I got a call from my sister last night. She just moved down to Florida a few months ago and we usually check in a few times a week to catch up with each other. She’s my best friend.

Well, the first thing that she brought up was the robot she saw on one of the morning shows yesterday. “Although,” she said, “maybe it wasn’t a robot. I think it may have been someone dressed up like a robot, because I’ve never seen a robot be able to move like this.” She went on to say that this robot was jumping up and down, running, walking backwards, and pouring a cup of juice.

The first thing that came to my mind when she mentioned it might be someone in a costume was the Youtube videos I’ve seen of the person in the giant silver robot suit that goes around to create a buzz at events. At first glance, you would actually think that it’s real, but knowing robotics and where we currently are with technology, it’s quickly apparent that there’s actually a person in the costume.

I asked her to describe the robot to me. My sister knows how much I’m into robots. Since our company acquired Robotics Trends in 2007, robots have been a big part of my life. I see cool robots every day. I get all the press releases of the research that is being conducted by some of the brightest minds in the world. I cannot think of a more exciting industry, with breakthroughs being made every day.

She went on to describe what the robot looked like and it quickly became apparent which robot she was talking about. It was Honda’s ASIMO. I promptly turned on my computer and checked out the video. It was awesome. Although ASIMO has always been on the forefront of humanoid robotics, the intelligence and agility of this new iteration definitely is amazing.

I would love to see more robots making their debuts on morning shows. Humanoid robots are very cool. But there are so many other kinds of robots that are finding their way into our lives that most people don’t even know about. Academics and intelligent systems companies worldwide are producing mind-blowing cutting-edge technologies that were only dreamed about a decade ago. Sensor-filled artificial skin, micro-robots able to be injected into our bodies to distribute medicine, cars that can drive themselves, surgical bots, therapeutic robots that are helping with autism and dementia as well as helping stroke-injured and the paralyzed, deep-diving marine robots that are monitoring our precious water. The list is endless!

Robots are taking over – in a major way. And they are helping in ways that most of us would never even dream about. I would love it if more people knew!