI are impacting a lot

of different industries. For example, robotics is now being used to help treat cancer and perform

medical procedures. In the military, robots are being used to search for and destroy bombs.

Robots and AI are also being used in the automotive industry to make better cars. It is being used

in homes with the iRobot to vacuum floors. Robotics and AI are even being used in banks to

automate basic functions that were previously done by people. Robotics can speed-up processes,

make them more cost-effective, and improve the quality of peoples’ lives. Smarter and better


robotics are being designed that will be able to do almost anything. Robotics and AI also have a

lot of people a bit scared because these technologies are designed to automate things that people

do, so a lot of people are concerned that robotics will cause people to lose their jobs. This paper

looks at how robotics and AI have changed over the years and the impact they are having on the

world, including the impact on jobs.

Methods

With whom did you speak? I interviewed Dr. Arun Ravindran, a Professor in the Engineering

department.

Why did you interview him? Dr. Ravindran teaches my Computer Engineering Programming

course and programming is a key component of robotics and AI.

What is this person’s expertise or qualifications? Dr. Ravindran has a PhD in Electrical

Engineering from Ohio State University. He started out focusing on the hardware development

side, but moved into cloud computing, software and systems to help expand his overall

knowledge.

What event did you participate in or observe? I recently attended a seminar at UNC Charlotte

called Engineering and Artificial Intelligence at NVIDIA. The seminar was about the history and

trends of engineering and artificial intelligence.

What did you learn from the observation? NVIDIA is mainly known for their graphics cards

for the gaming industry, but at this event the NVIDA representative exclaimed that Artificial

Intelligence is the next big thing. The representative talked about how low skill jobs will be

threatened and that people will have to learn to work with AI. He said that there will be a strong

job market for engineers with a background in AI. There were also discussions about how the


number of start-up companies has increased by a factor of two in just the past two years. Another

big point that was discussed was the development of self-driving cars. Today, self-driving cars

are at a level of one or two on a scale of five levels. When self-driving cars hit level five they

will not even come with a steering wheel and will be completely controlled by AI.

Results

According to the book, The Robotics Primer by Maja Matarić, “since both the art of

building automated systems and the science of studying how they work date back to ancient

times, control theory can be said to have originated with the ancient Greeks, if not before.”

(Mataric, 2007, p.7) Artificial intelligence was created in 1956 at a meeting at Dartmouth

University. According to Mataric, “the important outcome of the Dartmouth conference was that

as the field of AI was being funded and shaped, it had a strong influence on robotics, or at least

on the branch we can call AI-inspired robotics.” (Mataric, 2007.p.14) After this meeting, robotics

really began to take shape. Robotics had the biggest impact on the automotive industry. Since the

1960s, robots have been a major part of automation in automobile assembly plants. Based on an

article written by Jason Nowak of Bastian Solutions, he says, “Industrial robots have been

associated with the automotive industry ever since their inception over 50 years ago. Back in

1962, Unimation’s UNIMATE was installed in General Motors’s New Jersey plant, making it

the very first industrial robot to ever be used by a major manufacturer.” (Nowak, 2015, p.1) The

automotive industry was really the driver of robotics in the United States and continues even

today. In 2013, almost 70,000 new robots were acquired by the automotive industry. In Nowak’s

article he states, “The United States now ranks 3rd globally in robotic density in the automotive

industry.” (Nowak, 2015, p.3) Today, robotics is used in almost every part of building a new car


from welding, painting, and assembly to even test driving and crash tests. As the demand for

new, better, and cheaper cars increase, so will the demand for robotics.

The automotive and manufacturing industries continue to be the biggest users of robotics,

but other industries are also beginning to use robotics and AI. In the interview with Professor

Ravindran, he said that the use of robotics is becoming very popular in the medical field driven

by the need to care for an aging population, rising medical cost, and a shortage of labor in the

medical field. There are many different uses of robotics in the medical field including:

nanorobots, tele-presence, surgical assistants, and rehabilitation. Nanorobots are very small DNA

robots designed to destroy tumors that develop in people. In an article by Joe Caspermeyer, he

explains that “nanomedicine is a new branch of medicine that seeks to combine the promise of

nanotechnology to open up entirely new avenues for treatments, such as making minuscule,

molecule-sized nanoparticles to diagnose and treat difficult diseases, especially cancer.”

(Caspermeyer, 2018, p.8) Tele-presence robotics (Figure 1) is the use of interactive mobile

robots that allows medical specialists to work remotely and still be able to interact with patients

and other doctors through the use of specialized cameras, scanning devices, navigational tools,

and custom treatment codes. These robots are being used in small and rural hospitals. Another

form of tele-presence robotics is something called surgical assistants. These are remote

controlled robots that allow doctors to help patients from a remote location that could be

thousands of miles away. Surgical assistants have been most commonly used for prostate

surgery. According to an article written by Bernadette Keefe, M.D. for the Mayo Clinic Center

for Innovation, she says, “the advantages of robotic surgery include a more controllable and thus

potentially safer environment for both the patient and the physician, increased precision of

surgical manipulation, improved vision due to magnification, and better ergonomics for the


operator.”(Bernadette, 2016, p. 43) The main disadvantage of using surgical assistants is the

amount of training required to operate the robot, but as with any technology, the more it gets

used the easier it becomes. This is also an opportunity for new jobs by training people to use this

technology. There are also robotic devices being tested to give anesthesia, but at this point the

use of these devices has been pretty slow with only four in use across the country. One of the

more interesting uses of robotics in healthcare is for rehabilitation. Robotic suits and

exoskeletons have been built to help people recover faster after a bad accident or surgery. They

have also been used to help some patients walk again. Robotics is also being used to help care

for the elderly in nursing homes. According to Professor Ravindran, this is where having strong

social skills becomes important because the engineers building the robots have to understand

how the robots will interact with patients. The use of robots can be scary for some people like the

elderly, so it is important to make them friendly and non-threatening. The other challenge with

caring for the elderly is that the jobs are relatively low paying so it is hard to find people that

want those jobs. Robotics can help address this issue by performing jobs that people do not want

to do like helping patients out of their beds, bathing, giving medicine, and feeding. The use of

robotics in the medical field is helping to improve the quality of medical treatment and saving

lives.

Figure 1 Tele-presence robots


Another interesting industry that robotics is impacting is the military. When most people

think about robotics in the military, they automatically think about the use of unmanned drones,

like the Predator, for taking pictures and dropping bombs. However, there are a number of other

interesting uses of robotics in the military, including: the removal of bombs and mines,

firefighting, transporting injured soldiers, and even armed guards. One of the most common uses

of military robots is looking for and destroying explosive devices. A robot called the Small

Unmanned Ground Vehicle, or SUGV, is a remote controlled mobile robot. The SUGV is used to

remove the explosive and take it to a safe place to be disarmed. Another use of robotics in the

military is for fighting fires on naval ships. A fire is one of the most dangerous things that can

happen on a ship, so putting fires out quickly is critical to the safety of the crew. According to an

article by Sharon Weinberger of the BBC, she says, “Already under development, for example, is

a military humanoid robot that will fight fires on ships. The innocuously named Shipboard

Autonomous Firefighting Robot, or Saffir, actually looks suspiciously much like a skinless

version of the Terminator, though its mission is much more peaceful.” (Weinberger, 2014, p.14)

The Saffir (Figure 2) will be able to go into areas on a ship like the engine room where it is too

hot and dangerous for crew to enter to put out a fire. There are similar robots being designed to

rescue injured soldiers from the battlefield and take them to a safe area for medical treatment.


Figure 2: Saffir Firefighting Robot

When looking at how technology has changed over the years, it is easy to see how robotics

and AI has been part of that change. These technologies have also changed other industries like

the space industry with NASA sending robots to the International Space Station to perform

repairs. They also plan to send robots to Mars. Robots are also being used in homes with robotic

vacuum cleaners like the iRobot. More and more companies and industries are turning to

robotics and AI to save time, save money, save lives, improve service, and improve the quality of

peoples’ lives. In the article by Alan Fitzpatrick, he states, “There are two schools of thought

regarding the coming impact of robots on workers: there are those who warn they will destroy

jobs and those who hope new technology will boost the productivity of workers without

replacing them.” (Fitzpatrick, 2016, p.1) The use of robotics and artificial intelligence does

eliminate some lower level, low skilled jobs, but new higher skilled, higher paying technical jobs

are also being created. Some people that might initially lose their jobs because of technology can

go back to school to get technical training to help build new robots, operate them, repair them, or


provide training to others. In addition, a lot of jobs that robotics and AI are being designed for

are jobs that are unsafe for people to perform, or jobs that people do not want because they

cannot get paid enough money to do them.

Conclusion

This project was very helpful in understanding the rapid growth of robotics and artificial

intelligence and the growing demand for these technologies. The growth in robotics and AI is

really no different than any other technology like computers or mobile phones, but for some

reason when people hear the word robotics they get concerned. Maybe it is because automation,

computers, and mobile phones have changed people’s lives so much. Technology is not going

away. It will only grow and change at a faster pace. People will need to be open to new

technologies and understand that most technology is designed to improve things, not to make

them worse. The opportunities for job growth and new technology developments in robotics are

unlimited, which is why a degree in computer engineering is a good major to pursue. In the

interview with Professor Ravindran, he said that the best jobs will go to people who have a

strong technical background in multiple engineering disciplines and have strong social skills.

There are a lot of great job opportunities for students with a computer engineering degree

because they have to know all of the key components of computers, systems, and software,

which are all important in the area of robotics and AI.


References

Caspermeyer, J. (2018, February 12). Cancer-fighting Nanorobots Seek and Destroy Tumors.

Retrieved from https://asunow.asu.edu/20180212-discoveries-cancer-fighting-nanorobots-

seek-and-destroy-tumors

Fitzpatrick, A. (2016, March 31). Will Robots in the Workplace Destroy Our Future?

Retrieved from time.com/4277517/grappling-with-the-right-role-for-robots-at-work/

Keefe, B. (2016, May 6). Robots/Robotics in Healthcare. Retrieved from

https://blog.centerforinnovation.mayo.edu/2016/05/06/robotsrobotics-in-healthcare/

Mataric, M. (2007). The Robotics Primer. Cambridge, Massachusettes: The MIT Press.

Nowak, J. (2015, September 17). Industrial Robotics in the Automotive Industry. Retrieved from

https://www.bastiansolutions.com/blog/index.php/2015/09/17/industrial-robotics-

automotive

Weinberger, S. (2014, November 18). Next Generation Military Robots Have Minds of Their

Own. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120928-battle-bots-think-for-

themselves

https://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120928-battle-bots-think-for-

https://www.bastiansolutions.com/blog/index.php/2015/09/17/industrial-robotics-

https://asunow.asu.edu/20180212-discoveries-cancer-fighting-nanorobots-


Annotated Bibliography

The article titled “Electronic System and Software Architecture of Modular Reconfigurable

Robot Module OMNIMO” is about a robot known as OMNIMO that can be controlled by four

different layers of software. The article also gives specifics on the hardware and protocols that

were used. The authors of the article are A. Kilic and S. Kapucu. They are a part of the

Mechanical Engineering Department and Gaziantep University, making it a scholarly source.

The audience of this article is for people interested in the development of a modular

reconfigurable robot and how it was designed. The study used for this article was also funded by

the University of Gaziantep. This article might be useful to me for when I talk about the

advancements in robotics today and what technology is being used to design today’s robots. I

might also be able to use the information on software architecture in my programming section

and in my development in AI section of my paper.

The article titled “A Python Framework for Programming Autonomous Robots Using a

Declarative Approach” is about producing high level code in a way that is simple and natural for

autonomous robots. The article also gives a comparison of PROFETA and other frameworks by

highlighting similarities and differences. This article has four authors. They are Loris Fichera,

Fabrizio Messina, Giuseppe Pappalardo, and Corrado Santoro. This article is also a peer-

reviewed and scholarly source. The audience of this article is for people interested in the Python

programming language and how it can be used in autonomous robots, and how well it works

compared to other frameworks. This article might be useful to me when talking about the

advances in computer programming language and how they are being used in robots. This article

will allow me to talk about some of the benefits of using different coding languages and


frameworks and how one framework could be used in one situation and a different framework

for a completely different situation.

The article titled “Cancer-Fighting Nanorobots Seek and Destroy Tumors” is about the

development of the first fully autonomous DNA robot that targets cancer. The article talks about

how these nano robots can seek out and starve out a tumor, as well as how this is a safe and

effective way to battle cancer. This article was found using google, but it is written by Joe

Caspermeyer and is posted on Arizona State’s webpage which leads me to believe that it is a

scholarly source. The audience of this article is people interested in the development of robots,

but also those interested in new and exciting treatments that are being designed to help fight

cancer. This article might be useful to me when I am talking about the current technology of

robotics and how they are being implemented today. This article would also allow me to show

the importance in the development of robotics. Robotics is a field that I have a high level of

interest in as I pursue a career in computer engineering.

The article titled “Will Robots in the Workplace Destroy Our Future?” is about the concern that

robots will take our jobs in the future, but the article also talks about how robots are used today

in the work force. The article gives several stats, including a stat that in 30-40 years 50% of the

jobs could disappear. This article Is written by Alex Fitzpatrick and was up on The New York

Times website. However, this website does not make it a scholarly source. The intended

audience of this article is for people who care about the future of their jobs as well as people

interested in how technology will shape our future. I might use this information in a section


where I talk about how robotics affects our lives today, but also the impact they will have on our

future and if people should be worried about losing their jobs to a machine.

The book, The Robotics Primer, has a chapter that is titled “What Is a Robot? Defining

Robotics.” This chapter is about what the word robot means and how changes in science and

technology have given us our present-day robots. The author also gives a little bit of information

about the history of robots and what exactly a robot is. This book is a scholarly source and the

author of this book is Maja Matarić. Maja Matarić earned her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology and is best known for her work on the coordination of robot teams and

navigation. The intended audience of this book is for those interested in robotics and

understanding the advancements in technology that have allowed for the development of

robotics. I will probably be using this source in my paper as Maja Matarić gives a lot of good

information in just one chapter, and with it being a book, I will be able to gather a lot of

information from it.

The article titled “Robots/Robotics in Healthcare” is about all of the new uses of robotics in the

healthcare field, including the use of tele-presence robots, surgical assistants, nanorobots, and

exoskeleton suits. The article talks about the pressure that the healthcare industry is under with

the growing shortage of doctors and the rising cost of healthcare, and who robotics will help

address these issues and concerns. This article is written by Beradette Keefe, M.D. for the Mayo

Clinic Center for Innovation. Since the author is a doctor for a well-known medical center I think

this article is a scholarly source. The intended audience of this article is for people interested in

the impact that robotics is having on the healthcare industry, and how technology is helping to


improve medical treatments. This article will be a great source for me when I am talking about

the different industries that robotics is having an impact on.

The article titled “Next generation military robots have minds of their own” is about the

advancements of autonomous robots in the military. Autonomous robots is the use of unmanned

robots in the military. These robots are being designed to perform very dangerous tasks to help

save the lives of soldiers. This article is written by Sharon Weinberger for the BBC. The author

does not provide any information about their background or expertise, so I do not believe that

this article is a scholarly source. The intended audience of this article is for people interested in

how technology is being used in the military, beyond the use of drones, to help protect the lives

of soldiers. I found this article to be very interesting because I was not aware of all the different

uses of robotics in the military. I will probably use this article to show how robotics is impacting

so many different industries.

The article titled “Industrial Robotics in the Automotive Industry” discusses the history of

robotics in the automotive industry and how advancements in robotic technology has

significantly changed the automotive industry. The article mentions that the automotive industry

was the first industry to successfully use robotics back in the early 1960s. The article was written

by Jason Nowak. He does not provide any information about his background, so I do not believe

that the article is a scholarly source, but it is very informational. The intended audience of this

article is for those individuals interested in the history of robotics in the automotive industry, and

how new developments in robotics are changing the manufacturing process of new cars. I will


probably use this source in my paper because it gives a good history of the early use of robotics

in a specific industry. It is also another example of how robotics has impacted another industry.

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