The idea of robots working alongside -- or even in place of -- people isn't exactly new. But today's robots go far beyond the welders and carriers you may have seen on assembly lines. Take the Shadow Robot company's hand robot, for example. It has 40 air muscles and is capable of 24 movements, making it the world's most advanced robot hand. It can even hold an apple without bruising it. What else are today's robots up to?
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We don't mean to malign the world's hard-working industrial robots, which often perform tasks too dangerous or repetitive for the typical person. This robot arm is welding bridge components at the Mabey Bridge factory in Gloucester, England. The bridges under construction are being sent to flood-ravaged areas of Pakistan.
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Robotic welders are also a common sight in automotive factories. These robot arms are welding a vehicle body as it goes through the assembly line at the General Motors Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Lansing, Mich.
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The assembly line isn't the only part of the automotive world that's home to robots. This tower at a Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, holds 400 cars. When someone buys a car, a robotic arm picks it from the tower and delivers it through an underground transport system.
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Another robotic mover and shaker is the bomb-seeker. Here, U.S. Army Specialist Nathaniel Anselmo repairs a robot called Talon before departing on a route clearance mission in Khakrez, Afghanistan. The robot's job is to seek out improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
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Robots can also have a softer side. My Baby 2, a simulated childcare robot, was created by a former NASA engineer and reacts when treated badly. It can be used in childcare training and instruction.
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Teaching robots can be highly specialized. Here, a dentist operates on a humanoid dental patient robot named Hanako Showa during a demonstration of dental treatment in Tokyo, Japan. The robot simulates real human patients and is used to train dentists.
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This robotic setup looks a little intimidating - click ahead to see how it's used.
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Outside of the classroom, robots can help doctors perform procedures on human patients. Registered nurse Haesook Lee adjusts a surgical robot at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Surgical robots help doctors with everything from prostate removal to heart surgery.
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Since robots are already assisting doctors in the operating room, tele-surgery may be the next big thing.
While medical robots are designed to be sterile and efficient, others can exhibit a more human touch. Here, visitors view the Intelligent Service Robot of Shanghai Expo mascot Hai Bao. The robot was designed by Zhejiang University.
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At the other end of the spectrum, robots can take care of things humans would rather not touch. A DustCart robot, a prototype of a sweeping and cleaning robot, collects domestic garbage on demand in Livorno, Italy. It was designed at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa.
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Keeping things clean has become a theme in robotics. Visitors watch a NaviBot robotic vacuum cleaner in action at the Samsung home appliances stand at the 2010 IFA technology trade fair in Berlin.
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The sweeping up doesn't stop when you leave Earth's atmosphere. NASA's two Mars exploration rovers have gone where humans can't (yet) to pick up dust, rocks and other samples for scientific analysis. Here's one of the rovers before it left Earth.
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NASA astronaut George Zamka in February 2010 in the just-installed Cupola, which was built by Thales Alenia Space Italy (TAS-I). It can hold two people and serve as a base for robotic operations. After it was attached, the station was 85 percent complete. The dark panels are shutters that flip up to protect the windows from micrometeorites, orbital debris and contamination.
Image Credit: NASA
The serpentine qualities of snakes are the inspiration for a new type of robotic, interplanetary probe.
Mobile robots like this one are used in everything from space exploration to landmine detection.
Robots are becoming increasingly sophisticated and lifelike.
This central circuit board inside a "Rumble Robot" is essentially at the heart of the toy's action.
Robots take to the playing field.
Image Credit: Image courtesy FIRST Robotics
Grabbing a piece of sushi, Baba Tekkosho Company's Chef Robot demonstrates its dexterity. Click ahead to see what else a robotic chef can do.
Image Credit: AP Photo/ Koji Sasahara
The Robotic Chef can apply a variety of cooking techniques to food items that already exist, such as a piece of fruit or a steak.
Image Credit: Photo courtesy Fluid Interfaces Group, MIT Media Lab
Like Rosie, C3PO and DATA, ASIMO is meant to be a helper robot. Sensors let ASIMO work in a dynamic setting. It has floor surface sensors in its feet and multiple ultrasonic sensors in its midsection, which enhance ASIMO's ability to interact with its environment by detecting nearby objects and comparing their locations with area maps stored in ASIMO's memory.
ASIMO stands just 4 feet 3 inches (1.3 meters) tall, which is the perfect height for looking eye to eye with someone seated in a chair. Designers wanted ASIMO to be able to do the jobs it was created to do without appearing to be too big or menacing.
ASIMO can do more than help around the house ...
ASIMO can do more than help around the house. Here, ASIMO conducts the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Now that you've seen working robots in pictures, think about this: could robots take over? Learn more with our article, 10 Ways Robots Could Replace Humans!
Image Credit: Courtesy American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
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