Let's explore the world of Robotics

almost 4 years ago

Artificial intelligence is branch of science which deals in engineering of making intelligent machines. It uses computers to understand human intelligence to design the machines. It is not limited to biological observable methods.

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According to The Robot Institute of America, Robotics is a reprogrammable, multi functional manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks.” Robotics is technology of designing and manufacturing robots and their application.

History of Robots

After World War II, many people started working independently on intelligent machines. However, English mathematician, Alan Turing is considered the father of artificial intelligence. His work was not fully recognized because of his homosexuality.

Greek physicist, Ctesibius, invented one of the first robot which was called Water Clock or Clepsydra in 250BC. Other robots, which were created earlier during 1940’s – 50’s were Grey Walter’s “Elsie the tortoise”and the Johns Hopkins “beast”.

In 1960’s, Ralph Moser invented a Walking Truck at General Electric Corporation. It was a large four legged robot that could walk upto four miles an hour. The “Unimates” was probably first modern industrial robot created by George Devol in 1960’s.

Components of Robot

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There are four components of a robot. These are Actuation, Manipulation, Locomotion and Human Interaction. Below, I shall describe these components in detail:

Actuators:

These are known as the muscles of a robot. These convert the stored energy into movement and to convert commands into actions. Normally there are 03 types of actuators: electric, hydraulic and pneumatic.

Manipulators:

In order for robots to work in real world, they need some way to manipulate the objects to perform the functions like pick up, modify and destroy. Thus the “hands” of a robot are known as end effectors, which allow them to perform short range tasks. The arm is referred as a manipulator.

Humans Interaction:

In order to work effectively in homes and other non-industrial areas, they are instructed to perform their jobs and stop their functions and human interaction is of vital importance. These type of interaction include speech recognition, facial expressions, gestures and personality.

Locomotion:

Most of the mobile robots have four wheels. However, some researchers have also created complex wheeled robots having only one or two wheels.

Applications

Robots have many applications. It is used in exploration, industry, medicines, entertainment and military operations.

In Italy, A baby robot named iCub is being taught to communicate with humans and is being used into artificial intelligence and human cognition. It is even capable of solving complex mazes, crawling, grasping small objects and even express facial expressions.

Honda has also developed its humanoid robot with the help of its cutting-edge intelligence technologies.

Japanese mobile phone operator Softbank has developed a robot/cellphone hybrid Toshiba made 815T PB. It transforms into a robot and back into cellphone.

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