Robotics is a subject that many students are interested in and go on to study at university or complete apprenticeships in the industry. If you’re anything like me and have grown up watching films like “WALL-E”, “Robots” and “Ex-Machina” (maybe that last one when I was a bit more grown up), you may also have an interest in topics like this too!

But what actually is robotics and what’s it like as a subject to study? It can’t all be building machines to fix Earth’s land-fill issue, or saving New York from a missile crisis, right? 

At Melio, Robotics is just one of the many fascinating topics you could be studying during your Computer Science course, so let’s delve a bit deeper into what the topic actually entails, advantages, disadvantages and what the future of robotics looks like. 

What is Robotics?

Let’s start with answering a few questions, what actually is robotics? 

Well, the word ‘robots’ can be defined most simply as “any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner”. The word ‘robot’ is actually derived from the Czech word for forced labour, “robota.”

Robotics, therefore, is the process of designing and building robots, for various purposes. The field uses a blend of computer science, engineering and technology; they meet and work together, so if you have a vested interest in one of these subjects, you may find studying robotics could be for you!

Robotics has come a long way in the last 10 years, especially with the substantial advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in more recent years - although examples of AI aren’t all walking-talking robots, it can be as simple as Google Maps, facial recognition and smart home devices like your Ring doorbell! 

Some of the most recent advancements in robotics include the “multi-tasking bots” that Momentum Machines have developed which are able to make a hamburger in less than 10 seconds, or Sally, the salad-making robot who can mix up to eight ingredients in under 90 seconds ; this could be the future of fast food!

There are many different job opportunities within the field of robotics, including a robotics engineer, computer scientist, software engineer and account manager. Even if you’re not entirely sure what career you may want to pursue in the future, with the variety of overlapping skill sets required in a job in robotics, if you have interests in technology or engineering or computer science of any kind, there are a variety of career paths that you could pursue!

Advantages of robots

Since its initial invention in the 1950s, there have been several advantages discovered about the use of robotics Many of which are the obvious ones; robots don’t get tired when they work (unlike humans) so can carry out tasks at a more efficient rate and in environments that are unsafe for humans to work in, like nuclear or chemical environments. 

Robots have also helped humans come a long way in more specific areas of work, like advancements in medicine. Robots are transforming how surgeries are performed, streamlining supply delivery and disinfection, which ultimately frees up time for doctors and surgeons to spend more face time with their patients. Robots are now not only used in the operating room but also in clinical settings to support health workers and enhance patient care. 

A more known example of how robots are used in everyday lives is the recent introduction of self-driving cars. In 2009, Google started the ‘self-driving’ car project, which has come a long way since then! The idea behind this is fairly simple; cars will be able to use sensors and cameras to track all the objects around it. Self-driving cars should be able to park, steer and avoid collisions without any human intervention.  Companies such as Tesla, Waymo and Cruise are among the variety of brands that have released fully autonomous cars. 

There can also be an argument for the benefits of robots providing a better quality of work than humans do in the industry. There will undoubtedly be a decrease in mistakes of ‘human error’ if robots are replacing humans for jobs, and would be cheaper as employers don’t need to pay robots or offer benefits. However, this can also be seen as a huge disadvantage of robots in the workplace, namely the huge economic problems that could come with replacing the need for human operation.

Disadvantages of robots

As mentioned before, a key disadvantage of robots is that they have started to (and may continue to) take over some of the more routine jobs from humans in certain fields. Once obtained, robots are cheaper to have as workers, can work in more strained environments and could ultimately save the companies money in the long run. However, this could of course cause extreme financial hardship for employees and affect the global economic scene in general.

According to Savium, examples of jobs that robots will be doing in the future include; customer service roles, book-keeping and data entry, receptionist roles, manufacturing and retail services. 

There are arguments for other disadvantages of robots in the workplace separate from them replacing humans in job roles. While they don’t need to take regular breaks or work limited hours during the day, they do need constant power supply which is a large expense to the company and not exactly very environmentally friendly (depending on the power they require). 

There is also the question around the variety of tasks robots can complete. Take, for example, the aforementioned “multi-tasking bot” that makes hamburgers in less than 10 seconds. While this is impressive for making burgers, this robot presumably can’t wash up after itself, or take the burgers to the customers waiting. Whereas if a person was doing this job, while it might take longer to make the hamburger, they would be able to do other jobs (like cleaning up) alongside the burger making. 

As robots are still relatively new in the workplace - especially self-driving machines - they are expensive to install and to run. There is also less training around how to maintain robots which could cause issues with their productivity. For example,  if an AI robot that assists in healthcare in a hospital breaks down, there may be a long wait until someone is able to come out and fix it. However if this job is done by a person, their job function could be replaced by another trained individual.

What is the future use of robots?

There is much speculation around the future of robots. While robots can be used to bolster many manual tasks for mankind and improve certain functions, there is also concern around how far their development can go, especially with the development of AI technologies. As one example, Google is planning on producing robots that have personalities. The plan is that the robots will be able to download personalities from a cloud-based system and they will be able to interchange between personalities when interacting with people. 

Many agree that it is expected that robots will be commonplace in the home by 2050. Dr Pearson, a fellow of the British Computer Society and the Royal Society of Arts and Commerce, predicts that in just 30 years, robots will be in the home cooking and cleaning, with ‘billions’ of the machines available in households worldwide. 

Contrastingly, there is much to say about the future of robots in helping us in hospitals and schools. It may not be just as “Back to the Future” predicted when they showed hoverboards in the year 2020, but there is definitely a very exciting future in robotics!  

As well as specifics like robots with personalities and robots that can make a burger at record speeds, the entire sector is expected to grow. Estimates suggest that the sector could be worth as much as $260 billion by 2030! This just goes to show how lucrative the field is going to be; this is definitely a good time to pursue your career in the industry if you have an interest.

Study interesting topics like these on a Melio course

What better way to start your interest in technology and computer science than with a Melio course? Interesting topics like robotics are just one of the interesting areas that you could be studying on Melio’s Computer Science course.

Computer Science can be studied on our Academic Online Courses which run for two weeks so are perfect to complete over the school holiday. Academic Online Courses start in June and run until August so check our availability on the website and secure your place as there is limited availability. During this course you will work with one of our expert tutors and a group of no more than 8 other like-minded students. Networking with industry professionals and peers from around the world will help you get a head start on your academic career.

Alternatively, why not try our One-on-One Tutorials? This course is more personalised to your needs. With hourly sessions starting at 10, you get to choose how long your course lasts and what schedule you choose, this means you can complete your course alongside your extra-curricular activities and school work. This course is ideal for you to complete if you are looking to go over specific topics with an expert tutor or want support in revising for exams. 

For more information on our courses and subjects we offer, please visit our website or get in touch with our admissions team.