Introduction to

Robotics
 What is a Robot?

•Robotics is an electromechanical device which

senses its environment, processes it, takes a
decision by itself and reacts to its environment
without human intervention,
 How does a Robot Work?

ROBOT SENSORS PROCESSING UNIT ACTUATOR/ POWER SUPPLY

CHASSIS/BODY EFFECTORS
Flow of the Processing Unit e.g.
Micro-controller

Input Processing Unit Output

Robot Chassis/Body

The physical body allows the robot to act in the physical world.

The physical body are under the same physical laws as other objects
• It must use actuators to move
• Cannot change shape or size arbitrarily
• It needs energy
• It takes time to speed up and slow down

The physical body influences how the robot can move

Processing Unit (Arduino Board)

This is tool used to control the behaviour of electronics. There are two groups of
electronics:
1. Input – gather information
2. Output – do things
Arduino Board
•Arduino is both Hardware and
Software. Arduino has three parts:
• Physical Hardware (Arduino Uno,
Nano, etc.)
• Software (Arduino IDE)
• Arduino Sketch
Why Arduino Board?

1. It is designed for ease of use

2. They have headers that make it easy to connect electrical components
3. It has a built-in external power jack
Sensors
Robotic sensors are used to estimate a robot’s condition and environment.
These signals are then passed to the robot’s controller to enable appropriate
behaviour. Sensing allows the robot know its state.
● Proprioceptive sensors e.g., GPS, encoders etc.
● Exteroceptive sensors
○ Contact Sensors e.g., mechanical switches, tactile sensors
○ Range Sensors e.g., sonars, lasers, IR, RF, etc.
○ Vision Sensors
 How do Sensors work?
•All sensor have input and output:
• Input – Physical quantity we will be measuring
• Output – Change in the electrical property of the sensor
element

•There are two types of sensors:

• Digital Sensors
• Analog Sensors
Actuators and
Effectors
•Actuators and Effectors enables a robot to
take an action by using mechanism such as
muscles and motors e.g., pneumatics,
chemically reactive materials, DC Motors,
Servo Motor
•Activities are in two types
• Locomotion - mechanisms include
wheels, legs, modular robots and
propellers
• Manipulation
 Power
•Robots are expected to work tirelessly for hours,
yielding perfect and precise results. Robots are
powered by electrical power. Example of power
sources:
• Batteries
• Lead acid batteries
• Lithium - ion batteries
• Thermoelectric generators, 
• Fuel cells, 
• Supercapacitors