THE NEED FOR ROBOTS

Industrial robots are now a reality. They are having an impact in the field of automation such that they have come to symbolize high-level industrialization of a society. An argument has continued that introducing robot technology causes unemployment. However, as the economy improves with the introduction of the high-level robot technology, several em-ployment opportunities will be opened up. Fortunately, robot technology may provide the only opportunity of developing countries to speed-up offsetting their lack of competitiveness, to narrow down the existing tech-nological gap between them and the industrialized countries, and to bring a bright future for their economies. Therefore, robot technology should receive much more attension. Robots are defined and a historical background is presented. Existing industrial robots are reviewed and some future prespectives are presented. The sociological and economical impacts of robot technology in the society of man is then studied. A few of the general categories where robots are and can be used are listed. Applications in the fields of industrial automation and energy, specially oil drilling and coal mining, are stutied in some detail. Finally, the urgent needs of developing countries for the adaptation of the robot technology in order to get to the race and to keep their competitiveness is stated. It is hoped that this state-of-the-art study of robot technology presented here will enhance the introduction and adaptation of this technology.