Some stuff about Robotics

Robotics is the technology of robots. What is a robot? From the Robot Institute
of America, "a robot is a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to
move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable programmed
motions for the performance of a variety of tasks." And, from those who must deal
with the present capabilities of robots, " a robot is a one-armed, blind idiot with
limited memory and which cannot speak, see, or hear."
Whatever the definition, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to realize that the
potential for more sophisticated robots is enormous. In some cases, the potential
is primarily economic, e.g., using robots on automotive assembly lines to reduce
labor costs. In other cases, the potential exists in performing tasks that are
not humanly possible, e.g., carrying out activities in hostile environments--the
ocean floor, areas of high-level nuclear contamination. And then theres the
potential for medical applicationsthe possibility surgery through three small
holes rather than a 40cm long slit; or heart repair on a beating, functioning
heart; or an operation performed by a specialist surgeon 1000 km away. These are
the challenges for robotics engineers.

"Reprogrammable, multifunctional" are the operational words. There are many

automated machines which are designed to carry out single tasks. But that's all
that they can do. Candy-dispensing machines, toasters, CD-changers are examples.
And these automated machines can be very efficient because they can be optimally
designed to perform their single task. The idea of a robot is that it can be
reconfigured to perform different tasks. As a result, they tend to be much less
efficient than automated machines.

Computers and robots are quite similar. They are both programmable and can
be configured to carry out a variety of tasks. The difference between the two,
however, lies in what kinds of tasks can be handled. Computers can carry out only
mathematical operations. True, they can be interfaced with other physical devices,
but then they become controllers (perhaps for robots). Robots, on the other hand,
carry out tasks on tangible things: " materials, parts, tools, specialized devices.
. ." Dealing with tangible things as opposed to abstract things (such as
mathematical operations) makes the robot a far more complicated device.

Actually robots and computers have a common heritage--a programmable loom.

The idea came in 1801 from Joseph Jacquard, a stone mason from Lyon, France. The
Jacquard loom was a device whose weave pattern was determined by a sequence of
perforated cards. A single machine could produce a wide variety of textile weaves
simply by punching holes in cards and properly sequencing them. One card at a
time, the loom would detect the hole configuration, and appropriately raise or
lower the warp threads to generate the textile pattern. So the idea of a
programmable machine is almost 200 years old. The concept of a robot, however, is
much newer. "Robot" was first used in a Czech play which opened in London in 1921.
The word comes from the Czech robota which means serf or one of subservient labor.