Robotics

What is Robotics / A.I. ?

• Robotics is the study of the design,

construction and use of robots.

• Artificial intelligence is the branch

of computer science that deals with
writing computer programs that can
solve problems creatively; "workers
in AI hope to imitate or duplicate
intelligence in computers and
robots"
 Definition of a Robot
•A robot is a reprogrammable,
multifunctional manipulator designed
to move material, parts, tools or
specialized devices through variable
programmed motions for the
performance of a variety of tasks:
- Robot Institute of America, 1979 Karel Capek

Word robot was coined by a Czech

novelist Karel Capek in a 1920 play
titled Rossum’s Universal Robots (RUR)

Robota in Czech is a word for worker

or servant
 Laws of Robotics

Asimov proposed three “Laws of

Robotics”(1942)

Law 1: A robot may not injure a

human being or through inaction,
allow a human being to come to
harm.

Law 2: A robot must obey orders

given to it by human beings,
except where such orders would
conflict with a higher order law

Law 3: A robot must protect its

own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with a
higher order law
 History of Robotics..
1898:
Nikola Tesla ,famous inventor,
patents the first remote controlled
device.
The 'teleautomaton' was a crewless boat
that was controlled from a distance
without wires
Teleautomaton

1940:
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
creates two of the first robots that use
the electric motor for entire body
motion.
Elektra could dance, count to ten
and smoke, while his dog companion
Sparko, could walk, stand on its hind
legs and bark. Elektra & Sparco
1948:
• The first electronic autonomous
robots were created by William Grey
Walter of the Burden Neurological
Institute at Bristol, England in 1948 and
1949.

•They were named Elmer and Elsie

Elmer Elsie
The first industrial robot :-
“UNIMATE”

1954:
The first programmable robot is
designed by George Devol, who
coins the term Universal
Automation.

•He later shortens this to Unimation,

which becomes the name of the first
UNIMATE - originally
robot company (1962). automated the manufacture
of TV picture tubes
1956-Robot in Fiction/Hollywood

• Robby the Robot- the

first robot seen at the
movies

• A scene from Forbidden Planet

• Lost In Space (1965) •Star Wars

1978:
The Puma (Programmable Universal
Machine for Assembly) robot is
developed by Unimation with a General
Motors design support
PUMA 560 Manipulator
1981 :
IBM enters the robotics field with its
1990’s:
The robot industry enters a phase of rapid growth.
Many institutions introduce programs and courses in robotics.

Robotics courses are spread across mechanical engineering,

electrical engineering, and computer science departments.

GE WALKING Barrett Technology

Cognex In-Sight Robot Manipulator (BTM)
TRUCK
 Our Times
2001:
• The Mini-Andros is used by bomb squads to locate and
dispose of bombs.
• About three feet long, it looks something like a small
armoured tank with eight wheels on four "legs" that Mini-Andros
extend for climbing stairs.

2003:
• NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers launched towards
Mars in search of answers about the history of water
on Mars.

2005:
• Urashima — deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle
• It is a remotely operated vehicle for deep-sea exploration.
• The goal is to analyze amounts of carbon dioxide, sodium
and other chemicals for information on global warming and
other environmental changes.
 What tasks would you give robots?

Dangerous
•Space exploration
•chemical spill cleanup
•disarming bombs
•disaster cleanup

Boring and/or repetitive

•Welding car frames
•part pick and place
•manufacturing parts.

High precision or high

speed
•Electronics testing
•Surgery
•precision machining.
 Automata v/s Robots

 Automata –
Machinery designed to carry out a specific task or
a predetermined sequence of operations or respond to
encoded instructions.

•Bottling machine
•Dishwasher
•Paint sprayer

 Robots –
Machinery designed to carry out a variety of tasks
•Pick and place arms
•Mobile robots
•Computer Numerical Control machines
 Types of robots
 Pick and place
• Moves items between points

 Continuous path control

• Moves along a programmable path

 Sensory
• Employs sensors for feedback
 Pick and Place
 Moves items from one point
to another

 Does not need to follow a

specific path between
points

• Uses include loading and

unloading machines,
placing components on
circuit boards, and moving
parts off
 Continuous path control
 Moves along a
specific path

 Uses include
welding, cutting,
machining parts.
 Sensor
 Uses sensors for feedback.

 Closed-loop robots use

sensors in conjunction with
actuators to gain higher
accuracy – servo motors.

 Uses include mobile

robotics, telepresence,
search and rescue, pick and
place with machine vision
 The Purpose of Robots
• Repetitive tasks that • Robots can operate
robots can do 24/7. equipment to much
higher precision than
• Robots never get sick or humans.
need time off.
• May be cheaper over
• Robots can do tasks the long term
considered too
dangerous for humans. • May be able to perform
tasks that are impossible
for humans
 Industries Using Robots

• Agriculture • Military: demining,

• Automobile surveillance, attack,
• Construction etc.
• Entertainment • Mining, excavation,
• Health care: hospitals, and exploration
patient-care, surgery , • Transportation: air,
research, etc. ground, rail, space,
• Laboratories: science, etc.
engineering , etc. • Utilities: gas, water,
• Law enforcement: and electric
surveillance, patrol, etc. • Manufacturing
• Warehouses
 HOW ROBOTS ARE USED IN
INDUSTRIES
•Cartesian robot /Gantry robot: Used
for pick and place work, 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 diecasting
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.
Used for assembly
operations, diecasting,
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
 What are the
parts of a robot?
•Manipulator
•Pedestal
•Controller
•End Effectors
•Power Source
Manipulator
(Mimics the human arm)
• Base
• Appendages
-Shoulder

-Arm

-Grippers
Pedestal
(Human waist)

• Supports the
manipulator.
• Acts as a
counterbalance.
Controller
(The brain)
• Issues instructions to
the robot.
• Controls peripheral
devices.
• Interfaces with robot.
• Interfaces with
humans.
End
Effectors
• Spray paint
attachments
• Welding
attachments
• Vacuum heads
• Hands
• Grippers
Power
Source (The food)

• Electric
• Pneumatic
• Hydraulic
 Knowledgebase for Robotics

Typical knowledgebase for the design and

operation of robotics systems
Dynamic system modeling and analysis
Feedback control
Sensors and signal conditioning
Actuators and power electronics
Hardware/computer interfacing
Computer programming
Disciplines: mathematics, physics, biology, mechanical
engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and
computer science
 Key Components

Power conversion
unit
Sensors Actuators
Controller
User
interface
Manipulator
linkage
Base
 Robot Mechanism: Mechanical Elements
Gear, rack, pinion, etc.

Cam and Follower

Inclined plane wedge Chain and sprocket

Lever
Slider-Crank

Linkage
 Sensors: I

•Human senses: sight, sound, touch, taste,

and smell provide us vital information to
function and survive

•Robot sensors: measure robot

configuration/condition and its environment Accelerometer
and send such information to robot Using Piezoelectric Effect
controller as electronic signals (e.g., arm
position, presence of toxic gas)

•Robots often need information that is

beyond 5 human senses (e.g., ability to:
see in the dark, detect tiny amounts of
invisible radiation, measure movement that
is too small or fast for the human eye to Flexiforce
see) Sensor
 Sensors: II

Vision Sensor: e.g., to pick bins,

perform inspection, etc.

Part-Picking: Robot can handle work

pieces that are randomly piled by using In-Sight Vision
3-D vision sensor. Since alignment Sensors
operation, a special parts feeder, and
an alignment pallete are not required,
an automatic system can be
constructed at low cost.
 Sensors: III

Force Sensor: e.g., parts

fitting and insertion, force
feedback in robotic
surgery

Parts fitting and insertion: Robots can do

precise fitting and insertion of machine
parts by using force sensor. A robot can
insert parts that have the phases after
matching their phases in addition to
simply inserting them. It can automate
high-skill jobs.
 Actuators: I
•Common robotic actuators
utilize combinations of different
electro-mechanical devices

•Synchronous motor

•Stepper motor

•AC servo motor

•Brushless DC servo motor

•Brushed DC servo motor

 Actuators: II

Pneumatic
Cylinder
Hydraulic Motor Stepper Motor

Pneumatic Motor DC Motor

Servo Motor
 Controller

•Provide necessary intelligence

to control the
manipulator/mobile robot

•Process the sensory

information and compute the
control commands for the
actuators to carry out specified
tasks
 Controller Hardware: I

Storage devices: e.g., memory to store the

control program and the state of the robot
system obtained from the sensors
 Controller Hardware: II

Computational engine that

computes the control commands

RoboBoard Robotics Controller BASIC Stamp 2 Module

 Controller Hardware: III
Interface units: Hardware to interface digital controller with the
external world (sensors and actuators)

Analog to Digital Operational

Converter Amplifiers

LM358 LM358

LM1458 dual operational amplifier

 advantages
 Quality:
 Robots have the capacity to

dramatically improve product quality.

 Applications are performed with

precision and high repeatability every

time.
 This level of consistency can be hard to

achieve any other way.

 Production:

 With robots, throughput speeds

increase, which directly impacts
production.
 Because robots have the ability to
work at a constant speed without
pausing for breaks, sleep, vacations,
they have the potential to produce
more than a human worker.
  Safety:

 Robots increase workplace safety.

 Workers are moved to supervisory
roles, so they no longer have to
perform dangerous applications in
hazardous settings.
  Savings:

 Greater worker safety leads to

financial savings.
 There are fewer healthcare and
insurance concerns for employers.
 Robots also offer untiring
performance which saves valuable
time.
 Their movements are always exact, so
less material is wasted.
 disadvantages
 Expense:

 The initial investment of robots is

significant, especially when business
owners are limiting their purchases to new
robotic equipment.
 The cost of automation should be
calculated in light of a business' greater
financial budget.
 Regular maintenance needs can have a
financial toll as well.
 Expertise:

 Employees will require training in

programming and interacting with the
new robotic equipment.
 This normally takestime and financial
output.
 Safety:

 Robots may protect workers from

some hazards, but in the meantime,
their very presence can create other
safety problems.
 These new dangers must be taken into
consideration.
 Advantages

They are program from humans for necessary reasons.

 We do not have to pay them.

 They complete orders more accurate than humans mostly
 They follow orders as what they are programmed by us to
be.

 They can improved the future in many ways (refer to the

five examples of robots advantages).
 Creates new jobs.
 disadvantages
 The are extremely expensive. costs for maintainence.

 Creates job loses

 Hard to construct.
 Some companies will lag behind in industries due to the
lack of sufficient financial resources and technical
expertise.
 require more space, and new technology to accommodate
robotics system and robots.
 Imperative in hiring skilled engineers, programmers, and
others to set up robotics system and robots to avoid
future dillemas and mishaps.
 Future of robotics
 What does the future hold for robotics? What is the next
step, or the next technological boundary to overcome?
The general trend for computers seems to be faster
processing speed, greater memory capacity and so on.
One would assume that the robots of the future would
become closer and closer to the decision-making ability of
humans and also more independent.

 Indeed, the human skeletal and muscular systems are

complicated for many reasons.Presumably, once robots
have the ability perform a much wider array of tasks, and
voice recognition software improves such that computers
can interpret complicated sentences in varying accents,
we may in fact see robots doing our housework and
carrying out other tasks in the physical world.