In 2011, after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan, and when the situation regarding the nuclear plant at Fukushima was still unclear, defense technology firm QinetiQ North America and US robotics firm iRobot both promptly dispatched robots to help with rescue efforts and to venture deep into the damaged nuclear power plant. Robots are also used to support human workers in automotive plants, helping shoulder some of the repetitive, dull work. Robots can even be found in the home, helping with cleaning and security. Little by little, robots are becoming part of everyday life, and even being used to accomplish things that would push the human body to the limit.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, by 2015 global robot production will reach US$50 billion annually, making it the rising star of the tech industry after the rise of computers and the Internet.

Last year, major contract manufacturer Foxconn announced its plans to create a robotics center, and chairman of Hiwin Technologies Eric Y.T. Chuo called for the government to be more proactive in developing Taiwan’s robotics sector. It seems that the fight to be top dog in the robotics industry has heated up again.

Robotics is a capital- and technology-intensive industry. After the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, when capital started becoming less readily available, Taiwanese R&D began focusing more on quick returns, moving toward developing robots to meet the requirements of different industries. However, it is only recently that the early seeds of the service robot industry have begun to sprout, with robots becoming part of everyday life and providing valuable assistive services.

Service robots are already a mature technology, says Chang Nai-wen, deputy manager of the Intelligent Systems Development Group in the Industrial Promotions Department at Tai­chung’s Precision Machinery Research and Development Center. He points to vacuuming robots as an example.

In 2002, American firm iRobot debuted the Roomba and Switzerland’s Electrolux the Trilobite, igniting a fashion for cleaning robots among consumers. Since then, the market has boomed, reaching a massive US$700 million in value and drawing in no small number of Taiwanese firms.

Following in the footsteps of market leaders iRobot and LG, in 2004 Taiwan’s own Ma­tsu­tek revealed their vacuuming robot Papago. Since then, motherboard manufacturer MSI and keyboard and mouse maker Genius have also launched robotic vacuum cleaners, and in 2009 Asus, better known for its notebook computers, opened a cleaning robots department, along with launching a subsidiary company, AGAiT.

Shayang Ye’s robotic gymnast can perform routines on the high bar just like a human athlete.

Despite not yet even having reaching its fourth birthday, AGAiT has already developed three generations of robots. Its ambition doesn’t end there, though: AGAiT is about to launch a third-generation cleaning robot with integrated cloud technology.

While the usual cleaning robot is activated by remote control, this new generation makes use of the Asus Cloud system to enable users to control their robotic vacuums with their smartphone or tablet computer. And now they’re turning their attention to equipping robots for security purposes.

“Cleaning robots spend most of their time idle,” says head of R&D at AGAiT Chen Wei­han, “so since they’re mobile, why not use them as security monitors too, making them combination maids and security guards?” In addition to using ultraviolet light to deodorize spaces, this new generation of robots also uses wide-angle infrared cameras that can send images back to their users, helping those users stay on top of the situation at home.

With Taiwan facing a shrinking workforce in the years to come, security company SKS is actively working on developing security robots that will be able to help make up the shortfall in security-guard hiring.

But AGAiT isn’t the only company showing an interest in making robotic security guards. Taiwan’s leaders in the security industry SKS and Secom have already invested several years into developing security robots.

SKS vice president Lee Shiu-shing explains that with Taiwan’s available workforce shrinking, hiring security guards is becoming increasingly difficult, and so in 2004, SKS began thinking about developing security robots. With robots handling the drudgery of regular patrols and sending video back to a central control office, manpower need only be employed to handle emergencies.

“Cooperation between security robots and human staff can help achieve maximum effectiveness,” says Lee. And should a disaster like a fire or an earthquake occur while a robot is on patrol, the use of a robot over a person may mean that one less human staff member is injured.

Since 2004, SKS has been working with Professor Ren C. Luo, at that time president of National Chung Cheng University, and with the Industrial Research Technology Institute’s Mechanical and Systems Research Laboratories, developing six models of security robot to date. From the Mark 1 model, which stood a full 140 cm tall, each successive model has become smaller and more agile, with the new Mark 6 model standing between 10 cm and 70 cm tall.

“The first two models were positioned as pure patrol leader robots, so they were a bit bigger,” says Cheng Tse-Fang, director of SKS’s Technology Development Center. “Once iRobot launched their robotic vacuum cleaner, though, we began using that kind of robot as a starting point. Our aim has been to integrate cleaning and patrol functions and develop both large and small robots, enabling organizations to build all-robotic security teams.”

Unlike conventional security cameras, robots are not fixed in one place. The original plan was to use the 140-cm-tall Mark 2 as a “conductor,” directing the 30–40-cm-wide, 10-cm-tall Mark 3 and 4 robots, equipped with cameras and recording systems. Working in concert, these robots would create a comprehensive security network, handling patrol and monitoring duties and sending data back to a central security hub. The growth of 3G wireless communications technology has enabled the SKS Mark 6 robot to be provided with more advanced functionality.

With a declining birth rate meaning Taiwan faces an imminent labor shortage, security robots have significant potential in the marketplace. However, at NT$700,000 to NT$1 million apiece, the biggest stumbling block to the commercialization of security robots is their production cost. If this can be overcome and security robots can be made more affordable, there is a good chance that robots will become the biggest thing in the security market.

But relegating robots to cleaning and security duties is underestimating their potential. 1999 saw the birth of the world’s first robotic surgery system, the da Vinci Surgical System, which has successfully facilitated complex surgeries and ushered in a new era in medicine.

However the high cost and technology thresholds on the system have meant its growth in the market thus far has been limited. According to a report from the International Federation of Robotics, in 2011 there were some 16,400 professional-use service robots sold worldwide, of which just 6%, or 1,051 robots, were for medical purposes.

Automated robotic vacuum cleaners have already become popular assistants in homes around the world.

Chang Nai-wen of the Precision Machinery Research and Development Center explains that medical-use robots can help surgeons with complex procedures like heart surgery, but due to time-consuming testing and verification processes by healthcare authorities, their development can take between 10 and 20 years. Few organizations in Taiwan are currently investing in this particular line of development, but even so, already Hiwin Technologies and National Cheng Kung University have each developed a rehabilitative robotic system.

In 2007, National Taiwan University professor of electrical engineering Fu Li-chen began working with breast cancer specialists from NTU Hospital to develop a robot that could help in the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients. “The initial hope was that this robot could be designed to help patients recover after surgery,” says Fu, “but once we went into clinical trials, we realized that patients could handle that just fine on their own with a bit of health and hygiene education, meaning robotics wasn’t really the go-to choice in that situation.”

At the suggestion of NTU School of Medicine professor Dr. Lai Jin-shin, Fu changed focus, instead looking to develop systems that could help stroke victims. Thus was the NTUH-ARM born.

Fu explains that stroke victims who have suffered nerve damage can find it difficult to move under their own volition, necessitating external assistive methods in their rehabilitation. By simply fitting a robotic device designed to resemble a human arm over their own arm, a stroke victim can use the device to assist in the physiotherapeutic rehabilitation of that arm, enabling them to stretch and work out the muscles in their powerless limb.

In response to the issue of an aging population, in early 2010 Fu developed the first interactive mobility-assistive robot, which he named “Johnny Walker.”

The kind of manual walker traditionally used by elderly people suffering mobility issues requires the user to lift and maneuver it with their hands, potentially placing a greater burden on their legs. Johnny Walker, however, can detect and imitate its user’s gait, reducing the effort needed to walk. Its large size, though, makes it less convenient than traditional walkers, meaning people are less willing to use it.

And so Fu changed his focus to patients suffering balance and coordination issues stemming from central nervous system atrophy, modifying his original robot to be more helpful to sufferers of diseases like Parkinson’s and creating ­CAIROW, the Context-Aware Assisted Interactive Robotic Walker.

CAIROW is modeled on traditional walkers, its “legs” connected to a motor, sensors, and a touch-controlled user interface. Rather than having to start the machine moving manually, when patients grab on to the 70-cm-tall, 20-kg ­CAIROW, the device senses the grip strength of their hands and determines whether to move forward or turn, using proximity sensors to analyze its user’s gait and follow along.

When it detects a user taking small, stuttering steps and having trouble moving forward, ­CAIROW can help them along by adding a little extra speed. ­CAIROW is already in testing at the ­Suang-Lien Elderly Center in New Tai­pei City and the Tao­yuan Veterans’ Home, and promises to open up a new avenue for medical rehabilitation work in the future.

Danish toy makers LEGO have developed their own system of brick-based robots, which has been warmly welcomed by children worldwide.

In addition to working as cleaners and caregivers, robots can also be put to use in the cultural and creative industries.

In 2012, the three-decade-old Sha­yang Ye Industrial Company demonstrated a 40-cm-tall robot at the International Robot Show. Clad in traditional Aboriginal clothing, the robot would sway and move its arms and legs to its musical accompaniment, drawing in crowds of amused observers.

Originally a producer of direct-current motors and transmission parts, and currently a major producer of transmission gears, in 2005 Sha­yang Ye entered a partnership with Japanese company DDK, a producer of bipedal robots, developing motor speed limiters as their first step into the world of robotics. In less than a year, using their experience with motors and servos, Sha­yang Ye unveiled their first robot, dubbed “Iron Egg.”

Standing just 35 cm in height, Iron Egg uses some 17 servomotors and a movement program designed by the company’s own engineers to perform complex motions on command. Iron Egg can do anything from simply walking backward or forward to the more intricate motions involved in replicating the now-famous dance from Korean pop star Psy’s “Gang­nam Style” video. The silver-grey, anthropomorphic robot has become Sha­yang Ye’s most iconic product.

Since Iron Egg’s 2006 debut, the company has gone on to produce a variety of other robots—in 2008, they unveiled a set of robotic legs and a fighting robot; in 2009, a robot that has eight legs and mimics spider movement; and in 2010, a Formosan black bear robot. Of these various models, Iron Egg and the fighting robot sell for relatively low prices, between NT$15,000 and NT$30,000. These low-price robots caught the attention of teachers and students at Ming Hsin University of Science and Technology, who have since put them to use in both teaching and competition. Since Iron Egg went into mass production in 2008, some 5000 units have been sold Taiwan-wide.

Although Iron Egg might be one of the few Taiwanese robots to go into mass production, Sha­yang Ye president Tsai Feng-chun, who has served two terms as chairman of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association, admits the reach of the entertainment robot in the market has been limited by high production costs and low consumer awareness.

But Sha­yang Ye isn’t just a manufacturer—it has also become the first robotics producer to open itself to tourists, which it sees as a way to build public acceptance of robots. The 3300-square-meter factory lot is home to a morra-playing robot and even a robot that performs on the high bar. Sha­yang Ye plans to add an interactive section to their lot, giving kids and kids-at-heart the chance to build their own robots and learn about the science of robotics through hands-on experience.

Since its introduction, the da Vinci Surgical System has become an invaluable assistant to surgeons in cardiology and urology.

In 2006, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates penned an article for Scientific American titled “A Robot in Every Home.” In it, he stated that robotics “may well change the world,” and “is developing in much the same way that the computer business did 30 years ago.” He could “envision a future in which robotic devices will become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives.”

Taiwanese robotics may be in its early days, but already these tireless tools are on their way to making science fiction into science fact.

From security to entertainment, and even fighting, a wide variety of robot types are making their way into our everyday lives. Pictured here, the entertainment robot “Iron Egg.”

After recognizing the potential of robotics in 2006, Shayang Ye president Tsai Feng-chun and his company began working to develop a range of different robots and parts, including gearboxes for the US-developed Avatar rescue robot (facing page).

Shayang Ye’s robotic gymnast can perform routines on the high bar just like a human athlete.

Shayang Ye’s robotic gymnast can perform routines on the high bar just like a human athlete.