Not Your Father’s Robot

Polyfunctional robots can do just about everything

They aren’t quite operating at R2-D2 levels yet, but the bots, they’re getting smarter. Steps beyond the typical robot that can perform a single task over and over, polyfunctional robots are bringing flexibility to the factory, restaurant, or hospital floor. These machines can learn new skills that weren’t part of their original design without major reprogramming. They’re highly adaptable across a range of industries, and with their ability to multitask, they deliver a much faster ROI than traditional industrial robots.

Healthcare

During the Covid-19 pandemic, personal assistant robot Temi and Boston Dynamics agile robot Spot served a variety of functions that helped limit person-to-person contact that was spreading disease. They went into patient rooms with tablets so caregivers and family members could speak with patients without infection risk. They delivered food and medications to patients’ rooms and restricted Covid floors. Polyfunctional robots can still play those roles, monitoring patients’ vital signs and performing rote tasks to give caregivers precious time to focus on patient care. Some are even helping in the operating room with robotic-assisted surgeries.

“The recent influx of additional entrants, bringing new robots to the market or increase in RAS-related investments, all support the potential of minimally invasive technology that we’ve championed from the beginning,” Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart wrote.

Manufacturing & Construction

While they’re not replacements for humans, the areas where polyfunctional robots might have the biggest impact are industries experiencing labor shortages. These bots can increase productivity by switching between multiple jobs such as packing, quality control, and lifting heavy or hazardous materials. Like a trusty dog, Spot roams factory floors or construction sites, reading gauges, sensing temperatures, and detecting gas levels to ensure operations are in tip-top shape. AgiBot’s humanoid robots make human-robot collaboration easy with high-precision force control and advanced vision sensors that allow them to perceive depth along with understanding a user’s intent. While their arms work like ours, they have a four-wheel drive system that gets them from place to place faster, letting them work quickly. The Aro-s from Aro Systems specializes in indoor logistics, making it ideal for transporting pallets, drums, and boxes around warehouses without bumping into anything or anyone.

Food Service

That ability to maneuver with heavy items in tight spaces also makes Aro-s a good fit for restaurants as a food runner or pantry organizer. SoftBank Robotics’ Pepper can work the front of house, greeting patrons and recommending items. Pepper even has its own café in Tokyo, Pepper PARLOR staffed by a crew of robots (and humans) that morphs into a ramen house and nightclub when the sun goes down. Patrons can even dance the night away with partying Peppers as a DJ spins tunes on select evenings. Kaikaku promises to radically transform restaurant chains with cutting-edge culinary robotics. The UK-based startup boasts the “world’s fastest food assembler” that portions and refills ingredients in seconds, mixing up to 10 ingredients at once and automating routine tasks. Kaikaku promises five times faster order completion and a 40% reduction on labor costs.

Disaster Response

In emergency situations, polyfunctional robots can play the hero, going into places where it isn’t safe for humans to enter. They can detect and report back levels of heat or dangerous toxins, search through rubble, and deliver first aid supplies. The Anybotics AnyMAL sports fully integrated visual and thermal cameras, ultrasonic microphones, and Lidar, and LED spotlight to help navigate in all conditions, even on wet and bumpy terrain. Minitrucks Robotics’ line of polyfunctional robots includes an excavator for rugged environments, a robot for underground pipelines, and custom-built telehandlers whose features can be modified according to specification for whatever the job requires. As useful as these bots are for construction, they might be even more helpful when things fall apart.