Welcome! Asimov's future worlds today?

I am fascinated by robots and believe that we are at a point in time when robots will go from being the stuff of 'Science Fiction' to becoming as commonplace as iPhones, or laptops, being suddenly there in the same way as these now indispensable items are.

The purpose of the group is to act as a catalyst to make this happen sooner, by using available robots, but also by instigating new robots either by design, construction, influence or any other means. If you want to see where I'm coming from, go to the following website: -

http://www.mrsite.co.uk/usersitesv2/riskassessmentLondon....

To join you should firstly want robots to be more of a reality than they already are. You should be fascinated by the concept of them being everyday items in your home, your high street and anywhere else where they would have a valid reason to exist and operate.

Robotics has already come along way, but it still seems to be a novelty act in the minds of many ordinary people, being something your more likely to see on a film or TV screen, rather than one passing you by on an escalator.

They are taken more seriously by one particular group at the moment, this being The Military, with thousands of units now deployed in Afghanistan and other trouble spots. Most of these have a human controller for obvious reasons, but some are capable of independent action. I, and I hope the group's members, would like to see them used elsewhere and in particular in areas too dangerous for humans to go or work in, e.g. in fire fighting situations, extreme law enforcement scenarios, in workplaces where the toxicity or dangers mean that severe injury or even death to humans is highly probable and in areas where very mundane work that ordinary people find too mind numbing to do, can be done with no discomfort by robots.

Robots I believe can be liberators and hopefully enable us to change things for the better and maybe help us effectively overcome some social pressures within our society, but this is just a first thought. These and more ideas I hope will come from group members, in other words you.

Enthusiasts are as ever welcome, but individuals with expertise in the manufacture and application of robotics would be greatly appreciated, as they are the ones that with help and support, might be able to make the breakthrough needed.

We’ll chat on the web at first and then as soon as we have enough members we can start meet-ups at pubs (decent ones. with good drinks, food and where we can hear each other speak) and of course we can start to attend any presentations, films and expos where robotics are a main theme. There's no charge at present and I don't want there to be. I'll bear the cost of the group's set up and running, it's going to be all web-based anyway and if you want to buy me a drink or a coffee at the meets, then that'll be fine by me. When things get more sophisticated then we'll share the load.

I'm starting this group because it doesn't exist and I want it to happen. I'm sure there are people out there like me, who have been waiting for this forum to exist, so now that it does, where would you like the concept of a robotic future to go from here?