14 DAY TRIAL // Despite what fiction would have people believe, robots can't really perform overly sophisticated tasks, not without a human guiding each move every step of the way. It isn't for lack of trying though.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is one of the driving forces behind the advancements in robots.
One of the focuses of its research and development division and investment program is the reproduction of human-like or animal-like locomotion.
So far, results have been mixed, as is evident from inventions like the Chimp Robot which, while not actually made by DARPA (it was built by Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center) was developed for DARPA's Robotics Challenge.
Now, The New York Times reports that DARPA has developed a robot that can remove a car tire, all on its own.
Experts are thrilled they've finally managed to mimic finer movements, even though the robotic arm still has a long way to go. It cannot put the car tire back, for example.
Then again, this was only done as a stepping stone towards a much loftier purpose. The Pentagon wants to make robots capable of detecting improvised explosives (I.E.D) just by touching them.
We cannot even begin to imagine what kind of touch technologies and analysis algorithms will be needed for something like that.
We do, however, know that the military is among the most stubborn organization types on the planet, so if it wants such a robot, it will probably get it eventually. Unless humanity comes together in a single nation, making the military superfluous.
Still, even then there will be a need for a police force, since we doubt that those eager to play with explosives will ever truly go away, so a bomb-detecting robot won't go out of fashion.
But we digress. DARPA's robot project for mimicking human motions is still on for 18 months (that's as long as financing has been promised for).