Robotics

What is Robotics / A.I. ?

Robotics is the study of the design,
construction and use of robots.
Artificial intelligence is the branch
of computer science that deals with
writing computer programs that can
solve problems creatively; "workers
in AI hope to imitate or duplicate
intelligence in computers and
robots"

Definition of a Robot
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:
- Robot Institute of America, 1979

Word robot was coined by a Czech

novelist Karel Capek in a 1920 play
titled Rossums Universal Robots (RUR)
Robota in Czech is a word for worker
or servant

Karel Capek

Laws of Robotics
Asimov proposed three Laws of
Robotics(1942)
Law 1: A robot may not injure a
human being or through inaction,
allow a human being to come to
harm.
Law 2: A robot must obey orders
given to it by human beings,
except where such orders would
conflict with a higher order law
Law 3: A robot must protect its
own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with a
higher order law

History of Robotics..
1898:
Nikola Tesla ,famous inventor,
patents the first remote controlled
device.
The 'teleautomaton' was a crewless boat
that was controlled from a distance
without wires

Teleautomaton

1940:
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
creates two of the first robots that use
the electric motor for entire body
motion.
Elektra could dance, count to ten
and smoke, while his dog companion
Sparko, could walk, stand on its hind
legs and bark.

Elektra & Sparco

1948:

The first electronic autonomous

robots were created by William Grey
Walter of the Burden Neurological
Institute at Bristol, England in 1948 and
1949.
They were named Elmer and Elsie

Elmer

Elsie

The first industrial robot :UNIMATE

1954:

The first programmable robot is

designed by George Devol, who
coins the term Universal
Automation.
He later shortens this to Unimation,
which becomes the name of the first
robot company (1962).

UNIMATE - originally
automated the manufacture

of TV picture tubes

1956-Robot in Fiction/Hollywood
Robby the Robot- the
first robot seen at the
movies

A scene from Forbidden Planet

Lost In Space (1965) Star Wars

1978:
The Puma (Programmable Universal

Machine for Assembly) robot is

developed by Unimation with a General
Motors design support

1981

IBM enters the robotics field with its

PUMA 560 Manipulator

1990s:

The robot industry enters a phase of rapid growth.

Many institutions introduce programs and courses in robotics.
Robotics courses are spread across mechanical engineering,
electrical engineering, and computer science departments.

GE WALKING
TRUCK

Cognex In-Sight Robot

Barrett Technology
Manipulator (BTM)

Our Times
2001:
The Mini-Andros is used by bomb squads to locate and
dispose of bombs.

About three feet long, it looks something like a small

armoured tank with eight wheels on four "legs" that
extend for climbing stairs.

2003:

NASAs Mars Exploration Rovers launched towards

Mars in search of answers about the history of water
on Mars.

2005:
Urashima deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle
It is a remotely operated vehicle for deep-sea exploration.
The goal is to analyze amounts of carbon dioxide, sodium
and other chemicals for information on global warming and
other environmental changes.

Mini-Andros

What tasks would you give robots?

Dangerous
Space exploration
chemical spill cleanup
disarming bombs
disaster cleanup
Boring and/or repetitive
Welding car frames
part pick and place
manufacturing parts.
High precision or high
speed
Electronics testing
Surgery
precision machining.

Automata v/s Robots

Automata

Machinery designed to carry out a specific task or

a predetermined sequence of operations or respond to
encoded instructions.
Bottling machine
Dishwasher
Paint sprayer

Robots

Machinery designed to carry out a variety of tasks

Pick and place arms
Mobile robots
Computer Numerical Control machines

Types of robots

Pick and place

Moves items between points

Continuous path control

Moves along a programmable path

Sensory
Employs sensors for feedback

Pick and Place

Moves items from one point

to another
Does not need to follow a
specific path between
points

Uses include loading and

unloading machines,
placing components on
circuit boards, and moving
parts off

Continuous path control

Moves along a
specific path
Uses include
welding, cutting,
machining parts.

Sensor

Uses sensors for feedback.

Closed-loop robots use
sensors in conjunction with
actuators to gain higher
accuracy servo motors.
Uses include mobile
robotics, telepresence,
search and rescue, pick and
place with machine vision

The Purpose of Robots

Repetitive tasks that

robots can do 24/7.

Robots never get sick or
need time off.
Robots can do tasks
considered too
dangerous for humans.

Robots can operate

equipment to much
higher precision than
humans.
May be cheaper over
the long term
May be able to perform
tasks that are impossible
for humans

Industries Using Robots

Agriculture
Automobile
Construction
Entertainment
Health care: hospitals,
patient-care, surgery ,
research, etc.
Laboratories: science,
engineering , etc.
Law enforcement:
surveillance, patrol, etc.

Military: demining,
surveillance, attack,
etc.
Mining, excavation,
and exploration
Transportation: air,
ground, rail, space,
etc.
Utilities: gas, water,
and electric
Manufacturing
Warehouses

HOW ROBOTS ARE USED IN

INDUSTRIES
Cartesian robot /Gantry robot: Used
for pick and place work, assembly
operations, handling machine tools and arc
welding. It's a robot whose arm has three
prismatic joints, whose axes are coincident
with a Cartesian coordinator.

Cylindrical robot: Used for assembly

operations, handling at machine tools,
spot welding, and handling at diecasting
machines. It's a robot whose axes form a
cylindrical coordinate system.

Spherical/Polar robot: Used for

handling at machine tools, spot welding,
diecasting, fettling machines, gas
welding and arc welding. It's a robot
whose axes form a polar coordinate
system.

SCARA robot: Used for pick and place

work, application of sealant, assembly
operations and handling machine tools.
It's a robot which has two parallel rotary
joints to provide compliance in a plane.

Used for assembly

operations, diecasting,
fettling machines, gas
welding, arc welding
and spray painting. It's
a robot whose arm has
at least three rotary
joints.

Parallel robot: One

use is a mobile
platform handling
cockpit flight
simulators. It's a robot
whose arms have
concurrent prismatic or

What are the

parts of a robot?

Manipulator
Pedestal
Controller
End Effectors
Power Source

Manipulator
(Mimics the human arm)

Base
Appendages
-Shoulder
-Arm
-Grippers

Pedestal
(Human waist)

Supports the
manipulator.

Acts as a

counterbalance.

Controller
(The brain)

Issues instructions to
the robot.

Controls peripheral
devices.

Interfaces with robot.

Interfaces with
humans.

End
Effectors
Spray paint

attachments

Welding

attachments

Vacuum heads
Hands
Grippers

Power
Source

(The food)

Electric
Pneumatic
Hydraulic

Knowledgebase for Robotics

Typical knowledgebase for the design and
operation of robotics systems
Dynamic system modeling and analysis
Feedback control
Sensors and signal conditioning
Actuators and power electronics
Hardware/computer interfacing
Computer programming
Disciplines: mathematics, physics, biology, mechanical
engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and
computer science

Key Components
Power conversion
unit
Sensors

Actuators
Controller

User
interface

Manipulator
linkage
Base

Robot Mechanism: Mechanical Elements

Gear, rack, pinion, etc.

Inclined plane wedge

Cam and Follower

Chain and sprocket

Lever
Slider-Crank
Linkage

Sensors: I
Human senses: sight, sound, touch, taste,
and smell provide us vital information to
function and survive
Robot sensors: measure robot
configuration/condition and its environment
and send such information to robot
controller as electronic signals (e.g., arm
position, presence of toxic gas)
Robots often need information that is
beyond 5 human senses (e.g., ability to:
see in the dark, detect tiny amounts of
invisible radiation, measure movement that
is too small or fast for the human eye to
see)

Accelerometer
Using Piezoelectric Effect

Flexiforce
Sensor

Sensors: II

Vision Sensor: e.g., to pick bins,

perform inspection, etc.
Part-Picking: Robot can handle work
pieces that are randomly piled by using
3-D vision sensor. Since alignment
operation, a special parts feeder, and
an alignment pallete are not required,
an automatic system can be
constructed at low cost.

In-Sight Vision
Sensors

Sensors: III
Force Sensor: e.g., parts
fitting and insertion, force
feedback in robotic
surgery
Parts fitting and insertion: Robots can do
precise fitting and insertion of machine
parts by using force sensor. A robot can
insert parts that have the phases after
matching their phases in addition to
simply inserting them. It can automate
high-skill jobs.

Actuators: I
Common robotic actuators
utilize combinations of different
electro-mechanical devices
Synchronous motor
Stepper motor
AC servo motor
Brushless DC servo motor
Brushed DC servo motor

Actuators: II

Hydraulic Motor

Pneumatic Motor

Pneumatic
Cylinder

DC Motor

Stepper Motor

Servo Motor

Controller
Provide necessary intelligence
to control the
manipulator/mobile robot
Process the sensory
information and compute the
control commands for the
actuators to carry out specified
tasks

Controller Hardware: I
Storage devices: e.g., memory to store the
control program and the state of the robot
system obtained from the sensors

Controller Hardware: II
Computational engine that
computes the control commands

RoboBoard Robotics Controller

BASIC Stamp 2 Module

Controller Hardware: III

Interface units: Hardware to interface digital controller with the
external world (sensors and actuators)

Analog to Digital
Converter

Operational
Amplifiers

LM358

LM358

LM1458 dual operational amplifier

advantages
Quality:
Robots have the capacity to
dramatically improve product quality.
Applications are performed with
precision and high repeatability every
time.
This level of consistency can be hard to
achieve any other way.

Production:

With robots, throughput speeds

increase, which directly impacts
production.
Because robots have the ability to
work at a constant speed without
pausing for breaks, sleep, vacations,
they have the potential to produce
more than a human worker.

 Safety:

Robots increase workplace safety.

Workers are moved to supervisory
roles, so they no longer have to
perform dangerous applications in
hazardous settings.

 Savings:

Greater worker safety leads to

financial savings.
There are fewer healthcare and
insurance concerns for employers.
Robots also offer untiring
performance which saves valuable
time.
Their movements are always exact, so
less material is wasted.

disadvantages

Expense:
The initial investment of robots is
significant, especially when business
owners are limiting their purchases to new
robotic equipment.
The cost of automation should be
calculated in light of a business' greater
financial budget.
Regular maintenance needs can have a
financial toll as well.

Expertise:

Employees will require training in

programming and interacting with the
new robotic equipment.
This normally takestime and financial
output.

Safety:

Robots may protect workers from

some hazards, but in the meantime,
their very presence can create other
safety problems.
These new dangers must be taken into
consideration.

Advantages

They are program from humans for necessary reasons.

We do not have to pay them.

They complete orders more accurate than humans mostly
They follow orders as what they are programmed by us to
be.
They can improved the future in many ways (refer to the
five examples of robots advantages).
Creates new jobs.

disadvantages

The are extremely expensive. costs for maintainence.

Creates job loses

Hard to construct.

Some companies will lag behind in industries due to the

lack of sufficient financial resources and technical
expertise.
require more space, and new technology to accommodate
robotics system and robots.
Imperative in hiring skilled engineers, programmers, and
others to set up robotics system and robots to avoid
future dillemas and mishaps.

Future of robotics

What does the future hold for robotics? What is the next
step, or the next technological boundary to overcome?
The general trend for computers seems to be faster
processing speed, greater memory capacity and so on.
One would assume that the robots of the future would
become closer and closer to the decision-making ability of
humans and also more independent.
Indeed, the human skeletal and muscular systems are
complicated for many reasons.Presumably, once robots
have the ability perform a much wider array of tasks, and
voice recognition software improves such that computers
can interpret complicated sentences in varying accents,
we may in fact see robots doing our housework and
carrying out other tasks in the physical world.