No matter how many times I travel, the jetlag gets no better.

It’s a fantastic job that American TV pumps out all manner of long-forgotten films and programmes to help insomniacs like me.

It was about 3am last Tuesday that my New York hotel room sprang to life with the classic 1950s science-fiction film, Forbidden Planet. Something about it set my tired mind into action. Given that we’ve been promised a future filled with robots for many years, just how long will it be until they inhabit Wiltshire?

When Dad was younger, this vision of the future was lumbering robots like Forbidden Planet’s iconic Robbie. By the time the 1980s came round, we had life-like robots, as portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator. The more I searched online, it became clear that more and more robots are at work in our society – but the reality is that they will never look like Arnie in biker leathers, or gold-all-over resplendent like C3-PO from Star Wars. Large robotic arms build our cars and power the most labour-intensive processes in our factories, but the new ones are so dexterous that they could paint your fingernails.

Earlier this month, the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo celebrated its 40th year, and reported its largest-ever number of exhibitors. Alongside the kinds of uses we see in factories there was a huge push into new areas, including the use of robots to care for our aging populations.

Banish any images of a robot acting as a carer, but the highlight was a special backpack-like device that gave humans additional strength.

It was built to give extra power to the back and hips that would take much of the strain out of lifting an elderly or disabled person. The company behind the technology wants to refine the process and make it smaller and lighter – but it offers a tantalising glimpse of how robots will find themselves in our homes.

I might feel a bit sadder for discovering I’m never likely to meet a life-like cyborg, but I’m quite happy that a robot might help me stay in my home further into old age. If only I could get back to sleep.