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Different Usages of Robots

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Abstract
Being required to perform repetitive tasks such as working on an assembly line
and being exposed to hazardous conditions made humans think about something that
can perform these jobs. The thing that replaced humans in some jobs is the robot.
Robots are used in some industrial applications especially tasks that workers may feel
bored during performing them and tasks that may expose workers to toxic substances
or hazardous situations.
The purpose of this study is to discuss some uses and applications that robots are
used in and discuss the advantage of replacing humans in these applications.

Introduction
Robots are machines programmed by humans to perform a series of actions.
Robots can be controlled either externally using an external control device or internally
using a controlling mechanism included inside them (1).
Any robot passes through different stages until reaching the final desired robot.
These stages are the design stage in which an initial image for the robot and its duties
is prepared, the construction stage in which the parts of the robot are manufactured and
assembled, the programming stage in which the robot is programmed to perform a series
of actions, the examination stage in which the robot is examined to check its ability to
perform the orders and the application stage in which the robot works in reality and
perform the required duties (2).
Robots have applications in several fields. They can be used for industrial
applications such as a robot working on an assembly line in a car manufacturing factory,
agricultural applications such as weeding robots, military applications such as bomb
disposal robots, etc.

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1. Uses of Robots

Robots are classified according to the intended application field such as industrial robots
which work in well-defined environments on production tasks. At the beginning of the
robot manufacturing industry, all robots were designed to work as industrial robots
because industrial robots work in a well-defined environment that simplified their design.
Service robots are designed to assist humans in their tasks starting from very small tasks
such as tasks related to chores at home like vacuum clears to large tasks such as
transportation like self-driving cars, and defense applications such as reconnaissance
drones. Medication, as well, has seen expanding utilization of robots in surgery,

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rehabilitation, and training. These are ongoing applications that require improved
sensors and a closer collaboration with the client. It was around 1960 when industrial
robots were first presented in the market, and until the 1990s industrial robots dominated
robotics research. The first robots were industrial robots which are designed to replace
humans performing simple repetitive tasks. Workers performing these repetitive tasks
can fall into several errors due to feeling bored with these tasks. Robots can perform
these repetitive tasks, but they work in a customized environment and they are not
allowed to interact with humans. Using robots to perform repetitive work will save time,
money, and produce accurate work. Besides performing repetitive tasks, they also can
perform risk and dangerous manufacturing applications which ensures humans safety.
Each industrial robot application requires an extraordinary finish of arm tooling, specific
reach, and payloads.

1.1. Refueling Robots

These robots use sensors and detectors to help guide the nozzle to the truck's fuel tank.
By this method labor costs are reduced as there is no need for workers. Refueling time
is reduced as these robots are programmed to perform this job. By this method, no errors
will occur and humans won't be required to deal directly with flammable substances
which will help to solve safety issues. An example is shown in (Figure 1) (4).

1.2. Coating Robots

Coating robots are used for coating applications such as spraying car parts. Coating
applications can be very hazardous due to the different toxic fumes. Using coating robots
in these applications will protect humans from being exposed to these toxic fumes and
will increase product quality as they can spray any product more evenly and accurately.
They also take less time to perform tasks. An example is shown in (Figure 2) (4).

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Figure 1: Refueling Robots Figure 2: Coating Robots

1.3. Assembly Robots

Assembly robots are used for industrial processes such as a robot working on a
production line. Using robots for these applications will increase production efficiency
and will save humans from boring repetitive tasks. Tools attached to the ends of their
arms can be customized based on the manufacturing requirements. An example of
assembly robots is shown in (Figure 3) (3).

1.4. Machining Activities Robots

Machining activities such as drilling, milling, and grinding operations are performed
manually which results in several disadvantages such as: producing dust or particles
which can cause harm to workers, take a long time, produce low accuracy products.
Replacing these manual activities by robots will remove all these disadvantages. An
example of these robots is the drilling robot shown in (Figure 4) (4).

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Figure 3: Assembly Robots

1.5. Packaging Robots

Robots with specific ends of arm tools can be customized to perform various packaging
tasks. Using robots to perform these tasks has several advantages such as: reducing
labor costs, lift larger packages, and reducing the time required for packaging each
single part. An example of packaging robots is shown in (Figure 5) (4).

Figure 4: Drilling Robots Figure 5: Packaging Robots

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1.6. Domestic Robots

These robots are used to perform household tasks such as swimming pool cleaning,
robotic vacuum cleaners, cleaning the kitchen or the bathroom, loads or unloads the
dishwasher, etc. An example of cleaning robots is shown in (Figure 6) (5).

Figure 6: Cleaning Robots

1.7. Military Robots

Robots can be used for military tasks where the conditions may be very dangerous that
humans can't perform. Military applications include bomb disposal robots, drones,
search robots, etc. An example of military robots is shown in (Figure 7) (5).

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1.8. Medical Robots

Medical robots are robots used in the medical sciences. They include surgical robots
that allow doctors to perform numerous types of complex procedures with more
precision, flexibility, and control than is possible with conventional techniques. The most
broadly utilized clinical robotic surgical system includes a camera arm and mechanical
arms with surgical instruments attached to them. The surgeon controls the arms while
seated at a computer console near the operating table. The console gives the surgeon
a high-definition, magnified, 3-D view of the surgical site (Figure 8). The surgeon leads
other team members who assist during the operation (5).

Figure 7: Armed Predator Drone Figure 8: Robot-assisted Heart Surgery

1.9. Weeding Robots

Robots are also used for weeding fields (Figure 9). This type of robot requires advanced
sensing to perform the tasks of identifying and removing weeds (3).

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1.10. Security Robots

Security robots (Figure 10) have several advantages such as they can operate 24/7, day
or night, and in adverse weather conditions. Security robots can provide many features
such as facial recognition, supply information, and can even detect abnormal
temperatures and gas leaks. This makes them perfect for monitoring industrial parks,
power plants, malls, residential developments, and chemical storage facilities (4).

Figure 9: Weeding Robots Figure 10: Security Robots

1.11. Underwater Robots

The use of underwater robotic vehicles

(Figure 11) has rapidly increased because
these vehicles can be operated in the
deeper, riskier areas that divers cannot
reach. The potential applications of such
vehicles include fishing, underwater
pollution monitoring, and waste cleaning (6).
Figure 11: Underwater Robots

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1.12. Robots in the Petroleum Industry (7)

At first, we will discuss challenges associated with offshore drilling. These challenges
encouraged researchers to find other applicable solutions which are robots. After
discussing these challenges, we will discuss the different types of robots used in the
petroleum industry.

1.12.1. Challenges Associated with Offshore Drilling

While drilling in deep water wells (seabed at

depth ranges from 4000 to 7000 ft) and
ultradeep water wells (seabed at depth ranges
from 7000 to 12000 ft), there are several
problems encountered such as the hydrostatic
pressure is very high and divers can't
withstand, the sunlight will disappear at these
depths and there will be complete darkness
(Figure 12). Figure 12: Seabed at Great Water Depth

1.12.2. Types of Robots Used for Offshore Drilling

Challenges mentioned previously make researches and scientists to find another

solution which is unmanned vehicles. Unmanned vehicles can be used for aerial
applications and in this case are referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), surface
applications and in this case are referred to as unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and
underwater applications and in this case are referred as unmanned underwater vehicles
(UUV). Using robots for offshore drilling has several advantages such as: guarantee
humans' safety as there is no need for divers, provide high work quality as they work
without rest, provide real-time data, and reduces the required cost. There are two types

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of UUV, the first type is autonomously operated vehicle (AUV) (Figure 13) which is
controlled automatically, and the second type is remotely operated vehicle (ROV) which
is controlled from an external control panel referred as pilot panel (Figure 14).

Figure 13: Autonomous Operated Vehicle (AUV)

Figure 14: Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and Pilot Panel

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(Figure 15) shows the different components of ROV.

Figure 15: Components of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)

1.12.3. Uses of Robots in the Offshore Petroleum Industry

Robots can be used for several purposes

such: provide real-time images of the subsea
factory as seen in (Figure 16), installation of
subsea facilities, pipeline inspection and
welding, etc.

Figure 16: Subsea Facilities

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Results and Discussion

It is easy to distinguish between human and robot and tell that something or someone is
human, and not a robot, or vice versa. The only confusion will come when robots look
like real humans. A robot can't perform all the tasks that its human counterpart can
achieve. Robots can do some jobs better than men, especially where these demands
repetitive work for long periods under arduous conditions. So, there are many differences
between humans and robots:

• Humans are organic beings, while robots are not.

• Humans are far more complex and superior to robots in almost all aspects.
• Humans are highly social beings compared to robots.
• Robots are often electrically powered, while humans are not.
• Humans are organic individuals. When the human body dies, it won't return to life
again, as opposed to robots that can be easily repaired.
• Human beings are more advanced, in the sense of having a highly developed brain
that no robot ever matched.
• The human brain is powerful, creative.
• Human beings are also highly social individuals, while robots are not.
• Humans can form relationships and generate complex feelings such as love.

With the world's enormous technological development, the robot has become very
important in all fields, and its purchase rate has become increasing daily at a great rate,
especially in recent years (Figure 17).

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Figure 17: Worldwide Industrial Robots Number VS Years

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Conclusion
Robots are very important and can be used in several applications such as
refueling robots which can replace workers in gas stations, coating robots that can
perform coating operations, assembly robots such as robots working on an assembly
line in car manufacturing factories, machining activities robots such drilling robots,
packaging robots, domestic robots, military robots, medical robots, security robots,
underwater robots, robots in the petroleum industry, etc.

References
1. Definition of 'robot'. Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
2. Winfield, A.: Robotics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA (2012).
3. Mordechai Ben-Ari, Francesco Mondada, Elements of Robotics, Springer; 1st ed. 2018
edition (October 25, 2017).
4. RobotWorx Company Official website, https://www.robots.com/applications.
5. Guardforce Company official website,
https://www.guardforce.com.hk/en/news/blog_115/Types-of-Robots-and-Their
Applications_1729
6. Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos, Centro de Automática y Robótica, The evolution of robotics
research, Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos, 1 December 2014.
7. Francesco Gasparoni (Tecnomare) | Gennaro Aiello (Eni) | Andrea Lainati (Eni) | Armando
Sechi (Eni Angola) | Danilo Maddalena (Tecnomare) | Tiberio Grasso (Tecnomare) |
Federico Bruni (Tecnomare) | Michele Filippini (Tecnomare) | Luigi Miozza (Tecnomare),
Clean Sea - Underwater Robotic Technology for Environmental and Asset Integrity
Monitoring in Deep and Ultra-Deep Water, Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2016.

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