Labels:text | screenshot OCR: -= THE NEW BREED OF ROBOTS =- laser and ultrasound. To protect the so real they even sweat (Ramon B5/Desire) robot's sensitive electronics from the intense heat, it sweats: the A Robot that sweats, has laser vi- "transpiration cooling method" di- sion and trundles around on six legs sperses heat by allowing water to e- may one day be a common sight in fi- vaporate constantly from its surface, ghting fires. Alongside robots that just as humans. In 1991, 99 per cent can patrol nuclear plants and dive of the demand for industrial robots came from manufacturing industry, By deep underwater, the firefighter is part of an advanced research program- the year 2000, the fraction in non- me at Japan's Advanced Robot Techno- manufacturing is expected to rise logy Research Association (ARTRA) , from one per cent to nearly 25 per which represents 18 companies. A pro- cent, tackling problems in construc- totype fire-extinguishing robot has tion, offshore plants and nuclear po- already been developed, though a pra- world's operating industrial robots. wer , Japan has more than half the ctical machine is unlike to be wor- king before the end of the decade, At the beginning of last year, When it makes its debut, the fire- 219, 000 automatons slaved over repe- fighter will have six hybrid leg-whe- titive tasks in its factories, Robots els to enable it to move quickly and have not, however, lived up to their overcome obstacles, It will use two initial promise. The technical pro- blems have, so far, proved too chal- arms, one tipped with a manipulator and the other with a hose, and peer lenging. Predictions say that useful robotics devices will be available through smoke using a carbon dioxide for the home by the turn of te centu- 40 New breed of robots Contents Page: 1 of 2 00:01:01:12
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