That's absolutely the case in robotics, where it's easy to dismiss early attempts as toys but hard to imagine how robots will fundamentally change our lives over the next few decades.
Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute has been an incubator for much of the current work on robots.
In 1996, Palm Computing, then a recently acquired division of U.S. Robotics, unleashed the remarkable PalmPilot upon the world.
She is studying accelerated math, honors English, honors chemistry, honors economics and she's in robotics, where she is vice president of the team.
For people less familiar with online shopping, the package includes a multimedia tutorial from U.S. Robotics with information on how to buy online and on various security issues.
AeroVironment's remote-control attack plane may be small, but it represents a big shift taking place in the U.S. military: Today's defense robotics are more focused on killing and less dependent on humans than ever before.
That's why making robotics accessible and affordable is so important, and why I believe we're finally poised to build the robots that we fell in love with in sci-fi movies decades ago.
It all sounds reminiscent of science fiction author Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" that outlined the rules that robots should live by in order to live peacefully with humans.
Last month DARPA, the U.S. Defense Department's research agency, invited proposals from robotics experts to build a "chemical robot" made from soft, flexible materials and capable of squeezing through gaps smaller than its regular dimensions.
There are comparisons to be drawn between Dr Arkin's work and the famous Three Laws of Robotics drawn up in the 1950s by Isaac Asimov, a science-fiction writer, to govern robot behaviour.
Here's another extremely cool offshoot of the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute.
ENGADGET: Platypus airboats have a Nexus S for a brain, we go eyes-on (video)
What's more, the tech has use outside of robotics and can even be levereged for more secure e-signature verification based on speed and pressure of a user's handwriting.
Rovio and iRobot's ConnectR start to hint at the third stage of robotics: small, mobile robots with all the capabilities of a PC.
"I see today's robot toys as predecessors to the future of the robotics industry just as my Apple II and Atari now seem like toys compared to computers today, " Trower says.
According to Evolution Robotics' chief executive, Paolo Pirjanian, who oversaw the development of Mint's software algorithms, tasks that come easiest to humans tend to be the most difficult for robots.
Wang's kits provide all the components you need to jump-start your home robotics career.
Liquid Robotics, the US company behind the project, collected data about the Pacific Ocean's temperature, salinity and ecosystem from the drone.
S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition.
Even with advances in robotics, Mr. Riddell believes the idiosyncratic corners, buttresses and recesses of New York's 20th-century skyline will keep humans involved in the trade.
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner but also to a broad array of new generation business jets, helicopters and robotics serving commercial purpose look winners.
Mr Brooks's lips are sealed about what these machines will be like, although his views about the future of robotics provides a clue.
The second part of his big-tent party's proposed "new deal" includes pumping money into renewable energy research and other green technologies, as well as money for robotics and medical research, in an attempt to give Japan the lead in emerging industries also identified by America's neo-New Dealers as promising industries.
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