Introduction to Robotics

Robots have become a subject of great interest nowadays. In our imagination, a robot is a machine that looks and acts like a human being. Robots are, in fact, defined as man-made mechanical devices that can move by themselves, whose motion must be modeled, planned, sensed, actuated and controlled, and whose motion behaviour can be influenced by programming.

History of Robots

The acclaimed Czech playwright Karel Capek made the first use of the word robot, from the Czech word for forced labor or serf. The word 'robotics' was first used in Runaround, a short story published in 1942, by Isaac Asimov. But it was not until 1956 that a real robot came into existence.

Isaac Asimov

The First Robot

After the technology explosion during World War II, in 1956, George C. Devol, Norman Schafler and Joseph F. Engelberger and made a serious and commercial effort to produce a robot. They started a firm named Unimation and succeeded in building the 1st robot named Unimate. Joseph F. Engelberger is known as the Father of Robotics

Unimate Puma500 Manipulator

The Unimate

It was first used in General Motors. It basically to extract die-castings from die casting machines and to perform spot welding on auto bodies, both tasks being particularly hateful jobs for people. A variety of other tasks were also performed by robots, such as loading and unloading machine tools. The Unimate started a revolution in the robotics industry and many robots of its type were built for doing tiresome jobs for people. Robots offer specific benefits to workers and industries. If introduced correctly, industrial robots can improve the quality of life by freeing workers from dirty, boring, dangerous and heavy labor.

Types of Robots

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The types of robots are: Mobile robots. Industrial robots Autonomous robots Remote-controlled robots. Virtual robots.

Mobile Robots

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Mobile robots are able to move, usually they perform tasks such as searching. They are of 2 types: Rolling robots- Rolling robots have wheels to move around. They can quickly and easily search. However they are only useful in flat areas. Walking robots- Robots on legs are usually brought in when the terrain is rocky. Most robots have at least 4 legs; usually they have 6 or more.

Industrial Robots

Most of these robots perform repeating tasks without ever moving. Most robots are working in industries. Especially dull and repeating tasks are suitable for robots. A robot never grows tired; it will perform its duty day and night without ever complaining.

Autonomous Robots

Autonomous robots are selfsupporting. They run a program that gives them the opportunity to decide on the action to perform depending on their surroundings. At times, these robots even learn new behavior. They start out with a short routine and adapt this routine to be more successful at the task they perform. The most successful routine will be repeated .

Remote-controlled Robots

In case a robot needs to perform more complicated yet undetermined tasks an autonomous robot is not the right choice. Complicated tasks are still best performed by human beings with real brainpower. A person can guide a robot by remote control. A person can perform difficult and usually dangerous tasks without being at the spot where the tasks are performed.

Dante 2, a NASA robot designed to explore volcanoes via remote control.

Virtual Robots

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. Search engines use such kind of robots. They search the World Wide Web and send the information to the search engines.

The Future of Robotics

To demonstrate advances in research and stimulate scientists, a RoboCup soccer competition is held a few times every year. Recognizing teammates, the goals, the ball is a difficult task for the robots. Thus, it becomes a challenge for them. Thus, constant advances are being made in robotics and robots are bound to revolutionize Humanity