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"  First of all, I&amp;#039;m not a futurist. I don&amp;#039;t even know what a futurist really does, exactly. I think they skim research papers, make dramatic proclamations and then watch journalists scatter like ants from a kicked anthill. And they wear magical robes. No, I&amp;#039;m just a regular guy with a dangerous amount of robotics knowledge and a few pet theories about how &amp;#039;bots will impact our day-to-day lives. Hold on tight: This week&amp;#039;s column is for those of us who live on the mean streets of the big city, and breaks down how robots will make that city a little less mean. Gum, cigarette butts and\u2014to quote a small child who just walked by\u2014&amp;quot;Look at the doggy poo!&amp;quot; And you should look at it. On most city streets, if you crane your head back to take in the view, you&amp;#039;ll soon step in something that you wished you&amp;#039;d seen beforehand. Sure, every now and then some poor sap in a neon unitard comes along to pick up some trash, usually as mandated by the state. For the most part, however, cleaning gum, litter, and even worse things off the streets is a job left to... nobody. Welcome to the future. Our streets will soon be constantly scoured by trash-addicted vacuum-bots. It&amp;#039;s been demonstrated already in Japan (see, I&amp;#039;m not much of a futurist). Developed by Figla Co., &amp;quot;the Eye&amp;quot; is a substantial washing machine-sized mobile robot with a variety of sensors up top and a powerful vacuum underneath. Like many of the DARPA Grand Challenge unmannned ground vehicles, this cleaning &amp;#039;bot uses laser range finders and ultrasonic distance sensors to track walls and avoid people during its mission to clean up the streets. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, the Eye specializes in cleaning large public facilities (like train stations), and will be commercialized this year in Japan. Back here in the U.S., we could all just let our Roombas out on the streets for a more immediate solution. But wait\u2014in the future, cities won&amp;#039;t have streets. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to drive in cities on the East Coast of the United States? Or, even worse, in Europe? That&amp;#039;s because older cities have roads originally developed for horse-drawn carriages. With the development of the internal combustion engine, cities gradually evolved to accommodate larger, faster automobiles. Similarly, the landscape of U.S. cities was modified when the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (enacted 1992) guaranteed that people with disabilities were not discriminated against and were provided wheelchair-friendly ramps in public places. In the 1990s, sidewalks around the nation were flattened at intersections in the spirit of accessibility. That&amp;#039;s great, but what about good old-fashioned legs? It turns out the newest technology is going retro, eschewing wheels to return to natures intended method for locomotion: walking. And guess who&amp;#039;s building the future generation of legged car-killers? None other than the forward-thinking Toyota Motor Corporation. The company is working on the second-gen version of the &amp;quot;i-Foot,&amp;quot; an 8-ft.-tall mechanized walker that cradles its pilot in an egg-shaped cockpit (see top two photos at right). Unlike a car, the ostrich-like i-Foot is guided with a joystick (it places its steps autonomously, like a horse). Like a car, however, the next gen i-Foot will likely include airbags for safety. Check out video of the i-Foot here; story continues below: Meanwhile, wheelchairs are also getting an upgrade to legs. At Waseda University, the Waseda-Leg looks like a wheelchair with two stubby red legs (see photo at right, bottom). Hydraulically powered, the walking chair can step over curbs, climb stairs and even telescope its legs to give the pilot more height. What&amp;#039;s more, a half dozen other walking chairs exist at universities around the globe. For the first time in a century, legs are set to replace wheels as a mode of transportation. Check out video of Waseda&amp;#039;s WL-16 here; story continues below: So without descending into rampant speculation, I&amp;#039;ll just ask the question: What will happen to conventional city streets and wheelchair-friendly ramps when our automobiles are as agile and self-directing as horses and our wheelchairs can balance, trot and climb better than top human athletes? The future, that&amp;#039;s what. \u2014Daniel H. Wilson, Resident Roboticist Daniel H. Wilson is the author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising and the forthcoming Where&amp;#039;s My Jetpack? You can ask him a question by e-mailing him at PMAsktheRoboticist@gmail.com.  Previous Resident Roboticist columns: Robots Are Tougher Than You (Part 4): Inner Space,Robots Are Tougher Than You (Part 3): Outer Space,Robots Are Tougher Than You (Part 2): Nuclear Radiation, Robots Are Tougher Than You (Part 1): The Deep Sea, Top 5 Robots that Own You, Top 5 Robots You Can Own, Pushing Human Boundaries, Living in a Robot Ecosyste  Toyota&amp;#039;s i-Foot Toyota&amp;#039;s i-Foot Waseda University&amp;#039;s Waseda-Leg "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a4594/4213753/>