Impacts of Robots on Organizations and Individuals - Case Study Example

Robotics and the Future Name Course Lecture Date Contents Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Effects of Robots of Individuals 4 2.1 Benefits of Robots to individuals 4 2.1.1 Robots as Caretakers and Companions 4 2.1.2 Driverless Cars 5 2.1. 3 Robots as Domestic assistants 6 2.1.4 Robots for Hazardous and healthy risky work 7 3.0 Impacts of Robots on both organizations and Individuals 8 3.1 Will robots take lead to job scarcity or job increases? 8 3.2 Robots offer New Jobs 8 4.0 Effect of Robots on Organizations 9 4.1 Robots boast Competitiveness 9 4.2 Increased Productivity 9 4.3 Safety 10 4.4 Savings 10 5.0 Benefits to Government 11 5.1 Control over Road traffic 11 5.2 Defence and Security 11 6.0 Recommendations to individuals 12 6.1 Acquire advanced Skills 12 6.2 Become aware robotic technologies 12 7.0 Recommendations to Organization 13 7.1 Try to preserve employment opportunities 13 8.0 Recommendations to Government 13 8.4 Maintain a good balance of Employment Equilibrium 13 8.5 Redesign educational curriculums 13 9.0 Personal reflection 14 10.0 Conclusion 15 11.0 References 16 1.0 Introduction What are robots? An accurate definition of present day robot and is a machine that mimics human behavior and human physical characteristics. Another definition describes a robot as an automatic machine that exhibits human skill. For example robots may talk, lift things or move around much like humans. In past decades robots were mostly the stuff of science fiction but today robotics is the fastest growing technological field in the world. So what does the future hold for the human race in the face of a guaranteed breakthrough in robotics technology in the coming decades? Is robotics technology the new force that will transform the world much like the motor engine or the jet plane inventions? With more advanced robots a future where robotics will do everything is no longer impossible. With the cost of robotics technology going down, a time is coming when almost every home will own one or more robots. But what will happen to human workers when robots take all the work? What are the benefits to individuals, organizations and governments in the coming robotics age? Will robotics be more beneficial to the overall human welfare or will they benefit just a privileged few. People are sceptical about the unprecented loss of jobs that will be brought by the advancement in robotics technology. According to Samson (2005, p. 41) advances in robotics technology should not be feared as it is likely to lead to increased job opportunities despite the climate of worry created by advances in robotics science. He argues that every other technological advance have led to creation of more jobs rather than the anticipated cut in jobs. Only a few years ago most of the commonplace technology like Smartphones and other devices was unimaginable. What then does robotics technology hold for the human race? Indeed most robots including the first one called UNIMATE were manufactured for industrial applications as suggested by the ISO definition (Challacombe et al 2006, p. 121). In contrast, today robots are to be found in all areas of life from teaching to agriculture to medicine. Researchers in the field of robotics think they will be able to create humanoid robots with a great deal of intelligence in the near future Singer (2009, p 35). In future, robotics will be house helps at home, farm hands in the fields, and assistants in the workplace. Indeed, Japanese robot makers have been able to build a robot that provides companionship for the aged (Broekens, Heerink and Rosendal 2009, p. 98). Recently, University of Sydney students showcased a robot that could act as a barman and automatically mix cocktail for guests at a club. Right now it remains hard to predict what future robots will not or will not be unable to do. But the big question remains how is society prepared to deal with the seemingly inevitable advancement in robotic technology that is coming soon. In this paper we analyze how robotics will affect individuals, organization and governments. For each societal group we look at the benefits that can be gained by the presence and future advancements of robotics technology. Secondly, the paper offers recommendations on what each groups may to avoid being caught unawares by the coming advancements in robotics science. Finally, the paper presents a personal reflection on the transformation of the world post- robotic age. 2.0 Effects of Robots of Individuals 2.1 Benefits of Robots to individuals 2.1.1 Robots as Caretakers and Companions Robotics in future can enhance care for the elderly in developing nations (Broekens, Heerink and Rosendal 2009, p. 100). With the number of aged individuals increasing rapidly the number of caretakers for the elderly has continued to diminish. In this absence of human caretakers, Robots could take over the jobs that are done by the caretakers. However, present day robots cannot be able to replace humans completely as they can only do a few menial jobs like cleaning and washing clothes. Furthermore, the aged may not appreciate the idea of having robots taking care of them. Caretaking for the elderly is a sensitive issue and they may feel neglected in the apparent absence of the human touch (Heerink et al 2008, p. 2). In future, Companion robots like toy and pet robots will become increasing humanlike (Dautenhahn 2007, p. 680). Already toy robots which can keep small children calm are in production. In future, adults may have robotic pets which can imitate the action of animals. Video games may no longer be popular as the characters will be made real and they can compete in real competition with children controlling their actions. More robots will able to dance, move around and make animated facial gestures will become available. With these robots caretaking for small children will be much easier as parents can concentrate on other chores as the robotic toys and pets keep the children busy. However, it might be untenable to leave children in the exclusive care of robots. The unpredictable nature of children behavior presents a great risk if robots are left to take care of children. As seen earlier robots can become carers and companions for elderly individuals. Mitsubishi industries have already designed a robot model to assist immobile and elderly people (Botsis 2008, p. 333). Furthermore, companion robots can come in the form of home-telepresence (Michaud et al 2010, p.752). These kinds of robots bring about the perception that the person one is communication with is physically present. Telepresence can also be used by people in one location to explore a distant location without being physically there (Michaud 2010, p. 760). Tele-presence is an innovative idea that can be used by health-care workers in a remote location to monitor the health of their patients. 2.1.2 Driverless Cars Driverless cars are one of the robotics technologies that can have the greatest benefits to human society. Google is already developing a self-driving car that can be on our roads as early as 2018. According to Luettel, Himmelsbach and Wuensche (2012, p. 1835) these cars will radically change the way human commute. Burns (2013, p. 181) argues that driverless cars will lead to a reduction on errors on the road and thus a sharp reduction in the number of road accidents. However, Broz, Nourbakhsh and Simmons (2013, p. 194) note that driving cannot be turned over to automatic machines as he wonders how they will be able to manoeuvre crowded streets. They note that the awareness of the environment needed for driving safely cannot be achieved by a robot. Driverless cars could greatly enhance the quality of life for the elderly and the disabled. The elderly can be driven by the self-driven cars to various locations including the hospitals for emergencies. On the other hand, self-driving cars can assist disabled people including amputees to drive to and from work and to attend to other activities that need movement from one place to another. However, many obstacles remain before self-driving cars take to the road. Broz, Nourbakhsh and Simmons (2013, p.194) argue that these obstacles may be too great for self-driving cars to ever become practical reality. If driverless cars do become a reality they will be very beneficial for people who are unable to drive themselves around. 2.1. 3 Robots as Domestic assistants Domestic robots can improve the quality of our lives at home in the future. In most developing countries the cost of employing people to clean the house, mow lawns and clean pools is very expensive (Ray, Mondada and Siegwart 2008, p. 3816). In contrast, servant robots that can clean the house, wash clothes, cook, iron and fold clothes will only need to be acquired once. Domestic robots are already in existence but if future they will become more advanced and cheaper meaning most household will afford them In some homes robotic floor washer and vacuum cleaners that are triggered automatically are already in existence (Saffiotti and Broxvall, 2005, p. 277). They can either dry sweep or wet-mop floors depending on the technology they are based on. Some robots can filter litter and separate clumps that can be used as food for pets. Other robots are designed to assist human with back-breaking outdoor tasks and chores. Lawn mowers robots are already in use in some places. The beauty of robotic lawn mowers can overcome limitations of a human pushed lawn mower, they are able to mow complicated lawns and cover more lawn acreage that ordinary lawn mowers (Prassler and Kosuge 2008. p. 1260). On the other hand, robotic pool cleaners have enhanced the sanitation of swimming pools wherever they are used. Robotic pool cleaners have the ability to scrub pool floors and walls in a just three hours (Prassler and Kosuge 2008, p. 1260). Some models can remove very minute debris from the pool achieving levels of pool cleanliness that are otherwise impossible for human workers. Robots can also be used for home security especially for monitoring and alerting residents of security breaches by attackers. 2.1.4 Robots for Hazardous and healthy risky work Robots can be used to work in places where it is to hazardous for human to work. Skyscraper windows are almost impossible for human to clean (Zhang, Zhang and Zong 2004, p. 102). With the assistance of window-washing robots the tasks of washing windows in the world’s future buildings will be greatly eased. Other risky human work include outdoor work in extreme weather conditions for example working in the north pole or in extreme winters. Robots can be sent outside to clear roads and to alert humans if it is safe to come outside. In cities with drainage problem gutter clearing robots with assist human worker in unclogging sewage pipes, blasting gutters and clearing sludge in drainage pipes (Zhang and Yan 2007, p. 1620). 3.0 Impacts of Robots on both organizations and Individuals 3.1 Will robots take lead to job scarcity or job increases? Robots are expected to have a profound impact on employment and employable skills. All the benefits of robots discussed above all point to multiple instances where robots take over jobs that were formerly done by humans. While some people point that every revolution in technology has led to the creation of jobs in the long-run, the job-creating potential of robotics technology remain doubtful (Samson 2005, p. 42). According to Solomon (2013, p. 4) robots are likely to destroy jobs opportunities for individuals while increasing productivity for organizations and industries. However, Samson (2005, p. 43) argues that the productivity arising from the robotic technology will lead to job creation. He notes that the surplus created by increased productivity will lead to creation of new jobs. However, the amount of time that elapses before a new technology becomes a job creator is a concern to individuals, organizations and governments. In the views of Samson (2005, p. 44), technology only becomes a creator if only progress in education can be matched with progress in technology. Despite these robotics will see a major improvement with tasks being performed faster and more easily in the workplace thus reducing the work week, robots will also substitute workers in dangerous, dirty, demeaning, and repetitive work. Therefore robots will help to improve occupational safety a great deal. 3.2 Robots offer New Jobs It should be noted that robotic technology will also lead to rise of new employment opportunities. Robotics will directly employ millions of workers in the robot development and maintainace jobs. Samson (2005, p. 46) asserts that economies should retrain their workers in skill them in maintenance and supervision of robots. According to Singer (2009, p 48) the over one million robots already deployed in use have created over four million jobs. He points to the example of robotic automation in Brazil that led to the creation of thousands of jobs in the South American country. However, one thing is for sure low-skilled employs will lose their jobs when robots become widely deployed. In the views of Henderson (2006, p. 8) the ability of robots to be precise and preformat their work makes them superior to humans involved in such repetitive tasks. In capitalist society, it is obvious manufacturers will seek the cheapest sources of labour. If this cheap source of labour be robots then manual workers will eventually lose out to robots. 4.0 Effect of Robots on Organizations Lin, Abney and Bekey (2011, p. 942) assert that organizations and businesses are the greatest beneficiaries of futures advances in robotic technology. 4.1 Robots boast Competitiveness The widespread application of robots in an organization can be the source of an edge in the market. The quality of production cars have gone up since General Motors adopted robotic technology for their manufacturing operations (Brumson 2006, p 12). In contrast, automobile prices have declined with the introduction of robots in the industry. When other industries adopt robotics similar increases in quality and a decrease in prices can be expected. 4.2 Increased Productivity With the advances in robotic technology future organizations are expected to be achieving higher levels of productivity (Brumson 2006, p. 12). Robots are consistent in producing high quality and accurate work unlike their human equivalent. Secondly, robots are less error-prone than human workers and act precisely as instructed. Thirdly, robots can produce great volumes of work in a very short time without tiring, needing breaks or days off. Finally, robots are excellent at repeatable tasks and produce the same results given that input is consistent. 4.3 Safety In many organizations, occupational safety and health is a major issues. However, with advancement in robotic technology such worries should be put to rest (Hori 2012, p. 612). As seen in mining sector robots can work in risky and dangerous places where the risk is too high for human workers (Konyukh 2002, p 74). With more advanced robots work in hazardous condition such as toxic chemical, poor ventilation, poor lighting and tight spaces will be easier and possible to undertake for most organizations.  The capability of robots to lift or enable humans to lift heavy loads without strain or injury will enhance safety in organizations greatly. Robotic assistance is a growing field in the area of Artificial intelligence (Fukuda et al 2003, 212). In this robotic technology humans are able to control robotic extension as if they are a part of their limbs. Through this technology humans can lift very heavy loads easily. Furthermore, robots will take most of the risky jobs leading to a great decline in workplace accidents and fatalities. However, robots lack of awareness of their surrounding is a major limit on their safety credentials. Robots work automatically and are likely to injure workers who come close to where they are working (Dhillon, Fashandi and Liu 2002, p. 178). For example, robots used for digging tunnels may cut into existing infrastructure or cause blasts as they are not aware of what they are doing. 4.4 Savings Millions of dollars can be saved by the widespread application of robotic technology in many organizations. Although the initial outlay of deploying robots is expensive, the subsequent cost saving is well worth it (Brumson 2006). The resulting automation and replacement of manual labour lead to major cost saving in the organization. Secondly, using robotic technology time is saved as more products can be produced with a short time. The accuracy of robots also ensures that the least amount of time is wasted. Finally, through increased safety worker compensation claims are reduced and organizations are less exposed to prosecution for the same. Organizations can gain many more benefits from robots including using them for security but cost, productivity and savings are the main ones. Similar benefits can be gained by governments in they apply robots in organizations serving the public. 5.0 Benefits to Government 5.1 Control over Road traffic Some optimists have noted that robotic cars could avert traffic crisis happening on roads all over the world. Burns (2013, p. 181) argues that robots have the potential to save millions of hours, reduce costs associated with road accidents and reduce destruction of transport infrastructure. 5.2 Defence and Security Governments in future will have the opportunity of using robots as policemen and soldiers for security and defence purposes. Military robots may be used in future wars instead of enlisting men to fight (Wagner 2011, p. 122). Military robots like their industrial counterparts have many advantages over human soldiers. Most importantly, robot can undertake high risk missions without any risk of harm to human lives. Secondly, robots are stronger and sturdier than human beings and can be easily replaced once they are shot at by enemies and destroyed. However, two limitations arise with the use of robots as substitute for human soldiers. First, the deployment of soldiers may see nations become more aggressive as they will think they can go to war without loss of human life (Wagner 2011, p. 122). One is left to imagine the amount of destruction a robot army would cause if it attacked armed or unarmed human opponents (Marchant 2011, p. 273). Unfortunately, use of robotic armies may lead to an arms race as powerful nations compete to have the most destructive robot weapons (Sauer and Schörnig 2012, p. 364).Already several nations are using robotic drones to conduct covert warfare against their enemies. Another worrying issues with military robots it the risk they could become self-sustaining and turn against their human controllers (Lin, Abney and Bekey 2011, p. 945). Worryingly, some scientist report that some robots had developed intelligence and were able to seek power sources on their own and other could select targets on their own (Sugawara et al 1999, p. 252). 6.0 Recommendations to individuals 6.1 Acquire advanced Skills Individuals should move to acquire skills that cannot be easily replaced by robots to make sure they do not lose their jobs to robots. People from all types of occupations can be retrained to benefit from the advancement in robotic technology (Samson 2005, p. 43). For example, Health care workers can be retrained to provide remote supervision and care through tele-presence as noted earlier. 6.2 Become aware robotic technologies Many people remain ignorant of the advances made in robotic technology. All individuals should make a point of keeping abreast with advancement in robotic technology. Disabled and elderly individuals who are big beneficiaries of robotic technology should be acutely aware of technological innovations that may immediately improve their life conditions. Other individuals should also be aware of the threats to their jobs by robots and thus take actions before they lose their jobs to them. 7.0 Recommendations to Organization 7.1 Try to preserve employment opportunities Organizations should keep in mind that the same people they replace with robots are the very same consumers of their products and services (Lamo, Pérez and Schuknecht 2013, p. 1552). If majority of workers are replaced with robots then they will be no consumers to buy the services and products coming out of enhanced operations by robots. 8.0 Recommendations to Government According to Singer (2009, p. 48) governments can go a long way in ensuring that advances in robotic technology do not result in chaos. Secondly, governments should ensure that development in robotic technology is for the net benefit of humanity. 8.4 Maintain a good balance of Employment Equilibrium Governments must pressure capitalist employers to desist from replacing huge chunks of their workforce with robots (Mandfield 1989, p. 183). It must be kept into considerations that employment offers the greatest support to the economy and goes a long way in closing the inequality gap (Lamo, Pérez and Schuknecht 2013, 1553). Controlling the extent of robot labour each organization can use would be a good way to ensure jobs are retained. 8.5 Redesign educational curriculums It is the imperative of governments to prepare their populace for the robotic revolution. Governments must urgently revise their educational curriculum to ensure that they do not produce graduates with obsolete skills in a robot dominated world (Samson 2005, p. 41). Curriculum should also aim to create graduates with highly specialized skills which are beyond the reach of robots. Governments should make sure a good portion of their population are involved in robot development technology and have skills in robot maintainace. 9.0 Personal reflection In the near future robots are going to become part of everyday life. Already, robots are available as toys, companions, pets, vacuum cleaners among other household appliances that can operate automatically. Smarter industrial robots are in the making with the main pioneers being the car making industry. However, the rapid development of robot technology is worrying to the human race from a perspective of the number of jobs that may be lost. Most analyst of the issue agree that workers who do menial and repetitive jobs will most likely lose their jobs. However, some optimists argue that in the long-run robotic technology will lead to creation of more jobs. They compare the robotic revolution with other disruptive technologies in human history including the industrial revolution which later led to the rise of a wealthy middle class. Caution must be taken in comparing robotic technology with other revolutions as it is unique; robots seek to mimic and better human skills. This has the effect of replacing rather that complementing human labour. It must however be noted that robots have many life improving qualities. Robots will save people from hard, straining, demeaning and dangerous work. Robots will be used to care for children, the elderly, disabled and the sick who can be observed by healthcare workers and other carers remotely. Domestic robots will assist us with domestic chores assisting as to concentrate on more productive work. For governments they can use robots in the same way as organizations to get some of the advantages enabled by robotics technology. As noted earlier, self-driven cars may be a solution to the road traffic problems that affect many cities across the globe. However, critics discredit the notion that robots can become competent drivers on chaotic roads. Surely human attention to environment dynamics to manoeuvre through roads is needed. Governments could also use robots for defense and security, however this remain a controversial application of robotics. The superiority of robot soldiers throws up the ethical question of the carnage they would bring upon human enemies if they faced them in open battle (Marchant et al 2011, p. 273). The rationality of sending soldiers that are not thinking independently is also questioned in some forums. What if their onboard controllers become overrun or hacked by enemies? What if they develop artificial intelligence and pick targets independently? Many questions on robotic technology remain without answers. But we know for sure that robotics are part of our future and their will claim many jobs. However, individual, organizational and government strategies can prepare us for the robotic age and make sure it is a technology that improves our wellbeing. 10.0 Conclusion An age is coming when robot technology will be as cheap and as common as Smartphone technology. Human life will improve significantly as people will no longer have to do back breaking work. However, robots threaten human work as they are a cheaper and more effective alternative to human labour. Initially many human jobs will be lost to robots but eventually the robot technology will start creating new jobs. Furthermore, some human jobs are beyond the reach of robots. Therefore, individuals and governments must tailor their skills to remain relevant beyond the coming robotic age. 11.0 References Botsis, T., Demiris, G., Pedersen, S., & Hartvigsen, G 2008, Home telecare technologies for the elderly. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 333-337. Broekens, J., Heerink, M., & Rosendal, H 2009, Assistive social robots in elderly care: a review, Gerontechnology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 94-103. Broz, F, Nourbakhsh, I, & Simmons, R 2013, Planning for Human–Robot Interaction in Socially Situated Tasks, International Journal of Social Robotics, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 193-214. Brumson, B 2006, Robotics industry poised for continued growth in 2006. Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 33, no 3, p. 12 Burns, L. D 2013, Sustainable mobility: a vision of our transport future. Nature, vol.497, no. 7448, pp. 181-182. Challacombe, BJ, Khan, MS, Murphy, D, & Dasgupta, P 2006, The history of robotics in urology, World journal of urology, vol. 24, no.2, pp. 120-127. Dautenhahn, K 2007, Socially intelligent robots: dimensions of human–robot interaction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 362, no. 1480, pp. 679-704. Dhillon, BS, Fashandi, ARM, & Liu, KL 2002, Robot systems reliability and safety: A review, Journal of quality in maintenance engineering, vol 8, no. 3, pp. 170-212. Fukuda, O, Tsuji, T, Kaneko, M, & Otsuka, A 2003, A human-assisting manipulator teleoperated by EMG signals and arm motions, Robotics and Automation, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 210-222. Heerink M, Kröse B, Evers V & Wielinga B 2008, The Influence of Social Presence on Acceptance of a Companion Robot by Older People, Journal of Physical Agents, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1-8. Henderson, H 2006, Modern Robotics: Building Versatile Machines, Chelsea House, New York. Hori, M 2012, The Trend and Issues of Occupational Safety and Health in Japan. Procedia Engineering, vol. 43, pp. 610-614. Konyukh, V 2002, Robotics for mining, Mineral Resources Engineering, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 73-88. Lamo, A., Pérez, J. J., & Schuknecht, L 2013, The cyclicality of consumption, wages and employment of the public sector in the euro area, Applied Economics, vol. 45, no.12, pp. 1551-1569. Lin, P., Abney, K., & Bekey, G 2011, Robot ethics: Mapping the issues for a mechanized world, Artificial Intelligence, vol. 175, no. 5, pp. 942-949. Luettel, T., Himmelsbach, M., & Wuensche, H. J 2012, Autonomous Ground Vehicles—Concepts and a Path to the Future, Proceedings of the IEEE, 100(Special Centennial Issue), pp. 1831-1839. Mandfield, E 1989, The diffusion of industrial robots in Japan and the United States, Research Policy, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 183-192. Marchant, GE, Allenby, B, Arkin, R, Barrett, ET, Borenstein, J, Gaudet, LM & Silberman, J. 2011, International governance of autonomous military robots, The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, vol. 12, no. 7, pp 272-315. Michael ME 2007, Evolution of robotic arms, Journal Robotic Surgery, vol.1, pp. 103-111. Michaud, F, Boissy, P, Labonté, D, Brière, S., Perreault, K, Corriveau, H & Létourneau, D 2010, Exploratory design and evaluation of a homecare teleassistive mobile robotic system, Mechatronics, vol. 20, no. 7, pp. 751-766. Okada, K, Kojima, M, Sagawa, Y, Ichino, T, Sato, K, & Inaba,M 2006,Vision based behavior verification system of humanoid robot for daily environment tasks, In Humanoid Robots, 2006 6th IEEE-RAS International Conference on IEEE December, pp. 7-12. Prassler, E, & Kosuge, K 2008, Domestic robotics, Springer Handbook of Robotics, vol. 1, pp. 1253-1281. Ray, C, Mondada, F, & Siegwart, R 2008, What do people expect from robots?. In Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2008. IROS 2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on IEEE September, pp. 3816-3821. Saffiotti, A, & Broxvall, M 2005, PEIS ecologies: Ambient intelligence meets autonomous robotics, In Proceedings of the 2005 joint conference on Smart objects and ambient intelligence: innovative context-aware services: usages and technologies, ACM, October, pp. 277-281. Samson, RW 2005, Hyperjobs: The New Higher-Level Work and How to Grow Into It-As traditional jobs disappear, people will need to develop their non-automatable skills to remain marketable and productive. Futurist, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 41-46. Sauer, F, & Schörnig, N 2012, Killer drones: The ‘silver bullet’of democratic warfare?. Security Dialogue, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 363-380. Singer PW 2009, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, Penguin Press, New York, NY. Solomon, LD 2013, The Microelectronics Revolution, Job Displacement, and the Future of Work: A Policy Commentary, Chicago-Kent Law Review, vol. 63, no. 1,pp. 4. Sugawara, K, Sano, M, Yoshihara, I, Abe, K, & Watanabe, T 1999, Foraging behaviour of multi-robot system and emergence of swarm intelligence. In Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 1999. IEEE SMC'99 Conference Proceedings. 1999 IEEE International Conference on, IEEE, Vol. 3, pp. 257-262. Wagner, M 2011, Taking humans out of the loop: Implications for international humanitarian law. JL Inf. & Sci., vol 21, pp. 155. Zhang, H, Zhang, J, & Zong, G 2004, Requirements of glass cleaning and development of climbing robot systems, In Intelligent Mechatronics and Automation, 2004, Proceedings. 2004 International Conference on IEEE August, pp. 101-106. Zhang, Y, & Yan, G 2007, In-pipe inspection robot with active pipe-diameter adaptability and automatic tractive force adjusting, Mechanism and Machine Theory, vol.42, no. 12, pp. 1618-1631. Read More