Whether they’re friends of humanity, soulless killers, or even comic relief, robots have always been around to do the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively) in science fiction stories on television, in movies, or in literature. It’s hardly surprising that the word “robot” comes from the Old Church Slavanic word “robota”, which means “servitude”, or “forced labor”.
But what happens when you merge robots with the power of Big Data? This isn’t as out there as it sounds. We currently do have robots, and we definitely have Big Data. Could the next step in robot evolution be a fusion of the two?
Big Data means smarter robots, and they want our jobs!
Cloud Robotics: The Latest Thing
If you think of a robot, no doubt you picture a complete, self-contained entity with its own memory and “data banks” that hold things like its programming and information. That may have been the case once upon a time, but in this age of ubiquitous Internet access and the rise in cloud computing, suddenly the rules have changed.
With cloud robotics, the parameters of what defines a robot have been expanded. Now there can be robots whose programs and data are actually stored off-site, and accessed by the robot’s Internet connectivity. One immediate benefit of cloud robotics is the ability for other robots connected to the cloud to actually share data with each other and learn from their individual experiences.
In addition, the amount of data residing in cloud storage is immense, and the more data that a robot has access to, the more it can learn. There’s another term for all of that information: Big Data.
Big Data Means Better Robots
Consider all of the things that make up Big Data: statistical information, maps, object data, weather statistics, traffic patterns, demographics, to name just a few. Robots with that sort of information within easy reach will learn how to do more, and pass on that information to other robots in the same network. According to the article “The Big Data of Robotics”, a robot can actually get to the point where it makes decisions based on environmental factors such as light, wind speed, and water level, something which could come in handy for a self-guided drone.
The Internet of Things is a big contributor to Big Data. In the Internet of Things, everyday objects are equipped with sensors and an Internet connection, the latter which is used to send out data gathered by the former. That’s why robots that rely on cloud robotics and Big Data need to also be able to interface with the Internet of Things. In some cases, the robots may be the ones gathering the data; in other instances, it may be the beneficiary of that information. Could you imagine a robot, programmed with the shopping habits of any given customer who enters a store, following the visitor around and not only offering suggestions for goods based on prior purchases, but also able to conduct the transaction right there on the spot?
Doing The Jobs Nobody Wants To
There is little doubt that robots that access Big Data via a cloud-based network have the potential of eventually doing tasks that are currently done by people. There is a sufficient level of technology available today that can help robots park cars, land planes, make medical diagnoses, and even staff a call center! Who knows? This union of Big Data and robotics may be the next big step in giving robots better artificial intelligence, and get us humans one step closer to obsolescence. Best to keep an eye out on those robots, and check out articles like “The Latest In Robotics Research”.