Robotics is the science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application. A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements ^[1] Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics and software, and is usually accompanied by a large working knowledge of many subjects. Electronics refers to the flow of charge (moving Electrons through Nonmetal conductors (mainly Semiconductors, whereas electrical Mechanics ( Greek) is the branch of Physics concerned with the behaviour of physical bodies when subjected to Forces or displacements ^[2] A person working in the field is a roboticist. A roboticist designs builds programs and experiments with Robots Since robotics is a highly Interdisciplinary field roboticists often have backgrounds in

The structure of a robot is usually mostly mechanical and can be called a kinematic chain (its functionality being similar to the skeleton of the human body). Structure is a fundamental and sometimes Intangible notion covering the Recognition, Observation, nature, and Stability of A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity Kinematics ( Greek κινειν, kinein, to move is a branch of Classical mechanics which describes the motion of objects without The chain is formed of links (its bones), actuators (its muscles) and joints which can allow one or more degrees of freedom. An actuator is a mechanical device for moving or controlling a mechanism or system In mechanics, degrees of freedom (DOF are the set of independent displacements and/or rotations that specify completely the displaced or deformed position and orientation Most contemporary robots use open serial chains in which each link connects the one before to the one after it. These robots are called serial robots and often resemble the human arm. Some robots, such as the Stewart platform, use closed parallel kinematic chains. A Stewart platform is a kind of Parallel manipulator using an octahedral assembly of struts Other structures, such as those that mimic the mechanical structure of humans, various animals and insects, are comparatively rare. However, the development and use of such structures in robots is an active area of research (e. g. biomechanics). Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles on living organisms Robots used as manipulators have an end effector mounted on the last link. This end effector can be anything from a welding device to a mechanical hand used to manipulate the environment. Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials usually Metals or Thermoplastics by causing coalescence. The hands ( med / lat: manus pl manūs are the two intricate prehensile multi- Fingered body parts normally located at the end of each arm of a ISO 10248 defines a robotic application on the industrial field.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Components of robots 2.1 Actuation 2.2 Manipulation 2.3 Locomotion 2.3.1 Rolling Robots 2.3.2 Walking Robots 2.3.3 Other methods of locomotion 2.4 Human interaction 3 Control 4 Dynamics and kinematics 5 Education 6 References 7 External links

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word robotics was first used in print by Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Liar!", published in May 1941 in Astounding Science Fiction. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such " Liar! " is a Science fiction Short story by Isaac Asimov that first appeared in the May 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American Science fiction Magazine. Robotics is based on the word "robot" coined by science fiction author Karel Čapek in his 1920 theater play R. A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements Karel Čapek ( pronounced) ( January 9, 1890 – December 25, 1938 was one of the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, in Czech "Rossumovi univerzální roboti"). The word robot comes from the word robota meaning "self labor", and, figuratively, "drudgery" or "hard work" in Czech (and many other Slavic languages). The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages Asimov was unaware that he was coining the term for a new field -- as the design of electrical devices is called electronics, so the design of robots could be appropriately called robotics. ^[3] Before the coining of the term, however, there was interest in ideas similar to robotics (namely automata and androids) dating as far back as the 8th or 7th century BC. This article is about a self-operating machine For other uses of Automaton see Automaton (disambiguation or Automata (disambiguation. An android is a Robot designed to resemble a human usually both in appearance and behavior In the Iliad, the god Hephaestus made talking handmaidens out of gold. The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Hephaestus (hɨˈfiːstəs or /hɨˈfɛstəs/ Greek Hēphaistos) was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. ^[4] Archytas of Tarentum is credited with creating a mechanical Pigeon in 400 BC. Archytas (Ἀρχύτας 428 BC – 347 BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Astronomer, Statesman, and strategist Events By Place Western Roman Empire Italy is first invaded by Alaric (probable date ^[5] Robots are used in industrial, military, exploration, home making, and academic and research applications. ^[6]

Components of robots

Actuation

The actuators are the 'muscles' of a robot; the parts which convert stored energy into movement. Muscle (from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus "mouse" is contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the Potential energy can be thought of as Energy stored within a physical system By far the most popular actuators are electric motors, but there are many others, some of which are powered by electricity, while others use chemicals, or compressed air. An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy.

• Motors: By far the vast majority of robots use electric motors, of which there are several kinds. A DC motor is an Electric motor that runs on Direct current (DC electricity DC motors, which are familiar to many people, spin rapidly when an electric current is passed through them. They will spin backwards if the current is made to flow in the other direction.
• Stepper motors: As the name suggests, stepper motors do not spin freely like DC motors, they rotate in steps of a few degrees at a time, under the command of a controller. A stepper motor (or step motor) is a brushless, synchronous Electric This makes them easier to control, as the controller knows exactly how far they have rotated, without having to use a sensor. Therefore they are used on many robots and CNC machining centres.
• Piezo motors: A recent alternative to DC motors are piezo motors, also known as ultrasonic motors. A piezoelectric motor or piezo motor is a type of Electric motor based upon the change in shape of a piezoelectric material when an Electric field An ultrasonic motor is a type of Electric motor formedfrom the ultrasonic Vibration of a component the Stator, placedagainst another the rotor These work on a fundamentally different principle, whereby tiny piezoceramic legs, vibrating many thousands of times per second, walk the motor round in a circle or a straight line. Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably Crystals and certain Ceramics including bone to generate an Electric potential in response to ^[7] The advantages of these motors are incredible nanometre resolution, speed and available force for their size. A nanometre ( American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) ( Greek: νάνος nanos dwarf; μετρώ metrό count) is a ^[8] These motors are already available commercially, and being used on some robots. ^[9][10]
• Air muscles: The air muscle is a simple yet powerful device for providing a pulling force. Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs are contractile or extensional devices operated by pressurized air. When inflated with compressed air, it contracts by up to 40% of its original length. The key to its behavior is the braiding visible around the outside, which forces the muscle to be either long and thin, or short and fat. Since it behaves in a very similar way to a biological muscle, it can be used to construct robots with a similar muscle/skeleton system to an animal. ^[11] For example, the Shadow robot hand uses 40 air muscles to power its 24 joints.
• Electroactive polymers: Electroactive polymers are a class of plastics which change shape in response to electrical stimulation. Electroactive Polymers or EAPs are Polymers whose shape is modified when a Voltage is applied to them Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products ^[12] They can be designed so that they bend, stretch or contract, but so far there are no EAPs suitable for commercial robots, as they tend to have low efficiency or are not robust. ^[13] Indeed, all of the entrants in a recent competition to build EAP powered arm wrestling robots, were beaten by a 17 year old girl. ^[14] However, they are expected to improve in the future, where they may be useful for microrobotic applications. ^[15]

• Elastic nanotubes: These are a promising, early-stage experimental technology. The absence of defects in nanotubes enables these filaments to deform elastically by several percent, with energy storage levels of perhaps 10J per cu cm for metal nanotubes. Human biceps could be replaced with an 8mm diameter wire of this material. Such compact "muscle" might allow future robots to outrun and outjump humans. ^[16]

Manipulation

Robots which must work in the real world require some way to manipulate objects; pick up, modify, destroy or otherwise have an effect. Thus the 'hands' of a robot are often referred to as end effectors^[17], while the arm is referred to as a manipulator. ^[18] Most robot arms have replaceable effectors, each allowing them to perform some small range of tasks. Some have a fixed manipulator which cannot be replaced, while a few have one very general purpose manipulator, for example a humanoid hand.

• Grippers: A common effector is the gripper. In its simplest manifestation it consists of just two fingers which can open and close to pick up and let go of a range of small objects. See End effectors [1].
• Vacuum Grippers: Pick and place robots for electronic components and for large objects like car windscreens, will often use very simple vacuum grippers. These are very simple astrictive devices, but can hold very large loads provided the prehension surface is smooth enough to ensure suction. Prehensility or Prehensile is the quality of an Appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding
• General purpose effectors: Some advanced robots are beginning to use fully humanoid hands, like the Shadow Hand and the Schunk hand. ^[19] These highly dexterous manipulators, with as many as 20 degrees of freedom and hundreds of tactile sensors^[20] can be difficult to control. In mechanics, degrees of freedom (DOF are the set of independent displacements and/or rotations that specify completely the displaced or deformed position and orientation The computer must consider a great deal of information, and decide on the best way to manipulate an object from many possibilities.

For the definitive guide to all forms of robot endeffectors, their design and usage consult the book "Robot Grippers" ^[21].

Locomotion

Rolling Robots

For simplicity, most mobile robots have four wheels. A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load ( Mass) or performing labour in machines However, some researchers have tried to create more complex wheeled robots, with only one or two wheels.

• Two-wheeled balancing: While the Segway is not commonly thought of as a robot, it can be thought of as a component of a robot. The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing Electric vehicle invented by Dean Kamen. Several real robots do use a similar dynamic balancing algorithm, and NASA's Robonaut has been mounted on a Segway. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Robonaut is a joint DARPA &ndash NASA project designed to create a Humanoid Robot which can function as an equivalent to humans during Extra-vehicular ^[22]
• Ballbot: Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new type of mobile robot that balances on a ball instead of legs or wheels. Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United "Ballbot" is a self-contained, battery-operated, omnidirectional robot that balances dynamically on a single urethane-coated metal sphere. The Ballbot is a Mobile robot, an attempt to solve the Robotic unicycle problem and is designed to balance itself on its single spherical wheel while travelling about It weighs 95 pounds and is the approximate height and width of a person. Because of its long, thin shape and ability to maneuver in tight spaces, it has the potential to function better than current robots can in environments with people. ^[23]
• Track Robot: Another type of rolling robot is one that has tracks, like NASA's Urban Robot, Urbie. ^[24]

Walking Robots

Walking is a difficult and dynamic problem to solve. RobotCub is a 5 years long project funded by the European Commission through Unit E5 "Cognition" of the IST. Several robots have been made which can walk reliably on two legs, however none have yet been made which are as robust as a human. Typically, these robots can walk well on flat floors, and can occasionally walk up stairs. None can walk over rocky, uneven terrain. Some of the methods which have been tried are:

• ZMP Technique: The Zero Moment Point (ZMP) is the algorithm used by robots such as Honda's ASIMO. Zero Moment Point is a concept related with dynamics and control of legged Locomotion, e () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. is a Humanoid robot created by Honda Motor Company. Standing at 130 Centimeters (4 feet 3 Inches) and weighing 54 Kilograms (119 The robot's onboard computer tries to keep the total inertial forces (the combination of earth's gravity and the acceleration and deceleration of walking), exactly opposed by the floor reaction force (the force of the floor pushing back on the robot's foot). The vis insita or innate force of matter is a power of resisting by which every body as much as in it lies endeavors to preserve in its present state whether it be of rest or of moving Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another In Classical mechanics, Newton's third law states that Forces occur in pairs one called the Action and the other the Reaction ( actio et In this way, the two forces cancel out, leaving no moment (force causing the robot to rotate and fall over). In Physics, the moment of force (often just moment, though there are other quantities of that name such as Moment of inertia) is a Pseudovector ^[25] However, this is not exactly how a human walks, and the difference is quite apparent to human observers, some of whom have pointed out that ASIMO walks as if it needs the lavatory. A toilet is a Plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the bodily wastes: Urine and fecal matter. ^[26][27][28] ASIMO's walking algorithm is not static, and some dynamic balancing is used (See below). However, it still requires a smooth surface to walk on.
• Hopping: Several robots, built in the 1980s by Marc Raibert at the MIT Leg Laboratory, successfully demonstrated very dynamic walking. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Marc Raibert is a former MIT professor who founded the MIT Leg Lab in the 1980s and went on to found Boston Dynamics, a simulation and robotics company Initially, a robot with only one leg, and a very small foot, could stay upright simply by hopping. The movement is the same as that of a person on a pogo stick. A pogo stick is a device consisting of a pole with a handle at one end footpads on the other and a spring which supports the stick and user when on the ground As the robot falls to one side, it would jump slightly in that direction, in order to catch itself. ^[29] Soon, the algorithm was generalised to two and four legs. A bipedal robot was demonstrated running and even performing somersaults. A somersault (sometimes salto) is an acrobatic feat in which a person rotates around the somersault axis moving the feet over the head ^[30] A quadruped was also demonstrated which could trot, run, pace and bound. Quadrupedalism (from Latin meaning "four legs" is a form of land animal locomotion using four legs. This is an article on horse gaits for other meanings see gait (disambiguation. ^[31] For a full list of these robots, see the MIT Leg Lab Robots page.
• Dynamic Balancing: A more advanced way for a robot to walk is by using a dynamic balancing algorithm, which is potentially more robust than the Zero Moment Point technique, as it constantly monitors the robot's motion, and places the feet in order to main stability. ^[32] This technique was recently demonstrated by Anybots' Dexter Robot,^[33] which is so stable, it can even jump. Trevor Blackwell (born 4 November 1969 in Canada) is a computer Programmer based in Silicon Valley. ^[34]
• Passive Dynamics: Perhaps the most promising approach utilises passive dynamics where the momentum of swinging limbs is used for greater efficiency. Passive dynamics is an approach to Robotic movement control (especially Walking) based on utilising the Momentum of swinging limbs for greater efficiency In Classical mechanics, momentum ( pl momenta SI unit kg · m/s, or equivalently N · s) is the product It has been shown that totally unpowered humanoid mechanisms can walk down a gentle slope, using only gravity to propel themselves. Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another Using this technique, a robot need only supply a small amount of motor power to walk along a flat surface or a little more to walk up a hill. This technique promises to make walking robots at least ten times more efficient than ZMP walkers, like ASIMO. ^[35][36]

Other methods of locomotion

• Flying: A modern passenger airliner is essentially a flying robot, with two humans to attend it. The Northrop Grumman (formerly Ryan Aeronautical) RQ-4 Global Hawk (known as Tier II+ during development is an Unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV is an unpiloted Aircraft. UAVs can be remote controlled or fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic A jet airliner, sometimes contracted to jetliner, is a passenger Airplane (passenger Aeroplane) that is powered by Jet engines. Flight is the process by which an object achieves sustained movement either through the Air (or movement beyond Earth's atmosphere, in the case of The autopilot can control the plane for each stage of the journey, including takeoff, normal flight and even landing ^[37]. An autopilot is a mechanical electrical or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being Other flying robots are completely automated, and are known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV is an unpiloted Aircraft. UAVs can be remote controlled or fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic They can be smaller and lighter without a human pilot, and fly into dangerous territory for military surveillance missions. Some can even fire on targets under command. UAVs are also being developed which can fire on targets automatically, without the need for a command from a human. Other flying robots include cruise missiles, the Entomopter and the Epson micro helicopter robot. A cruise missile is a guided Missile that carries an explosive payload and uses a lifting wing and a propulsion system usually a Jet engine, to allow

• Snaking: Several snake robots have been successfully developed. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. Mimicking the way real snakes move, these robots can navigate very confined spaces, meaning they may one day be used to search for people trapped in collapsed buildings. ^[38] The Japanese ACM-R5 snake robot ^[39] can even navigate both on land and in water. ^[40]
• Skating: A small number of skating robots have been developed, one of which is a multi-mode walking and skating device, Titan VIII. Roller skating is the Traveling on smooth terrain with roller skates It has four legs, with unpowered wheels, which can either step or roll^[41]. Another robot, Plen, can use a miniature skateboard or rollerskates, and skate across a desktop. ^[42]
• Swimming: It is calculated that when swimming some fish can achieve a propulsive efficiency greater than 90%. Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through Water, usually without artificial assistance ^[43] Furthermore, they can accelerate and manoeuver far better than any man-made boat or submarine, and produce less noise and water disturbance. A boat is a Watercraft of modest size designed to float or plane on water and provide transport over it A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability Therefore, many researchers studying underwater robots would like to copy this type of locomotion. ^[44] Notable examples are the Essex University Computer Science Robotic Fish^[45], and the Robot Tuna built by the Institute of Field Robotics, to analyse and mathematically model thunniform motion. The prevailing type of fish locomotion is Swimming in Water. In addition some fish can "walk" i ^[46]

Human interaction

If robots are to work effectively in homes and other non-industrial environments, the way they are instructed to perform their jobs, and especially how they will be told to stop will be of critical importance. Kismet is a Robot made in the late 1990s at MIT with auditory visual and expressive systems intended to participate in human social interaction and to demonstrate The people who interact with them may have little or no training in robotics, and so any interface will need to be extremely intuitive. Science fiction authors also typically assume that robots will eventually communicate with humans by talking, gestures and facial expressions, rather than a command-line interface. Speech refers to the processes associated with the production and perception of Sounds used in Spoken language. A gesture is a form of Non-verbal communication made with a part of the body used instead of or in combination with verbal communication. A facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the Muscles of the Face. Although speech would be the most natural way for the human to communicate, it is quite unnatural for the robot. It will be quite a while before robots interact as naturally as the fictional C3P0. C-3PO ( Nicknamed Threepio) is a Fictional character from the Star Wars universe, who appears in both the original

• Speech recognition: Interpreting the continuous flow of sounds coming from a human (speech recognition), in real time, is a difficult task for a computer, mostly because of the great variability of speech. Sound' is Vibration transmitted through a Solid, Liquid, or Gas; particularly sound means those vibrations composed of Frequencies Speech recognition (also known as automatic speech recognition or computer speech recognition) converts spoken words to machine-readable input (for example to keypresses In Linguistics ( Articulatory phonetics) manner of articulation describes how the tongue lips and other speech organs are involved in making a sound make The same word, spoken by the same person may sound different depending on local acoustics, volume, the previous word, whether or not the speaker has a cold, etc. A word is a unit of Language that carries meaning and consists of one or more Morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together and has a Phonetic Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of Sound, Ultrasound and Infrasound (all mechanical waves in gases liquids and solids The volume of any solid plasma vacuum or theoretical object is how much three- Dimensional space it occupies often quantified numerically Acute viral nasopharyngitis or acute coryza, usually known as the common cold, is a highly contagious viral Infectious disease of the . It becomes even harder when the speaker has a different accent. In Linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain Syllables in a word ^[47] Nevertheless, great strides have been made in the field since Davis, Biddulph, and Balashek designed the first "voice input system" which recognized "ten digits spoken by a single user with 100% accuracy" in 1952. ^[48] Currently, the best systems can recognise continuous, natural speech, up to 160 words per minute, with an accuracy of 95%. ^[49]
• Gestures: One can imagine, in the future, explaining to a robot chef how to make a pastry, or asking directions from a robot police officer. On both of these occasions, making hand gestures would aid the verbal descriptions. A gesture is a form of Non-verbal communication made with a part of the body used instead of or in combination with verbal communication. In the first case, the robot would be recognising gestures made by the human, and perhaps repeating them for confirmation. In the second case, the robot police officer would gesture to indicate "down the road, then turn right". It is quite likely that gestures will make up a part of the interaction between humans and robots. ^[50] A great many systems have been developed to recognise human hand gestures. ^[51]
• Facial expression: Facial expressions can provide rapid feedback on the progress of a dialog between two humans, and soon it may be able to do the same for humans and robots. A facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the Muscles of the Face. A robot should know how to approach a human, judging by their facial expression and body language. Whether the person is happy, frightened or crazy-looking affects the type of interaction expected of the robot. Likewise, a robot like Kismet can produce a range of facial expressions, allowing it to have meaningful social exchanges with humans. ^[52]
• Personality: Many of the robots of science fiction have personality, and that is something which may or may not be desirable in the commercial robots of the future. ^[53] Nevertheless, researchers are trying to create robots which appear to have a personality^[54][55]: i. e. they use sounds, facial expressions and body language to try to convey an internal state, which may be joy, sadness or fear. One commercial example is Pleo, a toy robot dinosaur, which can exhibit several apparent emotions. Pleo is a robotic dinosaur designed to emulate the appearance and behavior of a week-old baby Camarasaurus. ^[56]

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). A robotic paradigm can be described by the relationship between the 3 primitives of Robotics: Sense, Plan, and Act Sensors give information about the environment or the robot itself (e. A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument g. the position of its joints or its end effector). This information is then processed to calculate the appropriate signals to the actuators (motors) which move the mechanical structure. An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy.

The processing phase can range in complexity. At a reactive level, it may translate raw sensor information directly into actuator commands. Sensor fusion may first be used to estimate parameters of interest (e. Sensor fusion is the combining of Sensory data or data derived from sensory data from disparate sources such that the resulting information is in some sense better g. the position of the robot's gripper) from noisy sensor data. An immediate task (such as moving the gripper in a certain direction) is inferred from these estimates. Techniques from control theory convert the task into commands that drive the actuators. Control theory is an interdisciplinary branch of Engineering and Mathematics, that deals with the behavior of Dynamical systems The desired output

At longer time scales or with more sophisticated tasks, the robot may need to build and reason with a "cognitive" model. Cognitive models try to represent the robot, the world, and how they interact. Pattern recognition and computer vision can be used to track objects. Mapping techniques can be used to build maps of the world. Simultaneous localization and mapping ( SLAM) is a technique used by Robots and Autonomous vehicles to build up a map within an unknown environment while at Finally, motion planning and other artificial intelligence techniques may be used to figure out how to act. Motion planning (aka the "navigation problem" the "piano mover's problem" is a term used in Robotics for the process of detailing a task into atomic For example, a planner may figure out how to achieve a task without hitting obstacles, falling over, etc.

Control systems may also have varying levels of autonomy. Direct interaction is used for haptic or tele-operated devices, and the human has nearly complete control over the robot's motion. Operator-assist modes have the operator commanding medium-to-high-level tasks, with the robot automatically figuring out how to achieve them. An autonomous robot may go for extended periods of time without human interaction. Higher levels of autonomy do not necessarily require more complex cognitive capabilities. For example, robots in assembly plants are completely autonomous, but operate in a fixed pattern.

Dynamics and kinematics

The study of motion can be divided into kinematics and dynamics. Kinematics ( Greek κινειν, kinein, to move is a branch of Classical mechanics which describes the motion of objects without In physics the term dynamics customarily refers to the time evolution of physical processes Direct kinematics refers to the calculation of end effector position, orientation, velocity and acceleration when the corresponding joint values are known. In Physics, velocity is defined as the rate of change of Position. Inverse kinematics refers to the opposite case in which required joint values are calculated for given end effector values, as done in path planning. Inverse kinematics is the process of determining the parameters of a jointed flexible object (a Kinematic chain) in order to achieve a desired pose Some special aspects of kinematics include handling of redundancy (different possibilities of performing the same movement), collision avoidance and singularity avoidance. A collision is an isolated event in which two or more bodies (colliding bodies exert relatively strong forces on each other for a relatively short time In Engineering, a mechanical singularity is a position or configuration of a Mechanism or a Machine where the subsequent behaviour cannot be predicted Once all relevant positions, velocities and accelerations have been calculated using kinematics, methods from the field of dynamics are used to study the effect of forces upon these movements. Kinematics ( Greek κινειν, kinein, to move is a branch of Classical mechanics which describes the motion of objects without In physics the term dynamics customarily refers to the time evolution of physical processes In Physics, a force is whatever can cause an object with Mass to Accelerate. Direct dynamics refers to the calculation of accelerations in the robot once the applied forces are known. Direct dynamics is used in computer simulations of the robot. A computer simulation, a computer model or a computational model is a Computer program, or network of computers that attempts to simulate an Inverse dynamics refers to the calculation of the actuator forces necessary to create a prescribed end effector acceleration. Inverse dynamics uses link-segment models to represent the mechanical behavior of connected Pendulums or more concretely the limbs of humans animals or Robots This information can be used to improve the control algorithms of a robot.

In each area mentioned above, researchers strive to develop new concepts and strategies, improve existing ones and improve the interaction between these areas. To do this, criteria for "optimal" performance and ways to optimize design, structure and control of robots must be developed and implemented.

Education

Robotics as an undergraduate area of study is fairly common, although few universities offer robotics degrees. In the US, only Worcester Polytechnic Institute offers a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering. Universities that have graduate degrees focused on robotics include Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, UPENN and UCLA . Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn) is a private University located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The University of California Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Westwood Los Angeles, California, United In Australia, there are Bachelor of Engineering degrees at Deakin University, Flinders University, Swinburne University of Technology, and the University of Western Sydney. Deakin University is an Australian public University with around 33600 Higher education students studying as of 2007 Flinders University, or The Flinders University of South Australia, is a Public university in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Swinburne University of Technology is a university with a number of campuses based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The University of Western Sydney, also known as UWS, is a University in New South Wales, Australia. Others offer degrees in Mechatronics. Mechatronics (or Mecha nical and Elec' tronics' Engineering) is the combination of Mechanical engineering, Electronic engineering In the UK, Robotics degrees are offered by a number of institutions including the Napier University,University of Essex, Heriot-Watt University, the University of Liverpool, University of Reading, Sheffield Hallam University, Staffordshire University,University of Sussex, The Robert Gordon University and University of Tunku Abdul Rahman. The University of Essex is a British Campus university located near the town of Colchester, England Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the United Kingdom, although it only received The University of Reading is a University in the English town of Reading Berkshire Sheffield Hallam University ( SHU) is a Higher Education institution based in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield, England The University of Sussex is a British Campus university which is situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, and is from Brighton The Robert Gordon University (often known as RGU) is a modern University located in Aberdeen, Scotland. In Mexico a Bachelor of Science in Digital Systems and Robotics Engineering is offered at Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education^[57]. The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education ( Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey ITESM) commonly shortened as Monterrey

References

[Universities & Research]Robotic Platform for University Research

External links

• The “official” Hall of Fame for robots Voting is currently underway for a new round of inductees.
• Robot news and Robotics information
• Robots podcast
• Small robots drive trains – A tutorial discussing the different techniques used to build the chassis and drive trains of relatively small robots
• A review of robotics software platforms Linux Devices.
• UNSW Computational Mechanics and Robotics Group
• JPL's Robotic website
• News and videos about robotics – News and videos about robotics
• The Basics of Robotics
• Robotics Research Papers – DMOZ Directory

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