A robot is a programmable machine that could replicate certain actions of human beings and may be guided by an external device or function automatically. The word ‘robot’ originated in a Czech play Rossum’s Universal Robots in 1921 which means ‘forced labour’. There are numerous kinds of robots that can help human beings in performing different tasks. Sophia, Albert Hubo, qb Softhand and Mini Cheetah are sophisticated examples of robots till date.

This industry is not much explored in any part of the world with exception for few. Pakistan is though far behind but few examples show that we are trying to catch up. One fine example is a robot built by students of an Islamabad university during a competition of ‘robots who could save lives’ of people.

This robot can distinguish between foes and friends. The students demonstrated its abilities during the competition. They claim that the robotic features they had built could be helpful during ground battles for the robot could identify enemies and attack them.

Talking to BBC Urdu, creator of the robot Samar Islam said the robots could be sent to wars to save friends and attack enemies.

Lauding efforts of the pupils, Judge Umar Farooq said it was essential for skills development of students to give them such tasks.

This robot ostensibly has complete potential, after being further programmed in the future, to save injured soldiers just like we see Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) doing in ‘Hacksaw Ridge’.

On the other hand, students of University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore has created a robot that can be trained through virtual reality technology to perform different tasks. Creators of this robot said building an industrial robot was a hectic chore. They said building a robot did not mean that it would replace human beings rather human will use his mind and robot will execute the work.