CORC 3303 Exploring Robotics Unit A: Introduction To Robotics
What is a robot? The robot word is attributed to Czech playwright Karel Capek. He first coined the term in his 1921 play Rossum's Universal Robots. The word is a combination of the Czech words rabota, define as obligatory work and robotnik, meaning serf. We do have robots which perform obligatory work such as robots within an assembly line yet the field of robotics encompasses way more than this.
What is a robot? The notion of a robot has change through out time. This is do to changes in technology and science as time passes. For example, here is an 18 th century lifelike machine constructed by Swiss inventor Pierre Jaquet-Droz around 1774. http://news.stanford.edu/news/20 01/october24/riskinprofile- 1024.html
What is a robot? Once computational machinery is developed, the notions of a robot started to include thought, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions and consciousness. So, what is the definition for a robot these days? A robot is an autonomous system which exists in the physical world, can sense its environment, and can act on it to achieve some goals.
What is a robot? http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_bigdog.html
What is a robot? http://www.oreillynet.com/onl amp/blog/2007/01/microsoft_ robotics_studio_sdk.html http://world.honda.com/asimo/history/
Robot Keywords Autonomous: a robot acts on the basis of its own decisions, and it is not externally controlled. It may be able to take input and advice from humans, but are not completely controlled by them. Physical World: robot exists in the same world occupied by you, me and any other creature in this world or any other for that matter (Mars Rover).
Robot Keywords Sense/Sensing: a robot has means of getting information from the world it inhabits. These means are called sensors. Act: a robot takes actions based on the information provided by its sensory inputs in order to achieve what it is desired. In other words robots affect the world by doing or changing something. Achieve Goals: a robot's utility which is to do something useful for itself and/or others.
What is Robotics? Robotics is the study of robots and their autonomous and purposeful sensing and acting in the physical world. The term Robotics is attributed to the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The irobot film, starring Will Smith is loosely based on a set of stories written by this author.
Robot Components: Sensors Sensors: the physical equipment that enables a robot to perceive its physical environment in order to extract information about itself and its surroundings. Sensors allow the robot to know its state. A robot state is a description of the robot at any point in time. The more detailed the description the larger the state is. A state can be observable (visible), partially observable (partially hidden) or unobservable.
Robot Components: Sensors A state may also be discrete or continuous which refers to the amount of information used to describe the system. An example could be an on/off light switch (discrete) vs a dimmer switch (continuous). A state can be external or internal to the robot. External state refers to the state of the world as the robot senses it. Internal refers to the state of the robot itself as the robot perceives it. The state space consists of all the possible states a system can be in.
Robot Components: Sensors
Robot Components: Sensors A state may also be discrete or continuous which refers to the amount of information used to describe the system. An example could be an on/off light switch (discrete) vs a dimmer switch (continuous). A state can be external or internal to the robot. External state refers to the state of the world as the robot senses it. Internal refers to the state of the robot itself as the robot perceives it. The state space consists of all the possible states a system can be in.
Robot Components: Effectors and Actuators Effectors enable the robot to do physical things in the world. Wheels are one of many examples of effectors. Actuators are the underlying mechanisms behind the effectors and are the ones who do the work. A motor that drives a wheel is an example of an actuator. The two main activities handled by effectors and actuators are locomotion (moving around) and manipulation (handling objects).
Robot Components: Controllers Controller(s) provide the hardware and/ or software that makes the robot autonomous by using the sensor inputs and any other information to decide what actions to take and then to control the effectors to execute that action. In a nutshell, the controller could be seen as the brain of the robot. You can have more than one controller and each one may be dedicated to a different part of the robot. This provides simultaneous processing of inputs.