Abstract:
Evolution led to effective solutions to nature’s challenges and they were improved over millions of years. Humans have always made efforts to use nature as a model for innovation and problems solving. These efforts became more intensive in recent years where systematic studies of nature are being made towards better understanding and applying more sophisticated capabilities. Making humanlike robots, including the appearance, functions and intelligence, poses the ultimate challenges to biomimetics. For many years, making such robots was considered science fiction, but as a result of significant advances in biologically inspired technologies, such robots are increasingly becoming an engineering reality. There are already humanlike robots that walk, talk, interpret speech, make eye-contact and facial expressions, as well as perform many other humanlike functions. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of humanlike robots, potential applications and issues of concern will be reviewed.
