Scientific American: Technology and Business: Enter Robots, Slowly : September 1999 ENTER ROBOTS, SLOWLY
Faster computing means some technological
hurdles are falling
The autonomous robots of science fiction have thus far failed to whir into everyday life: they are too clumsy and expensive for the home, hobbyists aside, and can be tolerated only for the most repetitive tasks in industry. But major development projects are making progress in some of the most difficult areas, thanks to cheaper computing and radio links. "We will begin to see robots more often," says roboticist Takeo Kanade of Carnegie Mellon University.