Star Wars trilogy inspired scientific devts

Roomba, the robot developed by a Russian researcher, is one of the first few practical robots to be widely available.

Roomba rules thousands of homes in the US today and has for peers Hitachi's Emiew, Honda's Asimo, Sony's QRIO and Aibo (the robot dog) and the Japanese Banyru, the companion robot. These would have been dismissed as mere fiction in 1977.

'Star Wars', the science fiction movie, had that and much more in 1977. Most of what was fantasy then have become reality today, though they don't look as fantastic as in the movies. Roomba was just a fantasy in 1977.

George Lucas' 'Star Wars' trilogy was inspiring to many an inventor and made many others think out of the box, said G Jagannath Raju, director, Systemantics India Pvt Ltd. Raju has had over 20 years of educational, teaching and consulting experience in the field of robotics in the US and India.

"A generation of inventors, inspired by the science presented in the 'Star Wars' films have brought us close to a new wave of life-changing technology," said sources from Discovery Channel. Discovery is scheduled to telecast 'Science of Star Wars', which investigates the legacy of 'Star Wars' on June 17, 18 and 19.

Innumerable inventions have been inspired by Star Wars. Consumers can now find a friend in a robot, much like C-3PO and R2-D2 of Star Wars'. Zoe, a robotic explorer, may soon be stepping in for human search-and-rescue workers. MIT engineer James McLurkin's Swarm robots operate in a group much like the battalion droids seen in 'Star Wars' battle scenes.

Spy droids from the film have inspired the creation of unmanned, autonomous robots to help in espionage.

Coptervision is a 5-foot-long unmanned mini-helicopter that uses satellites for surveillance and take high-resolution pictures from any angle. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) floating droid is a direct inspiration from Star Wars.

The personal satellite assistant has been particularly useful for astronauts in orbit. It floats through air and performs chores according to the astronaut's commands. Another space robot, NASA's Robonaut remains permanently on the outside of the space shuttle and is able to perform the most detailed of duties.

George Lucas's fiction seems to be turning into reality, slowly but surely.