CHAPTER ROBOTICS AND A.

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Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

o Discuss the ethics and implications of Robotics and A.I.

o Discuss the major impacts (both potential and realized) of Robotics and A.I..

ENGAGE

DID YOU KNOW?

1. AI’s Have Nationalities and Passports Sophia, a lifelike humanoid has gained
guaranteed citizenship of Saudi Arabia. This has brought much controversy as the
public wonders and questions whether or not robots should have rights.
2. AI is estimated to Kill 6% of Jobs by 2021. Although AI is helpful in cutting business
costs, it’s set to create some serious problems. According to The Guardian,
customer service jobs will face the highest AI threat.

DISCUSSIONS

The term AI was closely associated with the field of “symbolic AI”, which was popular
until the end of the 1980s. In order to overcome some of the limitations of symbolic AI, sub
symbolic methodologies such as neural networks, fuzzy systems, evolutionary computation
and other computational models started gaining popularity, leading to the term
“computational intelligence” emerging as a subfield of AI.
Nowadays, the term AI encompasses the whole conceptualization of a machine that
is intelligent in terms of both operational and social consequences. A practical definition
used is one proposed by Russell and Norvig: “Artificial Intelligence is the study of human
intelligence and actions replicated artificially, such that the resultant bears to its design a
reasonable level of rationality”. This definition can be further refined by stipulating that the
level of rationality may even supersede humans, for specific and well-defined tasks. Current
AI technologies are used in online advertising, driving, aviation, medicine and personal
assistance image recognition. The recent success of AI has captured the imagination of
both the scientific community and the public. An example of this is vehicles equipped with
an automatic steering system, also known as autonomous cars.
Robotics on the other hand is a part of Engineering and Science. It has to do with the
creation and building of robots, as well as computer programming. It is interdisciplinary,
using mechanical, electrical and other kinds of engineering. Robots are sometimes used to
do things that humans cannot, like finding and destroying bombs, or going places that are
too hot, small, dangerous or distant for humans. Some robots look like humans, but most just
look like machines.
Artificially intelligent Robots
As defined earlier, artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science. It
involves developing computer programs to complete tasks which would otherwise require
human intelligence. AI algorithms can tackle learning, perception, problem-solving,
language-understanding and/or logical reasoning.

SOME USES:
✓ AI algorithms are used in Google searches,
✓ Amazon's recommendation engine
✓ SatNav route finders.

An artificially intelligent robot is the bridge between robotics and AI. These are robots
which are controlled by AI programs. Many robots are not artificially intelligent. All industrial
robots could only be programmed to carry out a repetitive series of movements. Repetitive
movements do not require artificial intelligence. Non-intelligent robots are quite limited in
their functionality. AI algorithms are often necessary to allow the robot to perform more
complex tasks.

Robotics is a branch of AI, which is composed of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical

Engineering, and Computer Science for designing, construction, and application of robots.

Aspects of Robotics
• The robots have mechanical construction, form, or shape designed to accomplish a
particular task.
• They have electrical components which power and control the machinery.
• They contain some level of computer program that determines what, when and how
a robot does something.

Difference in Robot System and Other AI Program

AI Programs Robots

They usually operate in computer-stimulated They operate in real physical world

worlds.
The input to an AI program is in symbols and Inputs to robots is analog signal in the form of
rules speech waveform or images
They need general purpose computers to They need special hardware with sensors
operate on. and effectors.

Robot Locomotion
Locomotion is the mechanism that makes a robot capable of moving in its environment.
There are various types of locomotion
• Legged
• Wheeled
• Combination of Legged and Wheeled Locomotion
• Tracked slip/skid

Legged Locomotion
• This type of locomotion consumes more power while
demonstrating walk, jump, trot, hop, climb up or down, etc.
• It requires more number of motors to accomplish a
movement. It is suited for rough as well as smooth terrain
where irregular or too smooth surface makes it consume
more power for a wheeled locomotion. It is little difficult to
implement because of stability issues.
 • It comes with the variety of one, two, four, and six legs. If a robot has multiple legs
then leg coordination is necessary for locomotion.
• The total number of possible gaits (a periodic sequence of lift and release events for
each of the total legs) a robot can travel depends upon the number of its legs.

Wheeled Locomotion

It requires fewer number of motors to accomplish a

movement. It is little easy to implement as there are less
stability issues in case of more number of wheels. It is
power efficient as compared to legged locomotion.

• Standard wheel − Rotates around the wheel axle

and around the contact
• Castor wheel − Rotates around the wheel axle and
the offset steering joint.
• Swedish 45o and Swedish 90o wheels − Omni-
wheel, rotates around the contact point, around
the wheel axle, and around the rollers.
• Ball or spherical wheel − Omnidirectional wheel,
technically difficult to implement.

Slip/Skid Locomotion

In this type, the vehicles use tracks as in a tank. The robot is

steered by moving the tracks with different speeds in the same
or opposite direction. It offers stability because of large
contact area of track and ground.

RULES OF ROBOTS ACCORDNING TO ISAAC ASIMOV (1940)

1. LAW ONE: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm.

2. LAW TWO: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such
orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. LAW THREE: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does
not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Applications of Robotics
The robotics has been instrumental in the various domains such as:

1. Industries − Robots are used for handling material, cutting, welding, color coating,
drilling, polishing, etc.
2. Military − Autonomous robots can reach inaccessible and hazardous zones during
war. A robot named Daksh, developed by Defense Research and Development
Organization (DRDO), is in function to destroy life-threatening objects safely.
3. Medicine − the robots are capable of carrying out hundreds of clinical tests
simultaneously, rehabilitating permanently disabled people, and performing complex
surgeries such as brain tumors.
 4. Exploration − the robot rock climbers used for space exploration, underwater drones
used for ocean exploration are to name a few.
5. Entertainment − Disney’s engineers have created hundreds of robots for movie
making.

Ethical issues of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

• Misinformation and Fake News
• Job Displacement
• Privacy
• Ciber security
• Mistakes of AI
• Military Robots
• Algorithmic Bias
• Regulation
• Super intelligence