Robotics

Robotics
History
Robotics
Technology
Types of
Robots
First use of work Robotics
Three law of Robotics
The First Robot Ultimate
The acclaimed Czech
playwright Karel Capek (1890-
1938) made the first use of the
word robot, from the Czech
word for forced labor or serf.
Capek was reportedly several
times a candidate for the Nobel
prize for his works and very
influential and prolific as a
writer and playwright.
Asimov also proposed his three "Laws of
Robotics", and he later added a 'zeroth law'.

Law Zero: A robot may not injure humanity, or,
through inaction, allow humanity to come to
harm.
Law One: A robot may not injure a human being,
or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm, unless this would violate a higher
order law.
Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by
human beings, except where such orders would
conflict with a higher order law.
Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence
as long as such protection does not conflict with a
higher order law.
The first Unimate was installed at a
General Motors plant to work with heated
die-casting machines. In fact most
Unimates were sold to extract die castings
from die casting machines and to perform
spot welding on auto bodies, both tasks
being particularly hateful jobs for people.
Both applications were commercially
successful, i.e., the robots worked reliably
and saved money by replacing people
Unimation is still in production today, with
robots for sale.
Robotics Technology
Most industrial robots have at least the following five parts:
Most robots of today are nearly deaf
and blind. Sensors can provide some
limited feedback to the robot so it can
do its job.
The sensor sends information, in the
form of electronic signals back to the
controller. Sensors also give the robot
controller information about its
surroundings and lets it know the
exact position of the arm, or the state
of the world around it.
An effector is any device that
affects the environment.
Robots control their effectors,
which are also known as end
effectors. Effectors include
legs, wheels, arms, fingers,
wings and fins. Controllers
cause the effectors to produce
desired effects on the
environment.
Actuators, also known as drives, are
mechanisms for getting robots to
move. Most actuators are powered by
pneumatics (air pressure), hydraulics
(fluid pressure), or motors (electric
current). Most actuation uses
electromagnetic motors and gears but
there have been frequent uses of other
forms of actuation including
NiTinOL"muscle-wires" and
inexpensive Radio Control servos.
The robot connects to a
computer, which keeps the
pieces of the arm working
together. This computer is the
controller. The controller
functions as the "brain" of the
robot. The controller can also
network to other systems, so
that the robot may work
together with other machines,
processes, or robots
The robot arm comes in all shapes
and sizes and is the single most
important part in robotic
architecture. The arm is the part
of the robot that positions the
End Effector and Sensors to do
their pre-programmed business.
Many (but not all) resemble
human arms, and have shoulders,
elbows, wrists, even fingers. This
gives the robot a lot of ways to
position itself in its environment.
Mobile robots are able to move,
usually they perform task such as
search areas. A prime example is
the Mars Explorer, specifically
designed to roam the mars surface .
Mobile robots are a great help to
such collapsed building for survivors
Mobile robots are used for task
where people cannot go. Either
because it is too dangerous of
because people cannot reach the
area that needs to be searched.
Rolling robots have wheels
to move around. These are
the type of robots that can
quickly and easily search
move around. However
they are only useful in flat
areas, rocky terrains give
them a hard time. Flat
terrains are their territory.
Robots on legs are usually
brought in when the terrain is
rocky and difficult to enter with
wheels. Robots have a hard
time shifting balance and keep
them from tumbling. Thats
why most robots with have at
least 4 of them, usually they
have 6 legs or more.
Robots are not only used to
explore areas or imitate a
human being. Most robots
perform repeating tasks
without ever moving an
inch. Most robots are
working in industry
settings and are stationary
Autonomous robots are self
supporting or in other words
self contained. In a way they
rely on their own brains.
Autonomous robots run a
program that give them the
opportunity to decide on the
action to perform depending
on their surroundings. At
times these robots even learn
new behavior.
An autonomous robot is despite its
autonomous not a very clever or
intelligent unit. The memory and
brain capacity is usually limited, an
autonomous robot can be compared
to an insect in that respect . In case a
robot needs to perform more
complicated yet undetermined tasks
an autonomous robot is not the right
choice.
Virtual robots dont exits in
real life. Virtual robots are just
programs, building blocks of
software inside a computer. A
virtual robot can simulate a
real robot or just perform a
repeating task. A special kind
of robot is a robot that
searches the world wide web.
BEAM is short for
Biology, Electronics,
Aesthetics and
Mechanics. BEAM
robots are made by
hobbyists. BEAM robots
can be simple and very
suitable for starters.