Robots Continue Their Path to Home Automation

Written By: Luke Wallace VP of Application Development, Bottle Rocket

Sci-Fi movies continue to inspire technologists around the world, and often the wildest ideas from just a few years ago become the household technology of tomorrow. We’re seeing the path to both humanoid robots (we could call these the C-3PO type robots), and the more utilitarian helper bots (perhaps known as the R2-D2 type). Both have made significant progress this year.

Boston Dynamics has taken their humanoid robots named Atlas far beyond walking, now performing full dance routines and parkour. I see these robots someday being humanoid helpers in the home. Why replace all your light switches with automatic ones, when your robot could walk around and turn the lights on or off for you while you are away? And checking on your elderly parents can be done remotely, much like the movie Robot & Frank so adeptly illustrated. We’re still years away from a home version from Boston Dynamics, but that only allows more time for the technology to be refined.

For those that may be leery of a five-foot tall robot with hands walking around their house, the Amazon Astro is being released this year to early previews, and provides much of the R2-D2 experience, with a telescoping camera for monitoring your home remotely, and the ability to follow it’s commanders, whether they be adult or child. With a built-in display, it could serve as an Echo Show device and display information, as well as provide Alexa-style auditory information.

I’m very excited that more general-purpose robots are on the horizon. I’d rather have technology that adapts to my world, than to adapt my world to the technology. Nascent forms like robot vacuums and pet feeders with cameras are nice to prove out use cases, but I believe eventually we’ll see more general purpose robots like Astro that can then control simpler robots themselves.

The sophisticated logic for scheduling and coordination can be handled by a singular source, which can then either delegate to lower form robots, or interact directly with the same devices that humans use. A humanoid robot that loads your current dishwasher is more likely than a self-contained robot dishwasher with all the necessary parts to load and unload dishes to your cabinets.

Time will tell how quickly these will be adopted, but much like smartphones I imagine that a few early adopters will pave the way for a lifestyle change that is even more significant.

Image Credit: Tech Talks