Robot Totally Explained

Everything about Robot totally explained

A robot is a mechanical or virtual, artificial . It is usually a system, which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has intent or of its own. The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but the latter are usually referred to as bots to differentiate.
While there's still discussion about which machines qualify as robots, a typical robot will have several, though not necessarily all of the following properties:

is not 'natural' for example artificially created
can sense its, and or interact with things in it
has some ability to make choices based on the environment, often using automatic control or a preprogrammed sequence
is programmable
moves with one or more axes of rotation or translation
makes dexterous coordinated movements
appears to have intent or agency (See anthropomorphism for examples of ascribing intent to inanimate objects.)

Defining characteristics

The last property, the appearance of agency, is important when people are considering whether to call a machine a robot, or just a machine. In general, the more a machine has the appearance of agency, the more it's considered a robot. Mental agency
For robotic engineers, the physical appearance of a machine is less important than the way its actions are controlled. The more the control system seems to have agency of its own, the more likely the machine is to be called a robot. An important feature of agency is the ability to make choices. So the more a machine could feasibly choose to do something different, the more agency it has. For example:

a clockwork car is never considered a robot

a remotely operated vehicle is sometimes considered a robot. (or telerobot).

a car with an onboard computer, like Bigtrak, which could drive in a programmable sequence might be called a robot.

a self-controlled car, like the 1990s driverless cars of Ernst Dickmanns, or the entries to the DARPA Grand Challenge, which could sense its environment, and make driving decisions based on this information would quite likely be called robot.

a sentient car, like the fictional KITT, which can make decisions, navigate freely and converse fluently with a human, is usually considered a robot. Physical agency
However, for many laymen, if a machine looks or (for example ASIMO or Aibo), especially if it's limb-like (for example a simple robot arm), or has limbs, or can move around, it would be called a robot.
For example, even if the following examples used the same control architecture:

a player piano is rarely characterized as a robot

a CNC milling machine is very occasionally characterized as a robot.

a factory automation arm is almost always characterized as a robot or an industrial robot.

an autonomous wheeled or tracked device, such as a self-guided rover or self-guided vehicle, is almost always characterized as a robot, a mobile robot or a service robot

a zoomorphic mechanical toy, like Roboraptor, is usually characterized as a robot.

a humanoid, like ASIMO, is almost always characterized as a robot or a service robot. Interestingly, while a 3-axis CNC milling machine may have a very similar or identical control system to a robot arm, it's the arm which is almost always called a robot, while the CNC machine is usually just a machine. Having a limb can make all the difference. Having eyes too gives people a sense that a machine is aware ("the eyes are the windows of the soul"). However, simply being anthropomorphic isn't sufficient for something to be called a robot. A robot must do something, whether it's useful work or not. So, for example, a dog's rubber chew toy, shaped like ASIMO, wouldn't be considered a robot.

Official definitions and classifications of robots

There are many variations in definitions of what exactly is a robot. Therefore, it's sometimes difficult to compare numbers of robots in different countries. To try to provide a universally acceptable definition, the International Organisation for Standardisation gives a definition of robot in ISO 8373

, which defines a robot as "an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications." This definition is to be used when comparing the number of robots in each country.
In spite of the ISO definition, countries, such as the USA and Japan have different definitions of robots. Japan, for example, lists very many robots partly because more machines are counted as robots. Since both Japan and the USA are important players in the development of robotics, the definitions used in these countries will be mentioned.

Robotics Institute of America

The Robotics Institute of America (RIA) defines a robot as: The RIA recognizes four classes of robot:

1: Handling devices with manual control

2: Automated handling devices with predetermined cycles

3: Programmable, servo-controlled robots with continuous of point-to-point trajectories

4: Robots capable of Type C specifications which also acquire information from the environment for intelligent motion

Japanese Robot Association

The Japanese Robot Association

(JARA) classifies robots into six classes :

1: Manual - Handling Devices actuated by an operator

2: Fixed Sequence Robot

3: Variable-Sequence Robot with easily modified sequence of control

4: Playback Robot, which can record a motion for later playback

5: Numerical Control Robots with a movement program to teach it tasks manually

6: Intelligent robot: that can understand its environment and able to complete the task despite changes in the operation conditions

Other definitions of robot

There is no one definition of robot which satisfies everyone, and many people have their own. For example, Joseph Engelberger, a pioneer in industrial robotics, once remarked: "I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one."

Etymology

The word robot was introduced to the public at large by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which premiered in 1921. In an article in the Czech journal Lidové noviny in 1933, he also explained that he'd originally wanted to call the creatures laboři (from Latin labor, work). However, he didn't like the word, seeing it as too artificial, and sought advice from his brother Josef, who suggested "roboti".
The word robot comes from the word robota meaning literally serf labor, and figuratively "drudgery" or "hard work" in Czech, Slovak and Polish. The origin of the word is the Old Church Slavonic rabota "servitude" ("work" in contemporary Bulgarian and Russian), which in turn comes from the Indo-European root *orbh-

. Robot is cognate with the German word Arbeiter (worker).

History

Ancient developments

The idea of artificial people dates at least as far back as the ancient legends of Cadmus, who sowed dragon teeth that turned into soldiers, and the myth of Pygmalion, whose statue of Galatea came to life. In Greek mythology, the deformed god of metalwork (Vulcan or Hephaestus) created mechanical servants, ranging from intelligent, golden handmaidens to more utilitarian three-legged tables that could move about under their own power, and the robot Talos defended Crete. Medieval muslim alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan included recipes for creating artificial snakes, scorpions, and humans in his coded Book of Stones. Jewish legend tells of the Golem, a clay creature animated by Kabbalistic magic. Similarly, in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a clay giant, Mökkurkálfi or Mistcalf, constructed to aid the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor, the God of Thunder.
In ancient China, a curious account on automata is found in the Lie Zi text, written in the 3rd century BC. Within it there's a description of a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou (1023 BC-957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork.

The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time...As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih [YanShi] executed on the spot hadn't the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial...The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted.

Concepts akin to a robot can be found as long ago as the 4th century BC, when the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum postulated a mechanical bird he called "The Pigeon" which was propelled by steam. Yet another early automaton was the clepsydra, made in 250 BC by Ctesibius of Alexandria, a physicist and inventor from Ptolemaic Egypt. Hero of Alexandria made numerous innovations in the field of automata, including one that allegedly could speak.

Medieval developments

Al-Jazari (1136-1206), an Arab Muslim inventor during the Artuqid dynasty, designed and constructed a number of automatic machines, including kitchen appliances, musical automata powered by water, and the first programmable humanoid robot in 1206. Al-Jazari's robot was a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bump into little levers that operate the percussion. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns by moving the pegs to different locations.
One of the first recorded designs of a humanoid robot was made by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in around 1495. Da Vinci's notebooks, rediscovered in the 1950s, contain detailed drawings of a mechanical knight able to sit up, wave its arms and move its head and jaw. The design is likely to be based on his anatomical research recorded in the Vitruvian Man. It isn't known whether he attempted to build the robot (see: Leonardo's robot).

Early modern developments

An early automaton was created in 1738 by Jacques de Vaucanson, who created a mechanical duck that was able to eat and digest grain, flap its wings, and excrete. According to the Rieu translation, "Golden maidservants hastened to help their master. They looked like real women and couldn't only speak and use their limbs but were endowed with intelligence and trained in handwork by the immortal gods." Of course, the words "robot" or "android" are not used to describe them, but they're nevertheless mechanical devices human in appearance., non-destructive combat, fire-fighting, maze solving, performing tasks, navigational exercises (eg. the DARPA Grand Challenge) and many others. Some contests require participants to provide tutorials showing how they built and programmed their robot.
   Here is an alphabetical list of ongoing, successful competitions and exhibitions. Botball is a LEGO-based competition between fully autonomous robots. There are two divisions. The first is for high-school and middle-school students, and the second (called "Beyond Botball") is for anyone who chooses to compete at the national tournament. Teams build, program, and blog about a robot for five weeks before they compete at the regional level. Winners are awarded scholarships to register for and travel to the national tournament. Botball is a project of the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, based in Norman, Oklahoma.
   The DARPA Grand Challenge has held events since 2004 testing driverless cars in obstacle courses.
   The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is a multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem. These teams of mentors (corporate, teachers, or college students) and high school students collaborate in order to design and build a robot in six weeks. This robot is designed to play a game that's developed by FIRST and changes from year to year. FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1992 as a way of getting high school students involved in and excited about engineering and technology. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a robotics competition for elementary and middle school students (ages 9-14, 9-16 in Europe), arranged by FIRST. Each year the contest focuses on a different topic related to the sciences. Each challenge within the competition then revolves around that theme. The students then work out solutions to the various problems that they're given and meet for regional tournaments to share their knowledge and show off their ideas. The World Festival is held every year in Atlanta.
   The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a mid-level robotics competition targeted toward high-school aged students. It offers the traditional challenge of a FIRST competition but with a more accessible and affordable robotics kit. The ultimate goal of FTC is to reach more young people with a lower-cost, more accessible opportunity to discover the excitement and rewards of science, technology, and engineering.
   The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) has hosted a yearly student robotics competition every year since 1993, usually in Michigan and usually in early June. See the web site

for dates and location. It is multidisciplinary, theory-based, hands-on, team-implemented, outcome-assessed, and based on product realization. Many of the participants design their vehicles during year-long coursework. Students in business and engineering management, language and graphic arts, and public relations also participate. Students solicit and interact with industrial sponsors who provide component hardware and advice, and in that way get an inside view of industrial design and opportunities for employment.
The International Robot Exhibition

(IREX), organized by the Japan Robot Association

(JARA), has run biennially since 1973.
The Trinity College Fire-Fighting Robot Contest

competition in April 2007 was the 14th annual event. There are many different divisions for all skill levels. Robots in the competition are encouraged to find new ways to navigate through the rooms, put out a candle and save a "child" from a building. Robots can be composed of any materials, but must fit within certain size restrictions.

Previous and future competitions and exhibitions

The British TV show Robot Wars, in which machines built by amateur hobbyists battle to destroy one another, ran from 1997 to 2003. The machines, however, were radio controlled and had little autonomy.

Further Information

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