World Robot Conference Opens In Beijing With Greatest Showcase Of Cutting-Edge Technology

World Robot Conference Opens in Beijing With Greatest Showcase of Cutting-Edge Technology

The World Robot Conference 2018 (WRC 2018) kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday to showcase the latest achievements in robotics - from industrial and service robots to robotic nurses and firefighters.

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2018) The World Robot Conference 2018 (WRC 2018) kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday to showcase the latest achievements in robotics - from industrial and service robots to robotic nurses and firefighters.

The five-day conference brought together hundreds of world-renowned experts to exchange knowledge and focus on the latest cutting-edge technological trends in robotics and artificial intellect.

ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANKIND

This years conference, themed "Creating Intelligent Momentum for a New Era of Openness and Shared Benefits," focuses on the robotics revolutions impact on social and strategic development, as well as the industrial application of robotic technology. The conference aims to step up international cooperation in robotics for the benefit of the whole mankind.

During the conference, about 500 enterprises are expected to exhibit their products in such categories as "industrial robots," "service robots," "special-purpose robots," and "Artificial Intelligence."

The participants of the conference are also expected to see spectacular robotic competitions.

According to experts, the application of robotic technology in education, childbirth and healthcare remains one of the core priorities in robotics research and the most challenging task.

"The development of the robotics industry continues for as long as several decades. Meanwhile, the development of robots [intended] for the use in education, healthcare and nursing sectors sets extremely high requirements and is extremely challenging, being the highest-level [task] for robotics companies. There are many challenges in this area, that is why not so many companies are deeply involved in this area of research," Chen Liang from Chinas FN Robotics company told Sputnik.

The company is involved in the development of robots that are capable of taking care of elderly, sick and disabled people.

Meanwhile, one of the exhibited robots distributes pills in containers in accordance with prescription. To accomplish the task, it needs to scan a QR-code. Another robot dubbed P-Care delivers the distributed pill containers to hospital rooms. If you have such a robot nurse at home, you can also program it to bring you the pills at a precise time.

Even though such "aides" are so far too sluggish and dilatory, the developers describe the progress made as a breakthrough.

Chen, however, stressed that it was the issue of psychology, comfort and trust. Even if considerable progress is made, robots will never replace a human, he believes.

"When it comes to technology, in some areas we can have 100 percent or even greater trust in robots, for instance when they carry out surgery on eyes, liver, bone tissues, but at the same time we must take human feelings into account. We all have emotional needs," Chen stressed.

Along with providing assistance in health care and education, Robots prove to be almost indispensable in certain dangerous rescue and firefighting activities.

Zhao Hongchang, an engineer for CITIC HIK KaiCheng, noted that blazes are often accompanied by explosions, while robots could help save lives of firefighters by carrying some operations on their own.

"Even if the robot is damaged, it can be repaired while there is no way to bring a person back to life," Zhao stressed.

ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY WHICH MAKES HUMAN STRONGER

Chinese robotics experts seek to explore how to enhance human capabilities through robotic technologies rather than replace a human with a machine.

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), for instance, worked out and presented several types of a special corset, which can effectively turn an ordinary person into a superman.

A CALT engineer demonstrated to Sputnik the academy's product. The corset is fixed around a human body, thereby creating a kind of an iron carcass. With a battery, such a corset weighs from 53 to 88 Pounds. The device functions due to build-in sensors.

"It can be used in two ways. First of all, [it can] help people with restricted mobility, in this case our device can be regarded as a sort of a musculoskeletal system for a person. Secondly, it can provide assistance to industrial workers, if one needs to lift some especially heavy box, they can do it, or if one wants to run faster, it is also possible," the engineer told Sputnik.

The device can be also used in space industry, in particular, in training astronauts before flight and tackling the weakening of the muscles after flight.

The majority of the machines exhibited at the Beijing conference are service and industrial robots, as well as those involved in education, various research activities and entertainment sectors. The public favorites are predictably human-like robots capable of dancing and singing in several languages.