Robots, Tariffs, and the Future: How Trade Affects Our Robot Friends 🤖🌎
Hey there! Have you ever imagined dancing robots or robot dogs walking around? 🤖🐶 That might sound like something from a sci-fi movie, but at the recent Robotics Summit in Boston, these amazing machines were real and dazzling everyone!
But guess what? Behind all the cool dances and gadgets, scientists and engineers were talking about something a bit tricky: tariffs. 🛑 But what’s a tariff? It’s like a special tax that countries put on things they buy or sell to each other. And these tariffs can make building robots harder and more expensive.
Aaron Saunders, the Chief Technology Officer (that’s a big tech job!) at Boston Dynamics, joked about not wanting to talk about tariffs. But it’s a big deal! Elon Musk, who runs Tesla and loves making big robots named Optimus, said that some parts needed for robots are harder to get because of these tariffs.
You see, robots need special parts, like sensors and tiny computer chips. Sometimes, these parts come from countries all over the world. When countries have trade disagreements, and tariffs go up, it can be tougher to get these parts.
But some people see a silver lining! 🌤️ Pras Velagapudi, the CTO of Agility Robotics, said that while tariffs can be a hassle, they also encourage companies to make things closer to home. That means more factories in the U.S. and maybe more jobs!
At Schaeffler, a company that makes car parts, they’re using a robot named Digit to help out. Al Makke from Schaeffler thinks that if making things in the U.S. becomes more popular, robots will be even more important. Why? Because robots can help when there’s a lot of work to do, especially if there aren’t enough people to do it.
But it’s not easy for everyone. A company from China called Unitree has a cool robot called the G1. Normally, it costs $16,000. But because of tariffs, it costs $40,000 in the U.S.! That’s a big jump! 😲
Tony Yang from Unitree is still hopeful. He believes that robots have a huge potential in factories and even homes.
Other companies like Tennibot, which makes robots to pick up tennis balls (how cool is that? 🎾🤖), say that getting all the parts they need from around the world is getting trickier because of tariffs.
Even finding people to help build these robots is harder. Some people from Canada are hesitant to work in the U.S. because of the trade uncertainties.
In the end, while robots are super exciting and might be a big part of our future, things like tariffs and trade issues can slow things down. But with smart people working hard and finding new solutions, there’s still a bright future ahead for our robot friends! 🚀
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
