In movies, robots are usually either terrifying or cute. Their real-life counterparts might have less personality, but engineers and scientists are coming up with creative ways to use these helpful machines to keep us safe and to make the world a cleaner and better place.
Check out how these five futuristic robots are lending a helping hand to some important causes
Firefighting Robots
Firefighting is a dangerous job, and coupled with the increase in yearly occurrences of wildfires, firefighting robots are a truly life-saving tool. The Thermite and FireOx robots can be controlled remotely to go where humans can't, spraying water on fires and providing information to first responders via video feed.
Trash-cleaning Robot
The Waste Shark can autonomously drive itself around, sucking up trash in rivers and waterways like an aquatic Roomba. Its design was modeled after whale sharks, which swim around with their mouths open to collect food. The device can "eat" up to one ton of plastic and trash per day.
Tree-planting Robot
This tree-planting futuristic robot can carry up to 300 saplings on its back and is able to prepare the ground, plant the trees, and help them grow. This robotic forrester can help to replant forests that have been cut down, which is great news for our planet.
Farming Robots
Indoor farming allows food to be grown without chemicals and without wasting water. Farming robots — like these, named Grover and Phil, who work at the farm-tech startup Iron Ox — can plant and take care of crops to make sustainable farming even more efficient.
Robotic Bees
RoboBees are tiny, ultra-lightweight robots that fly in groups with wings that flap 120 times per second. RoboBees are still in development but are designed for a variety of tasks, like pollinating crops, search-and-rescue missions, and monitoring weather and climate.
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