Robotics

ROBOTICS

ROBOTICS. Several centuries ago, people envisioned and created mechanical automata. The development of digital computers, transistors, integrated circuits, and miniaturized components during the mid-to late twentieth century enabled electrical robots to be designed and programmed. Robotics is the use of programmable machines that gather information about their environment, interpret instructions, and perform repetitive, time-intensive, or physically demanding tasks as a substitute for human labor. Few Americans interact closely with robotics but many indirectly benefit from the use of industrial robotics.

American engineers at universities, industries, and government agencies have led advancements in robotic innovations. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory Director Rodney A. Brooks stated that by 2020 robots would have human qualities of consciousness. His robot, Genghis, was built with pyroelectric sensors on its six legs. Interacting with motors, the sensors detected infrared radiation such as body heat, causing Genghis to move toward or away from that stimulus and to appear to be acting in a predatory way. Interested in the role of vision, Brooks devised robots to move through cluttered areas. He programmed

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his robots to look for clear routes instead of dealing with obstructions.

Because they are small, maneuverable, and invulnerable to smoke and toxins, robots are used during disaster recovery and to defuse explosives and detect radiation. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, robots entered the World Trade Center rubble in search of victims and to transmit video images to rescuers. Robotic sensors are sensitive to ultrasonic waves, magnetic fields, and gases undetectable to humans. Some robots are used for airport security screening of luggage. Military robotic applications include the prototype robotic plane, the X-45, which was introduced in 2002 for combat service. Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) flying insect robots were programmed to conduct military reconnaissance, filming enemy sites.

Other uses of robotics include robotic surgical tools inserted through small incisions. These robotics are steadier and more precise than humans. Engineers have devised ways for robots to have tactile abilities to palpate tissues undergoing surgery with pressure sensors.

The space shuttle is equipped with a robotic arm to retrieve and deploy satellites. The International Space Station (ISS) utilizes a 58-foot robotic arm for construction. The robotic Skyworker was developed to maintain the completed ISS. Engineers envisioned a future robotic space shuttle. The Sojourner robotic rover traversed Mars in 1997, and later missions prepared more sophisticated robots to send to that planet.

People have controlled telerobotics via the Internet. The iRobot-LE moves according to remote controls, enabling observers to monitor their homes with their work computers. Engineers have programmed robotic lawn-mowers and vacuum cleaners. Robotic toys such as Sony's companionable AIBO dog have appealed to consumers. Inspired by RoboCup robotic soccer matches, enthusiasts have planned to develop humanoid robots to compete against human teams.

As computer processors have become faster and more powerful, robotics has advanced. Some researchers have investigated biorobotics, combining biological and engineering knowledge to explore animals' cognitive functions. Evolutionary robotics has studied autonomous robots being automatically refined based on performance fulfillment and evidence of desired skills and traits.

Researchers have programmed robots to master numerous tasks, make decisions, and perform more efficiently. Engineers, such as those working on the Honda Humanoid Project, have aspired to create universal robots, which have similar movement, versatility, and intelligence as humans. Hans Moravec, director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, hypothesized that robots will attain the equivalent of human intelligence by 2040.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brooks, Rodney A. Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us. New York: Pantheon Books, 2002.

Dorigo, Marco, and Marco Colombetti. Robot Shaping : An Experiment in Behavior Engineering. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998.

Goldberg, Ken, ed. The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000.

———, and Roland Siegwart, eds. Beyond Webcams: An Introduction to Online Robots. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.

Menzel, Peter, and Faith D'Aluisio. Robo Sapiens: Evolution of a New Species. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000.

Moravec, Hans P. Robot : Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Nolfi, Stefano, and Dario Floreano. Evolutionary Robotics: The Biology, Intelligence, and Technology of Self-Organizing Machines. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000.

Rosheim, Mark E. Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics. New York: Wiley, 1994.

Schraft, Rolf-Dieter, and Gernot Schmierer. Service Robots. Na-tick, Mass.: A. K. Peters, 2000.

Webb, Barbara, and Thomas R. Consi, eds. Biorobotics: Methods and Applications. Menlo Park, Calif.: AAAI Press/MIT Press, 2001.

Elizabeth D. Schafer

See also Artificial Intelligence ; Automation .