Future Technology 500

The world of robotics is a rapidly growing and expanding. It’s becoming more and more important to the way that we do business and how we work as a species, too. For many of us, though, keeping up to date with the changes and innovations within the industry can be tough work. However, one of the most interesting innovations in recent times appears to have come from Caltech 3D and Harvard. Together, they appear to have printed a series of self-folding robots.

This interesting new origami-inspired robot design is going to become very important in the near future. Capable of dealing with very particular configurations and settings, they could be adjusted for a whole variety of purposes on-demand. Known as the “Rollbot”, these devices will be used to achieve a great many changes. They’ll be able to assemble into a pentagonal prism shape, and will be capable of a self-rolling mechanism in response to its own stimuli.

That’s very impressive, and shows a fine example of how this kind of technology could be used in the future. They could become very important in the development of untethered robots that could be useful in both medicine and engineering. How so?

The co-first author of the paper, Connor McMahan, said: “Many existing soft robots require a tether to external power and control systems or are limited by the amount of force they can exert. These active hinges are useful because they allow soft robots to operate in environments where tethers are impractical and to lift objects many times heavier than the hinges.”

The creation of something truly special

Robotics is always impressive when it comes to life, especially when they can achieve something not previously possible. this new form of robot will be able to move naturally, akin to a living creature, but can adjust to fit the environmental needs and challenges that it faces. However, they will need them to be rigged with hard components to ensure that it can be controlled externally.

This design used includes liquid crystal elastomers to make sure that they can easily be adjusted and moved, even in extreme conditions such as high levels of heat. When this goes above its stated temperature, it will change shape to correspond and match-up with the change that has happened. This allows for vast changes in shape that would simply not be possible with other forms of material.

It’s these unique changes that are going to have a massive impact on the way that robotics are used in the future. By varying their architecture to fit with the environment they are acting within, these will be used to help create a solution to problems previously unsolvable.

While it’s unlikely that we’ll see such a device moving around the world around us anytime soon, they are very much in development. It’s an exciting time for science and for robotics – who knows what the future will hold when such devices come to be on a regular basis?

Citations

https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2019/08/self-folding-rollbot-paves-way-fully-untethered-soft-robots

https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/harvard-and-caltech-3d-prints-self-folding-soft-robots-inspired-by-origami-160760/

The age of automation and artificial intelligence has arrived, and there’s no turning it back. While this is mostly good news for businesses and technology enthusiasts, it mainly spells out bad news for workers whose jobs can be automated and who can be replaced by robots in the near future. As a result, a lot of people are worrying that AI wave will leave them unemployed and struggling to feed themselves and their families.

However, tech mogul and Microsoft founder Bill Gates seems to have the answer to these worries: tax the robots.

Taxes and Automatons

It might seem ludicrous to think that robots would fret about VAT and income taxes, but Gates thinks that taxing them is a good idea. For instance, if a human worker in a factory is replaced by a robot, the automaton should be charged the same amount of taxes that the human paid when he was employed.

Gates believes that robot companies will not mind if they are charged with taxes for their automated workers. For one thing, they will be earning higher revenues since their laborers will be 100 percent efficient (something that humans can’t achieve) and have a steady stream of productivity. Companies will also save a significant amount of money since their robots won’t need sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, and retirement plans and pensions. With their increased earnings and lower overhead costs, businesses won’t find it hard to pay their robot taxes.

What to Do with the Money

The taxes collected from the robots could then be used to train the displaced laborers for other jobs, especially those that require human empathy. Some of them can work as teachers, which will allow schools to have smaller class sizes and ensure each child will receive one-on-one training. Others can be trained to become special education experts and assist children with special needs. Still others can be educated as nurses, nursing aides, and caregivers and provide high-quality healthcare to the sick and the elderly.

Gates points out that charging taxes can help slow down the advancement of automation. This might seem like a strange statement coming from a tech entrepreneur, but Gates is right in that the spread of automation needs to be controlled, especially in terms of its effects on job displacement. This way, the government and businesses can work together to create transition programs for displaced workers and minimize the negative impact that automation will have on families and even entire communities.

And yes, the government should get involved. Gates states that the government must play an active role in controlling the speed of automation and labor displacement instead of just relying on businesses to do everything. This way, inequity won’t be so rampant, and those in the low-income bracket won’t become even more disadvantaged.

Pair It with Universal Basic Income

Forbes contributor Ian Morris points out that robot taxation can also be merged with the concept of universal basic income. This can be funded by the amount collected from automation taxes and will ensure that everyone will have a monthly income that they can use to fulfill their basic needs. Morris agrees, though, that the country and the entire world will have to go through a painful transition before a balance can be achieved between automation and labor displacement.