Do you have your domestic robot yet?

According to the U.N.'s annual World Robotics Survey, the 
number of domestic robots is supposed to increase sevenfold 
by the year 2007. There were a paltry 600,000 such robots 
in service last year, so the increase would bring that 
number up to 4.1 million worldwide.

That may sound like a lot, but considering there are 
hundreds of millions of automobiles in the world, robots 
have a long way to go to become anywhere near ubiquitous.

But at least they are finally on there way to becoming a 
respected commodity. I remember when robots were used 
strictly as toys for small children and could perform no 
useful work whatsoever. 

When my son was two, I bought him a robot. It was powered 
by a battery. When you turned it on, it would roll forward 
on its wheels a few inches, stop and turn back and forth 
for a few seconds, then change direction and continue to 
roll. I admit, it probably fascinated me more than it did 
him at the time.

For Christmas one year, I bought my daughter a robotic 
kitty cat. It would meow and roll around on the floor, 
sensing when it ran into something and backing up to change 
directions. Again, it was a toy with no useful 
functionality other than entertainment.

But apparently, robots are no longer relegated to the toy 
box. Of all the robots in service at the end of last year, 
the vast majority of them, 570,000, were actually vacuum 
cleaners. Most of the remainder were lawn mowers.

And, although most of the new and upcoming models will 
still be vacuum cleaners, some of them will also clean 
swimming pools or wash windows. And the three-quarters of a 
million entertainment bots in existence this year are more 
sophisticated than those my kids received as presents.

Unfortunately, the multifunction robots of science fiction 
movies and TV programs are still years away. None of the 
new variety of bots will be able to vacuum your floor, mow 
your lawn, and wash your windows, too. You would have to 
buy a separate one for each task.

That’s still a step forward from the toy-only robots. A 
robot is defined as a device that can perform human-like 
activities on their own power and without being manipulated 
by humans once they are programmed. They have been used in 
industry for many years, mostly painting and welding 
automobile frames on the assembly line.

And, unlike in science fiction movies, robots do not 
necessarily have to look like a human. The toy robots are 
typically humanoid in appearance, but the more useful 
robots’ shapes are determined by what chores they do.

Over the next several years, robots will be designed to 
perform many more mundane chores that humans don’t like to 
do. Already, there are more than 20,000 service robots in 
existence, performing tasks such as milking cows and 
ferrying medicine around hospitals.

Soon, nurse-like robots will be able to aid the elderly and 
infirm, to fetch their medicine or assist them in their 
daily activities. Soon robots will be fighting fires, 
disarming bombs, and inspecting hazardous waste areas that 
are too dangerous for humans. 

Eventually, we’ll have the multifunction varieties that can 
get us a cup of coffee, do the dishes, and fetch our 
newspapers. And those that are still sold as kids’ toys 
will be sophisticated enough to help with homework, play 
games, and do much more than simply bump into walls and 
turn around.