Having grown up watching Rosie the maid on the Jetson's and R2-D2 and C-3PO in Star War movies, most of us feel comfortable with the idea of robotic helpers. That's a good thing because there is no doubt that most of us will have a robot in our future.

Right now our factories are filled with robotic equipment. If you have been to the hospital lately, you might have seen robotic carts delivering medications and equipment. Surgeons are using robots to perform some surgical procedures. With so many robots around, it is not surprising that robots are moving into the home.

iRobot, an early entrant into the home market, already has Roomba, the vacuum cleaning robot, Scooba, the floor cleaning robot, Dirt Dog, the shop sweeping robot, Looj, the Gutter Cleaning Robot, and Verro, the pool cleaning robot. Friendly Robotics has Robomow, a lawn cutting robot.

The pricing for the Roomba, vacuum cleaning robot, starts at $249. You can buy a Looj to clean your gutters for as little as $99. I've seen both of these products, and they perform their tasks quite well. Early adapters are sitting back and watching the vacuuming, lawn cutting, and gutter cleaning being done for them.

And there is more to come. Our government is investing in robotics for everything from sniffing out bombs to directing air traffic. Even though these are not household robots, the technology will filter down. There is no doubt that we will find the technology from some of these government projects in the robotic aids that help us personally in the future.

Also, as our population ages, many manufactures are investing in robotics to help our seniors keep their independence. Health insurers, who have a vested interest in keeping our seniors as healthy as possible, are also looking at high tech devices including robotics to monitor the health of our aging population. The MIT AgeLab is working on projects of all sorts that will empower older people. Many of these include robots, like the Pill Pets, which are robotic pets that give reminders about medications and doctor's appointments.

We can expect many robotic breakthroughs to come from the Japanese who are looking to robotics to solve their population problem. Japan has the largest population over the age of 65, and the lowest birthrate. The Japanese are known for severely limiting the number of immigrants allowed into the country. All these factors add up to a lack of humans to perform necessary tasks. This creates a perfect scenario for the proliferation of robots. The Japanese government is subsidizing all types of robotic projects. Sanyo has already introduced a human washing machine to give a sudsy massage to elderly patients. Toyota, the world's largest car company, recently announced that service robots would soon become one of its core businesses. Toyota has already showed off a two-wheel "mobility robot" that can carry a person or act as a porter, following its owner with groceries or any other cargo.

None of these robots look like Rosie or C-3PO. For the most part, the initial robots that enter our home will probably have many different shapes, sizes, and configurations. Yet, there is always the longing for a human-like robot. To that end, Honda has developed Asimo, a human-looking robot that can perform tasks such as pushing a cart and carrying a tray. It can also walk with humans and determine their position so it can interact with them. Asimo is multi-talented, he recently directed a symphony orchestra. While true humanoid robots have a long way to go, we will see great strides in the near future.

I understand that some people who have purchased the Roomba, have given it a name. I guess our human nature propels us to name the things we interact with. So perhaps your first step in getting ready for the robotic revolution is to decide on a name for your first piece of robotic equipment. Will it be Rosie, R2-D2, Robo, or Skip?