ROBOT IS MAJOR INVENTIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Robot, self-governing, programmable electromechanical device used in industry
and in scientific research to perform a task or a limited repertoire of tasks. Robots are a
subcategory of automated devices. Although no generally recognized criteria exists that
distinguishes them from other automated systems, robots tend to be more versatile and
adaptable (or reprogrammable) than less sophisticated devices. They offer the advantages
of being able to perform more quickly, cheaply, and accurately than humans in
conducting set routines. They are capable of operating in locations or under conditions
hazardous to human health, ranging from areas of the factory floor to the ocean depths
and outer space.
The concept of robots dates back to ancient times, when some myths told of
mechanical beings brought to life. Such automata also appeared in the clockwork figures
of medieval churches, and in the 18th century some clockmakers gained fame for the
intricately clever mechanical figures that they constructed. Today the term automaton is
usually applied to these handcrafted, mechanical (rather than electromechanical) devices
that are restricted merely to imitating the motions of living creatures. Some of the
“robots” used in advertising and entertainment are actually automata, even with the
addition of remote radio control.
The term robot itself is derived from the Czech word robota, meaning
“compulsory labour”. It was first used in the 1921 play R.U.R. (which stands for
“Rossum's Universal Robots”) by the Czech novelist and playwright Karel Capek, to
describe a mechanical device that looks like a human but, lacking human sensibility, can
perform only automatic, mechanical operations. In the play, however, the robots proved
much more capable than that, eventually conquering and destroying their makers—a
recurrent theme in science fiction since that time. The term androids is now generally
reserved for human-like figures of this sort, ranging from electromechanical robots in
human form to human-like creatures made entirely of biological materials.
Types of Robots
Robots can be found in the manufacturing industry, the military, space
exploration, transportation, and medical applications. Below are just some of the uses for
robots.
Robots on Earth
Typical industrial robots do jobs that are difficult, dangerous or dull. They lift
heavy objects, paint, handle chemicals, and perform assembly work. They perform the
same job hour after hour, day after day with precision. They don't get tired and they don't
make errors associated with fatigue and so are ideally suited to performing repetitive
tasks. The major categories of industrial robots by mechanical structure are:
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Cartesian robot /Gantry robot: Used for pick and place work, application of
sealant, 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 die-casting 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.
Articulated robot: Used for assembly operations, die-casting, 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 rotary joints.
Industrial robots are found in a variety of locations including the
automobile and manufacturing industries. Robots cut and shape fabricated
parts, assemble machinery and inspect manufactured parts. Some types of jobs
robots do: load bricks, die cast, drill, fasten, forge, make glass, grind, heat
treat, load/unload machines, machine parts, handle parts, measure, monitor
radiation, run nuts, sort parts, clean parts, profile objects, perform quality
control, rivet, sand blast, change tools and weld.
Outside the manufacturing world robots perform other important jobs.
They can be found in hazardous duty service, CAD/CAM design and
prototyping, maintenance jobs, fighting fires, medical applications, military
warfare and on the farm.
Farmers drive over a billion slooooww tractor miles every year on the same
ground. Their land is generally gentle, and proven robot navigation techniques can
be applied to this environment. A robot agricultural harvester named Demeter is a
model for commercializing mobile robotics technology. The Demeter harvester
contains controllers, positioners, safeguards, and task software specialized to the
needs commercial agriculture.
Some robots are used to investigate hazardous and dangerous environments. The
Pioneer robot is a remote reconnaissance system for structural analysis of the
Chornobyl Unit 4 reactor building. Its major components are a teleoperated mobile
robot for deploying sensor and sampling payloads, a mapper for creating photorealistic
3D models of the building interior, a coreborer for cutting and retrieving samples of
structural materials, and a suite of radiation and other environmental sensors.
Some Ways to Use Robots
On Earth
Auto Manufacturing Robots how cars are built
Underwater Explorer explore a sunken fishing fleet
Urbie the Urban Robot
Dante: The Volcano Explorer Mucho many links at Space Link
HazBot a mobile robot for hazardous materials
The "Brain Surgeon" a robot to help in surgery
Long Arm for contamination cleanup
HelpMate an assistant for the elderly and infirm
"Point Men" robots to assist soldiers
Demeter a robotic harvester
Pioneer the Chornobyl reconnaissance robot
In Space
Mars Pathfinder Mega links from Space Link
The Remote Manipulator System the Space Shuttle robotic arm
Deep Space 1 the autonomous spacecraft
Cassini the mission to Saturn
Galileo a journey to Jupiter
Mars Global Surveyor mapping the surface of Mars
Stardust a mission to collect and return comet dust to Earth
Ulysses solar exploration of the Sun's poles
Voyager Interstellar Mission it keeps going and going and going.....
NASA Research Robots
Robonaut
AerCam Sprint
Long Range Science Rover
The FIDO Rover
Inflatable Rovers
Aerobots
Nanorovers
Serpentine Visual Inspection Robot
Completed Robot Research at JPL
HISTORY OF ROBOTS
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270BC an ancient Greek engineer named Ctesibus made organs and water clocks with
movable figures.
1818 - Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" which was about a frightening artificial
life form created by Dr. Frankenstein.
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1921 - The term "robot" was first used in a play called "R.U.R." or "Rossum's
Universal Robots" by the Czech writer Karel Capek. The plot was simple: man makes
robot then robot kills man!
1941 - Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov first used the word "robotics" to describe
the technology of robots and predicted the rise of a powerful robot industry.
1942 - Asimov wrote "Runaround", a story about robots which contained the "Three
Laws of Robotics":
o A robot may not injure a human, or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.
o A robot must obey the orders it by human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
o A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict the First or Second Law.
1948 - "Cybernetics", an influence on artificial intelligence research was published by
Norbert Wiener
1956 - George Devol and Joseph Engel Berger formed the world's first robot
company.
1959 - Computer-assisted manufacturing was demonstrated at the Servomechanisms
Lab at MIT.
1961 - The first industrial robot was online in a General Motors automobile factory in
New Jersey. It was called UNIMATE.
1963 - The first artificial robotic arm to be controlled by a computer was designed.
The Rancho Arm was designed as a tool for the handicapped and it's six joints gave it
the flexibility of a human arm.
1965 - DENDRAL was the first expert system or program designed to execute the
accumulated knowledge of subject experts.
1968 - The octopus-like Tentacle Arm was developed by Marvin Minsky.
1969 - The Stanford Arm was the first electrically powered, computer-controlled
robot arm.
1970 - Shakey was introduced as the first mobile robot controlled by artificial
intellence. It was produced by SRI International.
1974 - A robotic arm (the Silver Arm) that performed small-parts assembly using
feedback from touch and pressure sensors was designed.
1979 - The Standford Cart crossed a chair-filled room without human assistance. The
cart had a TV camera mounted on a rail which took pictures from multiple angles and
relayed them to a computer. The computer analyzed the distance between the cart and
the obstacles
The Pioneers--Early Industrial Robots and Areas of Successful Application
What makes robots so desirable for industries? They are probably the most
obedient, diligent, and tireless workers. They do things that are often considered as "bad
jobs for humans, nicely bundled into the "4-D catagories: dirty, dangerous, dull, and
difficult"(Robot Technology P5). They are reprogrammable, unlike some other machines
or manipulators with one mindset which would require extensive re-engineering to "reeducate". They are accurate and fast, and able to keep it up for 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, with only minimum maintenance. They don't form unions, go on strikes, or ask for
raises. These are plenty of reasons for the industrial companies to have had spent decades
trying to come up with the first employable robot.
Current Developments:
The robotics industry is currently experiencing one of its best performances in the
past five years. Recent developments with considerable media exposure include Dante II
(NASA's walking robot in Alaska's Mt. Spurr) and Sojourner (NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory Mars Rover). These robots, however, are used for explorations and scientific
purposes.
According to Robotics Industries Association (RIA), the industry of robotics in
the United States had its best year ever in 1997, when the shipments reported showed an
increase of around 30% over 1996 numbers (1). At the beginning of 1998, the robotics
industry value has been estimated by analysts at $8 billion worldwide, expecting it to
rival the automobile and computer industries in generated dollars and jobs (2). For
example, FANUC Robotics North America, Inc., a leading robots and robotic systems
company, reported an increase of 37% in sales in 1997 over 1996 numbers (3). As more
and more companies realize the benefits of automation on their efficiency and
productivity, more automation products are developed and built by leading robotics
companies. Some of the companies that are currently building and selling robots for
industrial use are: FANUC Robotics, Cincinnati Milacron, Dae-Woo, and Adept
Technology.
Today's customers are not just looking for robots to use in their assembly lines,
but for more sophisticated technologies that include anti-personnel mine clearing and
clean rooms. In revolutionizing the workplace, material handling applications lead the
market (1). In the food and beverage industries, companies such as Procter and Gamble
are including packaging and palletizing systems that improve their cycle times and
production.
Robot-manufacturing companies, however, are not limiting their products to
industrial robots. Due to their cost, the market can be saturated once a good number of
robots are sold. With this in mind, these companies are trying to recognize new areas of
application, mainly the one of service robots. These are classified in several categories,
including military applications, entertainment, housework, and health care. The main
differences between the conventional, industrial robots, and the service robots include:
increased mobility (more autonomous), portability (compact, lightweight), operating case
(interface with human operator/client, ease of communication between the two), AI
(sensing, learning, judging), and adaptability to widely varying operations and
environmental conditions (4).
It is important to recognize that this page presents the "current status" of the
industry of robots up to the day the page was last modified (May 1998). Link #2 below
could be used to obtain "up to date" information on the field of robotics. The following
section presents some ideas as to what the future of the robots industry might be. If this
page still exists in the year 2010, you can check how good (or bad) were the speculations
given.
The Future
As in any other prediction, the following comments on the future of robots in
industry are just speculations based on current trends and the industry history.
Most of the future developments in the robotics industry might continue to be the
product of research at universities' laboratories. As time goes on and the existing
technology is improved, customers will demand robots that can perform their tasks at
higher speeds while still making consistently high-quality products. Increased autonomy
and lighter weight will also be expected, while production costs are minimized.
As mentioned before, the industry of robots depends on the industry of sensors
and the industry of chips. Thus, future solutions to problems in the areas of sensors,
actuators and powering technologies will be a deciding factor in the robots development
(1). The state of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field could also play a significant role in
new developments due to the meaning that some customers give to the concept of
"smarter" robots.
In general, future industrial applications of industrial robots can be divided in two
directions . First, the field of classical applications (arc welding, water jet cutting, and
assembly) could increase the number of "intelligent" robots by improving features such
as combined control, force control, and high payload capability. On the second hand, new
application areas, such as the area of service robots mentioned in the previous section,
should increase their popularity due to new and improved features that include increased
mobility, portability, higher AI functions, and adaptability to varying operations.
Even if the new technology is developed, potential problems such as higher costs
could create an initial demand that could end in the saturation of the market.
From
T.V. Nagar High School, Ambattur, Chennai – 600 053.
K. Thilaka, R. Gomathy, L..Jancy, M. JancyRani, B. Bhagyalakshmi