Since the birth of the first science fiction novel “Frankenstein,” humans have been obsessed with creating another humanoid creature. And as technology evolved, a variety of intelligent AI and humanoid robots began to make significant appearances in science fiction and movies. From the Terminator T-800 in The Avengers to Sonny in I, Robot, to the assortment of steel armor in Iron Man, humanoid robots have grown up with every generation.
The Avengers poster
In the real world, the development of humanoid robots is not as smooth as in movies and novels. Over the decades, countless companies have flocked to this track on a wave of excitement, only to return on a wave of defeat. One has to wonder if humanoid robots are a good business after all.
The first ever humanoid robot was Ron Wensley of WestingHouse, who built Herbert Televox in 1927, which was essentially just a circuit board. The original Herbert Televox was a circuit board that could operate specific switches based on different sound codes.
Ron Wensley commissioned the company’s advertising department to promote the product, but it was rejected. So he added a crude head and limbs and drew a Washington face to make the robot a “robot” for sale. This promotional technique succeeded in attracting the attention of the public and even the U.S. military.
Herbert Televox
The birth of Herbert Televox brought Ron Wensley to the attention of the company, and in 1929 he was transferred to the electrical department in Ohio, where, with the help of the department’s engineers, Wensley began work on a new generation of robotics projects. The company’s investment in research and development led to the introduction of Elektro, a new generation of robots. Compared to the single-function Herbert Televox, Elektro had more practical voice-activated functions and was essential “the first humanoid robot in history.
Elektro
Elektro can act according to the controller’s voice commands, completing 26 different actions such as walking, smoking, and counting. However, due to the limitations of the technology at the time, such voice commands could only be carried out according to a fixed script.
Compared with Herbert Televox, Elektro has more functions. But it is still essentially a machine with an internal control unit, only it is commercially promoted by adding limbs and heads to make them look like people. After all, robots that can act like humans and perform various tasks are enough to make people marvel at them.
Time came to the 21st century, and humanoid robots seemed to become less so. In 2000, Honda launched the first generation of Asimo, a true humanoid robot that had human-like mobility and could walk, run and jump like a human.
After its official debut, Honda embarked on the development of the second-generation robot while touring the country with the first-generation Asimo to attract the attention of the Japanese public. Gradually Asimo also began to put in formal work, engaging in various jobs such as hospitality and performance, and working as a receptionist at companies such as IBM. However, Asimo’s intelligence is not considered high, and this robot works more on display and teaching, and cannot replace real people in actual work yet.
Honda-made robot ASIMO
Aldebaran Robotics also introduced Nao, a social robot, in 2006. Unlike other robots, NAO can be visually programmed with off-the-shelf instructions, making it easy for users to explore different areas of use on their own. The robot is in use in more than 50 countries around the world as an educational tool and caregiver to help care for children with autism. Like Asimo, Nao’s utility does not make it a commercial robot, but more of a research tool.
In 2010, NASA launched Robonaut 2, an exploration robot that accompanied the space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station in 2011. The exploration robot was aboard the International Space Station with the space shuttle Discovery in 2011, where it assisted astronauts with dangerous tasks.
Robonaut 2 was jointly developed by NASA and General Motors, with advanced control, sensing and imaging technologies. It can help humans do more work, such as building factories, producing cars and even space exploration.
In 2013, Boston Dynamics released Atlas, a humanoid robot, and used several years to develop the robot into a physically coordinated parkour robot with an AI system that allows Atlas to continuously learn and evolve, with the goal of helping humans perform a variety of high-risk exploration tasks.
In 2015, SoftBank’s French team launched Pepper, a humanoid robot, and allowed the humanoid robot to enter the social sector. Pepper has voice recognition technology and emotion recognition capabilities to communicate like a human. This gives Pepper access to industries such as finance, retail, education, and nursing, and allows it to perform a variety of tasks like a human.
Pepper
The development of AI technology has allowed humanoid robots to take a qualitative leap forward, but when the technological development of AI slowed down, the development of humanoid robots also gradually slowed down, and can even be said to struggle. The huge R&D costs have left many robotics companies in a financial crisis.
Due to the lack of commercial value, Honda began to gradually stop the development of humanoid robots in 2018, and the once-popular Asimo robot also began to slowly retire from performing and exhibiting. The main reason for the cessation of R&D is the lack of commerciality of humanoid robots, whose huge R&D costs prevent them from earning sufficient profits. For most people, humanoid robot performances have lost their novelty, and watching humanoid robot performances is even better than watching virtual idol performances.
Boston Dynamics also changed hands several times because of the robot’s dismal sales, until the commercialization model for probing the robot dog Spot was determined to provide some relief. But Hyundai, which eventually acquired the robotics company, has also said they want Boston Dynamics to return to the R&D studio model and leverage Boston Dynamics’ technical skills in robotics to help make their robotics program a success.
And SoftBank also announced in June this year that Pepper, a humanoid robot, was discontinued and began laying off its robot development teams in France and Japan. Pepper, which had already entered several fields, has since been withdrawn from the market. Although SoftBank still retains the possibility of restarting the Pepper production project, it would come at a high cost, and I’m afraid that the profits that could be generated by restarting Pepper would not make up for it.
From a business perspective, humanoid robots are more like a science fiction dream that humans are chasing.
Humanoid robots are already mired in technology, but alien robots are already making strides toward commercialization. Boston Dynamics’ Spot is already in mass production and is being used in cargo, mountain transportation, disaster relief and other areas. Sony’s companion robot dog AIBO has been resurrected in Japan to provide companionship to crowds and is starting to make a name for itself in industries such as healthcare.
These alien robots are also equipped with a high degree of AI operating system, and can autonomously accept commands from the user and complete the corresponding charges. At the same time, in different application scenarios, these shaped robots can also be transformed into different shapes at will, adapting to different environments better than the human form. Various bionic components allow them to shuttle through different scenes like animals in the air, mountains, oceans, etc.
Boston Dynamics Spot
Alien robots exist in various styles, including robotic arms, which also fall into its category. When Jingdong went public in Hong Kong last year, there was a robotic arm that participated in the bell-ringing ceremony together. And such robotic arms have been arranged by Jingdong in several different positions. In sorting, shipping, and inventory management, these non-humanoid machine tools can use their AI capabilities to work with employees in various positions to complete various tasks.
And with the help of AI, some mechanical tools have even completely replaced human workers. Xiaomi made its unmanned factory public in 2020. The 18,600-square-meter black-light factory is equipped with just over 100 maintenance staff, and all the usual production work is done by a variety of robotic arms, and their annual output is up to millions of units.
AI-capable robotic arms have increasingly been put to work in actual production. Although they do not have the same human-like appearance as robots, from a practical point of view, they are not any different from robots. Even because of the focus on a certain part of the function, this intelligent machinery has a higher productivity.
Humanoid robots, on the other hand, are most often used in the medical and educational fields. They can provide human-like education and companionship services, reducing the workload on humans. These companion robots can accompany elderly people with mobility problems or young children, providing some convenience to their lives and also reducing the workload of guardians.
Compared to cold industrial robots, companion robots are often designed to be more adorable, making it easier for people to accept these “machine companions”. With the addition of AI technology, these robots are able to adapt to the habits of users and meet their needs like real people, while the increased voice learning capabilities allow the robots to communicate better with users and meet their communication needs. For users who need more companionship, humanoid robots can better meet their emotional needs.
Of course, with the current AI technology, these robots cannot fully replace human communication, and they still need more learning and technical improvements. There is still a long way to go before companion robots can truly provide the same companionship services as humans. For the current robotics market, the lack of practical humanoid robots does not make them a mainstream market.
Due to the current technical means, humanoid robots are still a product of early development and cannot help humans to complete various services more efficiently. However, for the current mainstream industrial market, high-efficiency-shaped robots are still the mainstream. The value of robots is to help humans to complete various difficult tasks, and to complete a variety of work efficiently, unlike people, which is not the most important thing.
