If you look around today, most robots are wheeled. But imagine that there’s a disaster scenario, flooding, or an earthquake, and we want robots to aid humans in the search and rescue process.

This project took us many years, as we had to develop new artificial muscles, soft skin, novel ways of controlling the robot, and an entirely new method of propulsion. I’ve been diving for decades, and I have yet to see a fish with a propeller. Our robot, SoFi (pronounced like Sophie), moves by swinging its tail back and forth like a shark. A dorsal fin and twin fins on either side of its body allow it to dive, ascend, and move through the water smoothly, and we’ve already shown that SoFi can navigate around other aquatic life forms without disrupting their behavior.

“If we can just get humanoids to do work that humans are not wanting to do because there’s a shortfall of humans, we can sell millions of humanoids, billions maybe.” (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Some of the biggest leaps in the field have been in software, in particular in the way robots are trained.

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Roberta Nelson Shea, convener of the ISO group on industrial safety, advises business leaders to identify all the tasks and hazards associated with the technology, and to then go through risk estimation and reduction.

"On the other hand, a lot of the automation work seems to be around anthropomorphising the robots. That brings about the fear that these things will replace humans."

The robotic arm is a somewhat obvious idea; other reach-extending devices could have unexpected shapes and forms. For instance, the relatively simple FLX Bot from FLX Solutions has a modular, snake-like body that’s only an inch thick, allowing it to access tight spaces, such as gaps behind walls; a vision system and intelligence enable it to choose its own path. The end of the robot can be equipped with a camera for inspecting impossible-to-reach places or a drill to make a hole for electrical wiring.

At peak hours, a real-life bartender is always at the bar next to the robot; but the technology lets them delegate drinks like a vodka-lemonade, and instead focus on cocktails that require more of a human touch.

One interesting note on that (to me at least) is that Robots are here 1X has actually been kicking around for a minute. The Norwegian firm was known as Halodi until its very recent (exactly one month ago) pithy rebrand. You only have to go back a year or two to see the beginnings take on the humanoid form factor the company was developing for food service.

An early mover in the space of collaborative robots, von Hollen explained that legal issues were initially a direct challenge to the business. 

Von Hollen's comments are reflective of an often-heard defence of the rise of robots, in the face of employees scared that automation will take their jobs.

Once you understand the instruction to pick up the blue mug, you need to know how and where to move.

"That led to development of a new robot that was not really a humanoid, but had several characteristics of a humanoid," he said via an emailed message.