Although it might sound like the beginning of a sci-fi novel, it’s clear that humans are going to eventually colonise Mars and the Moon, and scientists are already working out how we’ll settle there. Scientists in Japan might come up with a solution, and yes, it involves robots.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency thinks autonomous robots would be the perfect tool to build our Martian mansions and shopping centres, and it’s already working with a construction company called Kajima on the idea.
Kajima is making new software that should make the robots act like a intelligent swarm, so although they’ll be lots of them they’ll all be working to the same instructions – and be aware of each other’s movements. That means they won’t, say, collide into each other or repeat each other’s work like human builders.
Kajima has actually already tested an autonomous, robotic system on Earth: Called the A4CSEL, the construction system lets human builders send instructions to robots with tablets, and it’s already been used to build dams in Fukuoka and Oita.
These robots are being developed for use in other worlds, but I’m starting to wonder why they shouldn’t be used here, on Earth, too. Although each robot may not work as fast as a human, it won’t need breaks, and could also work as part of a much larger, efficient team. Throw in the complete lack of salary, healthcare and other benefits, and I expect we’ll see robot builds on Earth as well as Mars.
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