Definition

• A piece of machinery that could perform tasks which are

generally ascribed to humans, such as Voice recognition,
speech synthesis, obstacle avoidance, face recognition,
Introduction to Robotics etc..

Brief History of Robotics

• The word robot first appeared in a Czeck
stage play “Rossum’s Universal Robots” by
Karel Capek in 1921. In Czeck “robot” means
Dr. Rohan Munasinghe “forced labor”
BSc, MSc, PhD, MIEEE
Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering
Faculty of Engineering • The word robotics first appeared in the
University of Moratuwa 10400 science fiction “Runaround” by Issac Asimov
in 1938. Robotics is the science and
engineering of using robots.

Robotics is Interdisciplinary Fundamental Ideas

 1960s
Very Early Robots Teleoperators for welfare.
Commands are taken from the
tongue, or other remaining motor
1940s 1945
signals to actuate wheelchairs,
First modern master- 1970
prosthetic arms, etc.
slave teleoperator
(Argonne National Lab,
USA) for handling 1960s
radioactive materials in
a hot-cell “Unimate”, the first industrial
robot developed by George
Gray Walter’s “tortoise” Devol and Joe Engleberger,
1960s the father of robotics.
- picks and place parts
Teleoperation in - CAD/CAM systems
1960s
undersea applications.
“Handyman” A cheaper and safer
Masterslave electro- substitution for divers
hydraulic manipulator, 1970s
in searching offshore
General Electric, 2 oil using small Race to the moon.
hands, 10dof unmanned remote- - First remotely controlled moon
controlled submarines rover Lunakhod (USSR).
with video. - Travelled 11km in 11months
General Electric’s “walking truck”. - Time delay and stability
First legged robot, walks 4miles/h problem.

Factory Roboticization Robots and Automatic machines

The major reasons for the growth of industrial robots
• Declining cost of robots and increasing cost of human labor
• Robots continue to getting speed, accuracy, capability, and re-
programmability for a variety of jobs (welding, painting etc.)
• Deployability of robots for tasks that might be dangerous, or impossible
for human workers to perform
– Space, undersea, radioactive sites
• Small volumes ⇒ use human labor
• volume є [v1,v2] ⇒ use robots
• volume > v2 ⇒ hard automation
The distinction between a robot and a factory machine (such as NC machines)
lies in the programmability of the device. Robots can be re-programmable to
perform a wide variety of tasks, whereas factory machines, which are generally
limited to one class of tasks (fixed automation)
 Robotics Research Areas Avoidance of Dynamic Obstacles
• Mobile Robotics • Soccer playing robots • Try to mimic how humans avoid objects moving in a collision path
• Human-centered artificial Intelligence
• Telerobotics • Walking machines

• Micromanipulation • Service and care-giving robots

• Polybots (modular • Robotic prosthetic limbs

reconfigurable Robots)
• Exploration and mapping robots
• Medical robotics (telesurgery)
• Grasping
• Planetary exploration robots
• Biomimetic robots
• Micromechanical flying robots
• Expressive Robotic creatures
• Climbing robots
• Humanoids Slow moving obstacle Fast moving obstacle
• Milibots, millibot teams
• Entertainment robots

Needs for future robots to be able to inhabit human-populated dynamic

Telerobotics
environments such as offices, hotels, hospitals, etc..
Playing mini-golf on the Internet
Classical Potential Field Velocity Dipole Field
O. Khatib, RI, S. R. Munasinghe
Stanford Univ., USA Univ. of Moratuwa, SL
Local Controller Remote Supervisor
(Japan) (Korea)

Deliberative Behavior and Reactive Behavior (imagine how humans walk

to the destination avoiding obstacles getting on the way)
Master-Slave Teleoperation Ground-Space Teleoperation
move-and-wait

Actuators duplicate Position and velocity

the captured motion Encoders capture the motion

Telerobtic Systems Design Micromanipulation

• Biotechnology

• Microsurgery

• Microassembly

• Microchips
 Polybots: Modular Reconfigurable Robots Medical Robotics
Minimum Invasive Surgery (MIS)

snake robot.wmv

Planetary Exploration Robots Micromechanical Flying Insects

Spirit moves on Mars

 Climbing Robots Soccer Playing Robots

Millibots

Service and Care-giving Robots Robotic Prosthetic limbs

• Power assistance for physically weak people
• Biological signals

Skin surface electromyogram (EMG) signals ⇒ intention
• Control

Joint servos ⇒ arm configuration
 Mobile Manipulators
• Mobile platform + robot arm
• Motion commands

Driving and steering
• Manipulation commands

Reaching, gripping
• Path Planning

Collision Avoidance
Exploration and Mapping Robots
• Groundhog by Sebastian
Thrun (Stanford)
• Maps abandoned mines,
unknown terrains
• Laser range sensors,
gas and sinkage sensors
Entertainment Robots
• Robot Seal ``Paro”
• Proactive behaviors.
– Blink, Swing rear fins to
right and left, Swing
both front fins to
forward and backward,
Swing head to right and
left
• Reactive behaviors
– Cry, Raise head
Grasping
• How to approach and grasp without breaking,
slipping, or being broken
 Biomimetic Robots Expressive Robotic Creatures
• How birds fly, how fish swim, and how humans walk can best be • Kismet, MIT AI Lab
discovered by trying to reproduce these activities on a robot • Emotion expression capability
• Perceptual and motor modalities similar to human communication
• Extract principles from nature and use them to built advance robots.
– cockroaches can run over obstacles without slowing down. Can a
robot be build with that capability?
– An alternative approach to algorithmic-intensive AI

• The knowledge gained might not be immediately useful. But it could

some day lead to useful technologies

• Vocalization: Steer the eyes, ears, and head towards the sound source
• Realtime processing of visual and auditory signals

Legged and Humanoids Holonomic Mobile

Honda Asimo, world’s most advanced Platforms
Humanoid robot

asimo-run.avi AsimoObstacle.flv

All Terrain Mobile

Big Dog: World’s most Robots
advanced legged robot
- Gasoline engine
- Climbing slopes upto 35o
FourLeg.dat
- Carries 340lb

CrocRobot.dat