• Robotics is the engineering science and technology of robots, and
their design, manufacture, application, and structural disposition.
Robotics is related to electronics, mechanics, and software
• Robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by
computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its
own.
• Today, commercial and industrial robots are in widespread use
performing jobs more cheaply or more accurately and reliably than
humans. They are also employed in jobs which are too dirty,
dangerous, or dull to be suitable for humans.
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Structure
Power
Source
Control
Components of
Robots
Sensors
Actuation
Continued ….
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1.
Structure The structure of a robot is usually mostly mechanical and its
functionality being similar to the skeleton of the human body. The
chain is formed of links (its bones), actuators (its muscles), and joints
which can allow one or more degrees of freedom.
2.
Power source At present mostly batteries are used, but potential power
sources could be pneumatic (compressed gases), hydraulics
(compressed liquids), flywheel energy storage, organic garbage
(through anaerobic digestion).
3.
Actuation Actuators are like the "muscles" of a robot, the parts which
convert stored energy into movement. By far the most popular
actuators are electric motors, but there are many others, powered by
electricity, chemicals, and compressed air.
Continued ….
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4.
Sensors : sensing actions are important
5.
Control The mechanical structure of a robot must be controlled to
perform tasks. The control of a robot involves three distinct phases perception, processing, and action (robotic paradigms).
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Important Sensing
Actions of Robots
Touch and
Manipulation
Locomotion
Human-Robot
Interaction
• Mechanical
Grippers,
• Rolling ,Walking,
Hopping Robots,
• Speech
recognition,
• Vacuum
Grippers,
• Dynamic
balancing Robots
• Gestures & facial
expressions
• General Purpose
Grippers
• Flying, Snaking,
Climbing Robots
• Artificial
emotions
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In order for a robot to imitate the actions of a human being, it has to be
able to perform three fundamental tasks.
1.
It must be conscious of the world around it, just as humans obtain
information about the world from our five senses.
2.
Robot must somehow "know" what to do. One way for it to get that
knowledge is to have a human prepare a set of instructions that are
then implanted into the robot's "brain." Alternatively, it must be able to
analyze and interpret data it has received from its senses and then
make a decision based on that data as to how it should react.
3.
Robot must be able to act on the instructions or data it has received.
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The robots are used for wide range of applications in the society. Some of
them are shown below:
Manufacturing
, assembly,
and packing
Mass
production
Transport
Applications
of Robots
Safety
Laboratory
research
Earth and
space
exploration
Surgery
Weaponry
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Industrial Robots
• Robots are used in a wide range of industrial applications. Robots were
initially applied to jobs that were hot, heavy, and hazardous such as
die casting, forging, and spot welding.








Welding Applications
Spray Painting Applications
Assembly Operations
Palletizing and Material Handling
Dispensing Operations
Laboratory Applications
Water Jet Cutting
Work Cell
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• Educational Robots
Many schools use industrial robots to
teach robotic programming, control, and
work cell design. The alternatives to
industrial robots are the many
educational robots on the market
today.
Some resemble industrial robots of
various geometries, and some resemble
AGV (Automated Guided Vehicles) and
are referred to as "personal robots". The
robot selected for teaching purposes is
determined by the needs of the learner
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• Robots in Agriculture
The yet serious research is being conducted into the application
of robots to agriculture.
One of the most successful projects so far has been the
development of a sheep-shearing robot in Australia.
Other experimental applications of robots in agriculture include
A machine for the automatic break-up of pork carcasses,
Transplanting of seedlings, Pruning grapevines in France, and
Picking apples
All these systems are in experimental stages, but they have each
demonstrated their potential.
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• Robots in Space
The space environment is hostile to humans, who require expensive
protective clothing and Earth-like environments.
Applications outside the Earth's atmosphere are clearly a good fit for
robots. It is dangerous for humans to get to space, to be in space and to
return from space. Keeping robots operating reliably in space presents
some unique challenges for engineers. The ultra-high vacuum in space
prevents the use of most types of lubricants. The temperatures can
swing wildly depending on whether the robot is in the sun light or shade.
And, of course, there is almost no gravity.
This is actually more of an opportunity than a challenge and leads to the
possibility of some unique designs.
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• Robots in Space
Future applications of robots in space include
Free-flying general purpose robots within space stations,
Satellite maintenance robots,
Manipulator arms for space manufacturing, and
Construction robots for the construction of space stations and space
ships.
NASA's Robonaut is one of the
examples of use of robots in the space. 
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• Robots Assisting The Handicapped
Potential robotics aids for the disabled range from automatic
wheelchairs, which carry the occupant around a hospital in response to
voice commands, to robots which feed severely handicapped people.
Developers of these systems face severe economic restraints. The
market for products for the disabled is small, and often the disabled
cannot afford to pay high prices.
• Robots in Radioactive Environments
The robots are developed for the decontamination and dismantlement of
nuclear weapons facilities and testing of the radioactive waste for leaks
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• Robots in the Military
Pretty much by definition, the military is a dangerous place for humans.
This makes it a logical application for robotics.
Smart Crane Ammunition Transfer System being developed in USA for
one soldier to be able to unload the entire truck without ever leaving
the cab. The system includes cameras, video screens, force sensors and
special grippers.
Other examples are robotic mine-sweeper, unmanned vehicle Predator
has seen action over Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
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• Research Robots
Research Robots are used to study the possibility of using robots to
perform different tasks such as maintenance on the International Space
Station. ASIMO developed by Honda may be the most recognizable of
robots around these days used for research.
• Medical Robots
Robotic surgery is the use of robots in performing surgery. Three major
advances aided by surgical robots have been remote surgery, minimally
invasive surgery and unmanned surgery.
Some major advantages of robotic surgery are precision, miniaturization,
smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, less pain, and quicker healing
time.
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• Medical Robots
Some medical fields where robots can be used are;
– General surgery
– Cardiothoracic surgery
– Cardiology and electrophysiology
– Gastrointestinal surgery
– Gynecology
– Neurosurgery
– Pediatrics
– Radio surgery
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• Robots and robotics is developed in both public and private
industries in India. With the boom in the manufacturing sector,
the robotics industry is gearing up for sharp growth in the nongovernmental private sector too. For private companies, robotics
is not just about saving labor. The technology also helps
companies significantly step up productivity and quality, to meet
the demands of international competition.
• With a cost advantage, owing to lower engineering costs in India, the
country can produce more robots—companies such as Precision
Automation & Robotics (PARI) is already pitching its robots to large
organizations in the United States and Europe
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• Robots by Indian entrepreneurs are being developed at less than
half the cost of imported ones. Robotics start-ups in India are
finally making their presence felt in the education or industrial
and commercial segments; these start-ups are standing up and
getting noticed for their inventions.
• Young Indian scientists have developed a ‘pick and place robot
(PP robot) as part of the “Home Grown Technology Program,” on
the initiative of Technology Information, Forecasting and
Assessment Council (TIFAC), under the Department of Science
and Technology (DST).
Organizations engaged in research and development of robotics in India
is shown in the figure
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• Defense
Defense Research
Development Organisation • Military
Depatment of Science and • Social Technology
Technology
• Industrial Application
Indian Space Research
Organisation
Bhabha Atomic Research
Center
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• Space research
• Nuclear research
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1. Department of Science and Technology
Research and development activities in robotics in the Department of
Science and Technology include;
 A hand-eye-coordination system for the four-fingered robot is being
developed.
 An autonomous PC based mobile robot for stair navigation has been
developed. The mobile robot has a payload capacity of 20 kg that
can be moved on flat surface, over rough terrain, it can also climb
the staircase and can easily be lifted/carried using the foldable
platform on its arms.
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2. Indian Space Research Organization
The SmartNav robot is being created for India's Chandrayan-II Moon
Mission in 2011.
– The robot will
• Assist astronauts in their navigation around the moon’s surface
• Provide real-time pictures and record data.
– The two-legged robot, fitted with sophisticated sensors and highresolution cameras It is capable of recording information and images
using laser beams. The robot has been designed and put together at
a cost of Rs 2 million.
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3. Bhabha Atomic Research Center
• In manufacturing industry and nuclear industry, a large fraction of the
work is repetitive and judicious application of automation will most
certainly result in optimum utilization of machine and manpower.
• A pneumatic `Pick and Place' Robot has been developed by BARC to
achieve automation in applications where great sophistication is not
needed and simple tasks like picking up of small parts at one location
and placing them at another location can be done with great ease.
Its use can be extended and exploited by few modifications to do
difficult and hazardous tasks for nuclear applications.
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4. Defense Research and Development Organization
• Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) is a premier
laboratory of DRDO in keeping abreast of technological advances in the
fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Neural Networks (NN), Computer
Vision (CV), Signal Processing, Robotics, and Virtual Reality.
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4.
Defense Research and Development Organization
Following are some achievements by CAIR in robotics field;
1. A variety of controllers and manipulators for Gantry, SCARA
and other types of robots.
2. A prototype Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) with the aim of
attaining autonomous capability.
3. An intelligent wheelchair that would help physically challenged
people both in hospitals and homes.
4. Other robots developed by CAIR are for
Non-destructive testing
Ammunition loading
Hot slug manipulation
5. Bomb detection and disposal robot called ‘Daksh’ for the
Indian Army.
6. Full-tracked unmanned remote-controlled military vehicle
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Robotics is the science of design, manufacture, application and
structural disposition of robots and is related to electronics, mechanics,
and software.
Robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine guided by computer
or electronic programming that is able to perform its tasks according to
programming. Robots have wide applications in commercial and
industrial fields, performing tasks more accurately and cheaply than
humans. They are also needed for tasks that are too dirty, dangerous
and dull for humans.
COMPONENTS OF ROBOTS
Structure is usually mechanical and its functionality is similar to the
human skeleton. The chain is formed of links, actuators, and joints
allowing multiple degrees of freedom.
© Copyright 2010 UPSCMantra.com All rights reserved
26
Power source presently batteries are used, potential power sources
include pneumatic, hydraulics, flywheel energy storage and organic
garbage.
Actuators like electric motors, are the "muscles" of a robot, converting
stored energy into movement.
Sensors Following sensing actions are important;
Touch, Manipulation
:Mechanical Grippers, Vacuum Grippers,
general purpose effectors
Locomotion
:Rolling robots, Walking robots, Hopping,
Dynamic Balancing, Flying, Snaking,
Climbing
Human
:Robot interaction: Speech recognition,
Gestures, Facial expression, Artificial
Emotions
Control involves three distinct phases - perception, processing.
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How Robots Work?
It has to be able to perform three fundamental tasks:
First, like humans, it must be conscious of the world around it.
Second, it must "know" what to do. This requires programming.
Alternatively, it must be able to interpret data received from its senses
and make a decision based on that.
Third, the robot must be able to act on the instructions or data it has
received.
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APPLICATIONS OF ROBOTS:
Industry Robots are used for jobs that are too hot, heavy, and hazardous such
as die-casting, forging, welding, spray painting, component assembly, material
handling, dispensing, water jet cutting etc.
Education Robots are used to teach robotic programming, control, and work
cell design.
Agriculture Use of robots in is still being explored. Sheep-shearing robot in
Australia is one of the success stories.
Space As the space environment is hostile to humans due to adverse
temperature, vacuum and low gravity. NASA's Robonaut is one of the
examples of robot application in space.
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APPLICATIONS OF ROBOTS:
Assisting the Handicapped Robotic applications like automatic wheelchairs,
robots feeder for the severely handicapped etc. are used for assisting
handicapped people.
Military Robots are used for dangerous applications like mine sweeping,
unmanned vehicle predator and Smart Crane Ammunition Transfer System
being developed by USA.
Radioactive Environments Robots are used for decontamination and
dismantlement of nuclear weapons facilities and testing of radioactive waste
for leaks.
Research
Medicine: Robots are used for various surgeries.
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DEVELOPMENT OF ROBOTS IN INDIA
Robots and robotics is developed in both public and private industries in India.
For private companies robotics saves costs and labour and helps them attain
international standards. Robots by Indian entrepreneurs are a lot cheaper than
imported ones.
In India following organizations develops robots;Department of Science and
Technology (DST)ISRO (SmartNav robot for Chandrayan II moon mission)
BARC (Pick and Place' Robot for handling hazardous nuclear material)
DRDO (through its premier laboratory Center for Artificial Intelligence and
Robotics or CAIR)
CAIR deserves special mention as it is engaged in the development of
Intelligent Systems and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). DRDO is developing
bomb detection and disposal robot called ‘Daksh’ for the Indian Army and a fulltracked unmanned remote-controlled military vehicle for nuclear-biologicalchemical (NBC) reconnaissance, surveillance and mine hunting.
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This Document ends here……
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