Say 'Hi' to Flash the Robot
When you think of “robots” you might think of some comical 1950’s vision of the future – or maybe something from Isaac Asimov, or Star Wars.
In reality, modern robots have a variety of uses, helping people out in many areas of life. From tasks to dangerous for humans – like defusing bombs. To tasks that humans just find plain boring – like doing the vacuuming. To medical applications, where robots can do things more precisely and help save lives: like the EU funded ROBOCAST project, that could in time perform vital keyhole brain surgery – potentially easing the lives of the millions who suffer from tumours, epilepsy, Parkinson’s or depression.
And it’s a booming industry. Over 2 million service robots for the private sector were sold last year – a number which could balloon to over 14 million by 2014. Overall it’s an industry worth over 15 billion euros per year – and around one fifth of the demand is in Europe.
This week is EU Robotics Week – and to celebrate there are events all over Europe all showing the contributions which robotics can make to society. Flash (shown in the picture) is on display with 20 of his pals at Robotville in London’s Science Museum. But all in all, there are over 340 events across 17 countries – so check out an event near you!
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