Robotics

The Robotic Industries Association (RIA) defines robot as follows: "A robot is a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks." Recently, however, the industry's current working definition of a robot has come to be understood as any piece of equipment that has three or more degrees of movement or freedom.

Robotics is an increasingly visible and important component of modern business, especially in certain industries. Robotics-oriented production processes are most obvious in factories and manufacturing facilities; in fact, approximately 90 percent of all robots in operation today can be found in such facilities. These robots, termed "industrial robots," were found almost exclusively in automobile manufacturing plants 20 years ago. But industrial robots are now being used in laboratories, research and development facilities, warehouses, hospitals, energy-oriented industries (petroleum, nuclear power, etc.), and, above all, in research.

According to RIA, some 160,000 robots were installed and operating in the U.S. in 2006. In 2005, 19,594 robots valued at $1.18 billion were shipped to North American companies. In the first quarter of 2006, orders by RIA members (about 90 percent of the industry) were valued at $272 million and represented 3,722 such machines. Robotics thus is already a well-established and one might say mature industry—and yet its future is unimaginably large and diverse.

TECHNOLOGY

Today's robotics systems operate like most machines by way of hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical power. Electric motors have become progressively smaller, with high power-to-weight ratios, enabling them to become the dominant means by which robots are powered. The crucial element in robotics is the artificial intelligence carried in the programmable circuitry of the machines.

Robots are comprised of elements that differ depending on end use. The hand of a robot, for instance, is referred to in the industry as an "end effector." End effectors may be specialized tools, such as spot welders or spray guns, or more general-purpose grippers. Common grippers include fingered and vacuum types. Another central element of robotics control technology is the sensor. It is through sensors that a robotic system receives knowledge of its environment, to which subsequent actions of the robot can be adjusted. Sensors are used to enable a robot to adjust to variations in the position of objects to be picked up, to inspect objects, and to monitor proper operation (although some robots are able to adjust to variations in object placement without the use of sensors, provided they have sufficient end effector flexibility). Important sensor types include visual, force and torque, speed and acceleration, tactile, and distance sensors. The majority of industrial robots use simple binary sensing, analogous to an on/off switch. This does not permit sophisticated feedback to the robot as to how successfully an operation was performed. Lack of adequate feedback also often requires the use of guides and fixtures to constrain the motions of a robot through an operation, which implies substantial inflexibility in changing operations.

Robots are programmed either by guiding or by off-line programming. Most industrial robots are programmed by the former method. This involves manually guiding a robot from point to point through the phases of an operation, with each point stored in the robotic control system. With off-line programming, the points of an operation are defined through computer commands. This is referred to as manipulator level off-line programming. An important area of research is the development of off-line programming that makes use of higher-level languages, in which robotic actions are defined by tasks or objectives.

Robots may be programmed to move through a specified continuous path instead of from point to point. Continuous path control is necessary for operations such as spray painting or arc welding a curved joint. Programming also requires that a robot be synchronized with the automated machine tools or other robots with which it is working. Thus robot control systems are generally interfaced with a more centralized control system.

COMMON USES OF ROBOTICS

Industrial robotics has emerged as a popular manufacturing methodology in several areas in recent years, including welding, materials transport, assembly, and spray finishing operations.

Spot and Electric Arc Welding

Welding guns are heavy and the speed of assembly lines requires precise movement, thus creating an ideal niche for robotics. Parts can be welded either through the movement of the robot or by keeping the robot relatively stationary and moving the part past the robot. The latter method has come into widespread use since it generally requires less expensive conveyor systems. The control system of the robot must synchronize the robot with the speed of the assembly line and with other robots working on the line. Control systems may also count the number of welds completed and derive productivity data.

Pick-and-Place Operations

Industrial robots also perform what are referred to as pick-and-place operations. Among the most common of these operations is loading and unloading pallets, used across a broad range of industries. This requires relatively complex programming, as the robot must sense how full a pallet is and adjust its placements or removals accordingly. Robots have been vital in pick-and-place operations in the casting of metals and plastics. In the die casting of metals, for instance, productivity using the same die-casting machinery has increased up to three times, the result of robots' greater speed, strength, and ability to withstand heat in parts removal operations.

Assembly

Assembly is one of the most demanding operations for industrial robots. A number of conditions must be met for robotic assembly to be viable, among them that the overall production system be highly coordinated and that the product be designed with robotic assembly in mind. The sophistication of the control system required implies a large initial capital outlay, which generally requires production of 100,000 to one million units per year in order to be profitable. Robotic assembly has come to be used in the production of a wide range of goods, including circuit boards, electronic components and equipment, household appliances, and automotive subassemblies.

Spray Finishing Operations

Industrial robots are widely used in spray finishing operations, particularly in the automobile industry. One of the reasons these operations are cost-effective is that they minimize the need for environmental control to protect workers from fumes.

Robots are also used for quality control inspections, since they can be programmed to quantitatively measure various aspects of a product's creation. In addition, the use of robots in environmental applications, such as the cleaning of contaminated sites and the handling and analysis of hazardous materials, represents an important growth market for robotics producers. Non-industrial applications for robots in security, commercial cleaning, food service, and health care are also on the rise.

FUTURE OF ROBOTICS

Recent research and development has addressed a number of aspects of robotics. Robotic hands have been developed which offer greater dexterity and flexibility, and improvements have been made in visual sensors as well (earlier generations of visual sensors were designed for use with television and home video, and did not process information quickly for optimal performance in many robotics applications; as a consequence, solid-state vision sensors came into increased use, and developments were also made with fiber optics). The use of superconducting materials, meanwhile, offers the possibility of substantial improvements in the electric motors that drive robotic arms. Attempts have also been made to develop lighter robotic arms and increase their rigidity. Standardization of software and hardware to facilitate the centralization of control systems has also been an important area of development in recent years.

Research in robotics is a large and thriving enterprise ranging at one end from artificial intelligence studies attempting to decompose the processes of human thought—so that these can be mechanized and put into robots—to complex and independent movement needed to turn industrial robots into walking, talking, and manipulating human look-alikes—the way ordinary people picture robots. Communication between people and robots—and robot-to-robot dialogue—fit into this spectrum somewhere. Motivations for creating robots arise from the field of medicine where robots are being developed to act as nursing aides on the one hand and as intelligent miniaturized agents on the other. Environmental issues have engaged robotics designers, e.g., the demanufacturing of electronic equipment which is a form of toxic waste and the handling of nuclear wastes. Robot miners may someday replace humans in dangerous environments. And, of course, robotics is a major area of research in defense applications.

Participation in this business by small business has centered around research and development—either directly in developing applications or in providing support services. High levels of engineering, electronics, and computer science skills are the keys of entry—and not least an interest in what is a genuinely fascinating subject.

see also Automation

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Age of Robotic Care for the Elderly?" Healthcare Financial Management. May 2006.

"Almost Human: They walk, talk and handle objects like we do. Get ready for a new era in robotics." New Scientist. 4 February 2006.

"Deployment of Robotics for Demanufacturing of Electronic Products." Advanced Manufacturing Technology. 15 April 2006.

Dubey, Venketesh N., and Jian S. Dai. "A Packaging Robot for Complex Cartons." Industrial Robot. March-April 2006.

"First Quarter 2006 Robot Sales Impacted by Downturn in Automotive Market." Robotics Online. 3 May 2006.

Nowak, Rachel. "And they call it robot love." New Scientist. 14 January 2006.

"Robotic Sensing for the Mining Industry." Advanced Manufacturing Technology. 15 March 2006.

"Robotic Surgery: Medic-aid." The Engineer. 3 October 2005.

Sands, David. "Cost Effective Robotics in the Nuclear Industry." Industrial Robot. May-June 2006.

Thilmany, Jean. "Space Robots Like Us." Mechanical Engineering-CIME. April 2006.

                                Hillstrom, Northern Lights

                                 updated by Magee, ECDI

Robotics

The term robot derives from the Czech word robota, which means slavery, drudgery, or compulsory labor. In 1920, the Czech author Karel Čapek (1890-1938) wrote a play entitled R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots, where he used robota for machine-humans, giving rise to the English word robot. The science fiction writer Isaac Asimov coined the term robotics as the field of academic study of the construction of robots. This connection to fiction points already to the utopian and eschatological elements in the science of robotics.

Kinds of robots

Basically, one can distinguish between industrial robots and artificial intelligence (AI) robots. Industrial robots are either remote controlled devices or machines that repeat constantly a series of movements, as in a factory. AI robots have some level of intelligence that enables them to react more flexibly and autonomously in their environment. The two kinds of AI robots mirror the two camps within AI. Classical AI robots are controlled by a central processor running a specific program. Such robots are used in highly restricted static environments. Embodied robots on the other hand are distributed systems interacting with natural worlds. Both technologies have a wide array of applications ranging from household robots, nurses, search and rescue robots, robots used as social agents for global communications, and robots used in ubiquitous computing (intelligent agents hidden in everyday tools such as stereos and coffeemakers).

The understanding of human intelligence in AI robotics mirrors specific theories about humans and their intelligence. In Classical AI, intelligence is understood as information processing. The most important elements of intelligence are learning, knowledge representation, searching, language, and mathematical theorem proving. One of the most well-known applications for this type of intelligence is chess. When applied to robots, this concept makes for very good and reliable machines that act in clear defined, restricted, and unchangeable environments. In natural worlds, however, these robots can navigate only very slowly and cannot deal with rapidly changing surroundings.

Embodied AI understands intelligence as a result of the evolutionary process and thus as the capability to survive. Abstract features such as logic and chess are seen as by-products of the human capability to survive in many different environments. Robots built according to this understanding of intelligence are increasingly autonomous. During the late 1990s, researchers started to build autonomous robots with social features for natural human-robot interfaces, which enlarges the field of possible applications.

Ethical and religious perspectives

Several theological and ethical problems arise in robotics. One argument for the use of robotics in industry and manufacturing is that it liberates humans from tedious work. But robotics also threatens to make many humans superfluous and to eliminate jobs. However, this issue is not specific for robotics but relates to the whole area of technology and will not be explored in this entry. The following ethical and theological problems refer to AI robots only.

Playing God. Often people think that AI researchers do their work out of hubris. AI roboticists who build autonomous creatures are sometimes accused of "playing God." The dangers of such actions are described in myths, including the myth of Prometheus, and the story of Frankenstein in Western culture. The Jewish Kabbalah provides an alternative view in the construction of golems (artificial humans made from clay), which is seen as a form of prayer. The imago dei (the Biblical statement that God has created humans in God's image) symbolizes the divine creativity in human beings so that whenever people are creative they praise God. In "rebuilding" themselves, people create the most complex being God created, thus praising and celebrating God to the utmost. Many of the founders of AI come from this Jewish tradition and understand their work in that sense.

Anthropomorphization and human uniqueness. If it were possible for researchers to build robots that work like humans, does that mean humans are also some kind of machine? Many people feel threatened by AI products because they seem to undermine human uniqueness. Because most people react more strongly to physical entities, the threat is perceived to be even greater with robots. Instead of just being connected to a computerized entity via a keyboard and screen, people connect with robots in a physical, sensual way, and they have to deal with creatures that share their physical space.

Experiments by Byron Reeves and Cliff Nass have demonstrated the degree to which humans anthropomorphize gadgets that are in some way responsive. Their experiments reveal that anthropomorphization of stereos, cars, or computers is a natural reaction in humans, and it takes a conscious effort for people to not react that way to the technical tools with which they interact in daily life. That is, people tend to react to robots as if they were partners, yet this reaction, stemming from innate social mechanisms, triggers fears not just that humans will loose their uniqueness but also that robots may surpass humans and make humans superfluous.

In most cultures, the human understanding of self contains an element of specialness; humans are distinct and cannot be compared with other species. In the Jewish and Christian tradition this sense of specialness has often been based on the imago dei. For millennia, people have attempted to identify with empirical human features, such as the humanoid body, human intelligence, or humor. A relational interpretation of the imago dei seems to have become prevalent. Based on a relational ontology, the imago dei is a promise of God to start and maintain a relationship with humans. Human uniqueness is then based not on special human capabilities but only on the faith-based statement that God has chosen humans as partners with whom God can interact and who will answer (sometimes).

The fear of losing human uniqueness when researchers are capable of building machines that are as smart as people is thus based on a traditional interpretation of the imago dei and can be overcome by this relational understanding of the concept. With this concept in mind, the idea of humans constructing robots as a spiritual enterprise, as depicted in the golem tradition, gains a stronger foundation. Christians may add that just as God is relational in the trinity and in the relation with humans, humans are relational. In building robots, humans create creatures with whom they can interact and who will answer. What is amazing is that even the simplest insect is much more complex and more interactive than any robot the most brilliant engineers have been able to build as of the beginning of the twenty-first century. Building autonomous robots in the image of God's creatures does not therefore make humans arrogant, but rather increasingly modest and admiring of the complexity of God's creation.

See also Artificial Intelligence; Cybernetics; Cyborg

Bibliography

asimov, isaac. the robot collection. new york: doubleday, 1983.

brooks, rodney allen. cambrian intelligence: the early history of the new ai. cambridge, mass.: mit press, 1999.

čapek, karel. r.u.r. in capek: four plays, trans peter majer and cathy porter. new york: methuen, 2000.

minsky, marvin. the society of mind. cambridge, mass.: mit press, 1985.

reeves, byron, and nass, clifford. the media equation: how people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press, 1999.

wiener, norbert. god and golem, inc.: a comment on certain points where cybernetics impinges on religion. cambridge, mass.: mit press, 1964.

anne foerst

Robots

The traditional romantic portrayal of the robot is as an anthropomorphic , autonomous entity that possesses intelligence and walks and talks in a way that mimics human behavior. The truth is not quite so glamorous. Robots are electromechanical machines that rarely resemble the human form. Instead, the overwhelming majority of robots are often anchored to one point and consist of a single flexible arm.

The purpose of robotics technology is essentially to carry out repetitive, physically demanding and potentially dangerous manual activities so that humans are relieved from these tasks. Examples of these chores include working on a factory production line assembly, handling hazardous materials, and dealing with hostile environments like underground mines, underwater construction sites, and explosives plants. Industrial robots can also be scheduled to work twenty-four hours a day to maximize productivity in manufacturing environments—something that human workers have never been able to do.

Conventional robots possess a base which is usually anchored to the floor, but may also be attached to a rail or gantry (platform) that permits sliding movement. An arm called a manipulator, which is flexible and is one of the main features of the robot, is connected to the base. On the tip of the arm is an attachment called the end-effector —this is the mounting point for interchangeable grippers or tools. The arm is moved about by using either hydraulic or pneumatic actuators, or by gears, linkages, and cables driven by electric motors. The motors used are usually of the servo or stepper type. Servo motors rotate at a required speed under command, whereas stepper motors rotate through a given angular displacement (in steps of a certain number of degrees) before stopping. In this way, controlled movement of the arm can be affected within a region known as the workspace or workcell.

Depending on the number of limbs and the type and number of joints that the arm possesses, the robot will be described as having a certain number of degrees of freedom of movement. This indicates the dexterity with which the robot can work using tools and workpieces. A typical robot of moderate complexity will have three degrees of freedom including translational movement and a rotating wrist at the end-effector. The term "payload" is used to refer to the mass that the robot is capable of lifting at the end-effector—a payload of more than 100 kilograms (220.5 pounds) is not uncommon, and loads that would be beyond the capabilities of most human laborers are no trouble for a suitably structured robot. In addition to handling massive payloads, some specialized robots are able to work with a high degree of precision—many guarantee accuracy of placement to within a fraction of a millimeter.

Another type of robot is the mobile robot. These offer features that are uncommon to standard industrial robots used on production lines. Instead, mobile robots often propel themselves on wheels or tracks and carry telemetry equipment like video cameras, microphones, and sensors of other types. The information they collect is then encoded and transmitted to a remote receiving station where human operators interpret the information and guide the mobile robot. Mobile robots are often used to handle dangerous goods like explosives, but perhaps the finest example of this type of robot was the Sojourner rover from the Mars Pathfinder Mission of 1997. This small robot demonstrated that it was possible to guide reliably and accurately a small robotic vehicle over the vast distance between Earth and Mars.

Beyond the source of power that is needed to animate the robot, a computer system of some sort is generally employed to control its actions. This system acts in real-time to both command the robot's movements and to monitor its actions to ensure that it is complying with instructions. Command signals are sent to the motors to initiate a movement, and special sensing devices called transducers are used to measure the amount of actual movement. If the actual movement does not correspond to the requested movement, then the computer system is notified and can make further adjustments. This continual measurement of the robot's activities is called feedback and is of the utmost importance in guaranteeing precise control over its movements. Three-dimensional geometry is the primary mathematical approach that is used to specify the dynamics of robots. Matrix representations of rotational and translational motion are the favored way of programming the required movements of the manipulator and the end-effector.

Frequently, one reasonably small computer is responsible for managing the movements of one robot. However, in large installations that contain many robots, it is also necessary to coordinate their collective operations effectively. This means that other computers need to be used in a supervisory role. The supervisory computer system works at a more abstract level, ensuring that overall production processes can be carried out efficiently. It passes down commands to the individual computers linked to the robots, leaving them to carry out the details of each allotted job. As an example, the supervisory computer might take a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing of a complex assembly and separate out various parts from the drawing, for fabrication by a collection of individual robots. The robots can be retooled for these new tasks and then the supervisory computer can dispatch to their computers coordinates and commands for grasping, moving, cutting, milling or whatever else is required—directly from the CAD drawings.

The future offers a great deal for robotics technology. Established areas of research are slowly making significant strides toward becoming mainstream. Artificial intelligence and robot vision become closer to being standard features each year. It is also proposed that microscopic robots could be developed using the results of advances in nanotechnology , expanding their current role in medical science, where they already assist in performing surgery.

see also Artificial Intelligence; Digital Logic Design; Nanocomputing; Robotics.

Stephen Murray

Bibliography

Malcolm, Douglas R. Jr. Robotics—An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1985.

Shahinpoor, Mohsen. A Robot Engineering Textbook. New York: Harper and Row, 1987.

Snyder, Wesley E. Industrial Robots: Computer Interfacing and Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1985.

Internet Resources

Mars Pathfinder. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory. <http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/>

Robotics

Robotics is the science of designing and building machines (robots) that are directed by computers to perform tasks traditionally carried out by humans. The word robot comes from a play written in 1920 by the Czech author Karel Capek. Capek's R.U.R. (for Rossum's Universal Robots) is the story of an inventor who creates humanlike machines designed to take over many forms of human work.

Historical background

The origin of robotics can be traced back to early Egypt, where priests used steam-activated mechanisms to open temple doors. This action helped convince their followers of their "mystical" powers. Ancient Greeks, Chinese, and Ethiopians also experimented with steam-powered devices.

In the late 1700s, Swiss brothers Pierre and Henri Jacquet-Droz created Jacquemarts, spring-powered mannequins that could play musical instruments, draw pictures, write, and strike the hours on clock bells.

In 1892, Seward Babbitt invented the motorized crane that could reach into a furnace, grasp a hot ingot of steel, and place it where directed. Although none of these devises were true robots as we known them today, they represent the first steps of automation and robotics technology.

Robots at work: The present day

Robots have come to play a widespread and crucial role in many industrial operations today. The work that robots do can be classified into three major categories: the assembly and finishing of products; the movement of materials and objects; and the performance of work in environmentally difficult or hazardous situations.

Assembly and finishing of products. The most common single application of robots is in welding. About one-quarter of all robots used by industry have this function. Welding robots can have a variety of appearances, but they tend to consist of one large arm that can rotate in various directions. At the end of the arm is a welding gun that actually forms the weld between two pieces of metal.

Closely related types of work now done by robots include cutting, grinding, polishing, drilling, sanding, painting, spraying, and otherwise treating the surface of a product. As with welding, activities of this kind are usually performed by one-armed robots that hang from the ceiling, project outward from a platform, or reach into a product from some other angle.

Another example in which robots have replaced humans in industrial operations is on the assembly line. In many industrial plants today, the assembly line of humans has been replaced by an assembly line of robots that does the same job, but more safely and more efficiently.

Movement of materials. Many industrial operations involve the lifting and moving of large, heavy objects over and over again. One way to perform these operations is with heavy machinery operated by human workers. But another method that is more efficient and safer is to substitute robots for the human-operated machinery.

An experimental type of heavy-duty robot is an exoskeleton—a metallic contraption that surrounds a human worker. The human can step inside the exoskeleton, placing his or her arms and legs into the corresponding

limbs of the exoskeleton. By operating the exoskeleton's controls, the human can magnify his or her strength many times, picking up and handling objects that would otherwise be much too heavy to lift.

Hazardous or remote-duty robots. Robots are commonly used in places where humans can go only at risk to their own health or where they cannot go at all. Industries where nuclear materials are used often make use of robots so that human workers are not exposed to the dangerous effects of radiation.

Robots have also been useful in space research. In 1976, the space probes Viking 1 and Viking 2 landed on the planet Mars. These two probes were some of the most complex and sophisticated robots ever built. Their job was to analyze the planet's surface. They did so by using a long arm to dig into the ground and take out samples of Martian soil. The soil samples were then transported to one of three chemical laboratories within the robot, where the soil underwent automated chemical analysis. The results of these analyses were then transmitted to receiving stations on Earth.

How more complex robots work

Sophisticated robots are able to imitate some of the actions of humans because of three key components. First, they are able to respond to changes in the world around them by using visual or tactile (touch) sensors to obtain information. Second, they have a set of instructions (a program) implanted in their computer-brain giving them a core base of knowledge. Third, they are able to combine information from their senses with that in their computer-brain to make decisions and perform actions.

Robots of the future?

In early 2001, scientists at a U.S. government national security laboratory provided a glimpse of the possible future of robots when they showed off what is perhaps the world's smallest robot. The diminutive robot weighs less than 1 ounce (28 grams) and is 0.25 cubic inch (4 cubic centimeters) in size. It can stop and almost sit on a dime. It sports track wheels similar to those on a tank and has an 8K ROM processor. The robot can be equipped with a camera, microphone, and a chemical micro-sensor, and in the future it may carry a miniature video camera and infrared or radio wireless two-way communications equipment. Scientist hope the robot (and others like it) may someday be used to perform a host of arduous tasks like disabling land mines or searching for lost humans. It could even be used in intelligence gathering.

[See also Artificial intelligence; Automation ]

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

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 alsoArtificial Intelligence ; Automation .

robotics science and technology of general purpose, programmable machine systems. Contrary to the popular fiction image of robots as ambulatory machines of human appearance capable of performing almost any task, most robotic systems are anchored to fixed positions in factories where they perform a flexible, but restricted, number of operations in computer-aided manufacturing . Such a system minimally contains a computer to control operations and effecters, devices that perform the desired work. Additionally, it might have sensors and auxiliary equipment or tools under its control. Some robots are relatively simple mechanical machines that perform a dedicated task such as welding or spray painting. Other more complex, multitask systems use sensory systems to gather information needed to control its work. A robot's sensors might provide tactile feedback, so that it can pick up objects and place them properly, without damaging them. Another robot sensory system might include a form of machine vision that can detect flaws in manufactured goods. Some robots used to assemble electronic circuit boards can place odd-sized components in the proper location after visually locating positioning marks on the board. The simplest form of mobile robots, used to deliver mail in office buildings or to gather and deliver parts in manufacturing, follow the path of a buried cable or a painted line, stopping whenever their sensors detect an object or person in their path. More complex mobile robots are used in more unstructured environments such as mining.

Bibliography: See H. Moravec, Mind Children (1988); R. C. Dorf, Concise International Encyclopedia of Robotics (1990); J. T. Black, The Design of the Factory with a Future (1991).

ROBOTS IN OUR OWN IMAGE

Many robots are anthropomorphic—they look, act, or seem like humans. Scientists and engineers often design robots to look like humans or other animals. Building machines to operate autonomously is a daunting task, so researchers start with animals and people as models because they are examples of working mechanisms.

The first robot manipulator was built to look and function like an arm. The first mobile robot had a human-like "head." Most legged robots walk with gaits copied from mammals, insects, or lizards. Many sensors are designed to use the same information that humans use: cameras and computer vision allow the robot to "see"; whiskers and contact switches allow the robot to "feel"; and researchers are even working on electronic devices that will allow robots to "smell."

However, robots do not have to be anthropomorphic. Since engineers design robots from scratch, they can be tailored for whatever job they are doing. Thus, a pipe-cleaning robot could have clamps that allow it to crawl along a pipe. Many robots have "range sensors" that permit them to tell the exact distance between it and another object.

robot or automaton mechanical device designed to perform the work generally done by a human being. The Czech dramatist Karel Čapek popularized the expression [Czech,=compulsory labor] in his play R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), produced in Prague in 1921. Modern robotics has produced innumerable devices that replace human personnel, and the term robot is used to designate much of this machinery. Although most so-called robots use software to operate independently of direct human control, the term is also used for vehicles and other machines that are remotely controlled by a human operator. The word also is used frequently in fiction, referring to a self-controlling machine shaped like a human being. While the concept has been the subject of stories since the golem of medieval times, it reached its greatest exposure in popular culture with the work of Isaac Asimov in the 1950s and the motion picture robots Robby in Forbidden Planet (1956) and C-3PO in Star Wars (1977).

Bibliography: See G. Wood, Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life (2002).

robotics A discipline overlapping artificial intelligence and mechanical engineering. It is concerned with building robots: programmable devices consisting of mechanical actuators and sensory organs that are linked to a computer. The mechanical structure might involve manipulators, as in industrial robotics, or might concern the movement of the robot as a vehicle, as in mobile robotics. Robotics research is used in artificial intelligence as a framework for exploring key problems and techniques through a well-defined application.

ro·bot / ˈrōˌbät; ˈrōbət/ • n. a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, esp. one programmable by a computer. ∎  (esp. in science fiction) a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically. ∎  used to refer to a person who behaves in a mechanical or unemotional manner: terminally bored tour guides chattering like robots.

robot A program which traverses a number of WEB PAGES following the HYPERLINKS and carrying out some process such as checking whether any Web pages have changed since the last visit. The most popular robots are SPIDERS used by SEARCH ENGINES that collect data stored in the databases used by the search engines for retrieving documents which match search criteria. The term is often abbreviated to BOT.

robot (especially in science fiction) a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically. The term (from Czech robota ‘forced labour’) was coined in K. Čapek's play R.U.R. ‘Rossum's Universal Robots’ (1920).

ro·bot·ics / rōˈbätiks/ • pl. n. [treated as sing.] the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots. DERIVATIVES: ro·bot·i·cist / -ˈbätəsist/ n.

robot Automated machine used to carry out various tasks. Robots are often computer-controlled, the most common type having a single arm that can move in any direction. Such robots are used in mass production. See also artificial intelligence (AI); automation

robot mechanism doing the work of a man, automaton. XX. — Czech, f. robota compulsory service.

robot •allot, begot, Bernadotte, blot, bot, capot, clot, cocotte, cot, culotte, dot, forgot, garrotte (US garrote), gavotte, got, grot, hot, jot, knot, lot, Mayotte, motte, not, Ott, outshot, plot, pot, rot, sans-culotte, Scot, Scott, shallot, shot, slot, snot, sot, spot, squat, stot, swat, swot, tot, trot, twat, undershot, Wat, Watt, what, wot, yacht •robot • hotshot • peridot • microdot •Wyandot • polka dot • fylfot • mascot •Caldecott • carrycot • apricot •boycott • dovecote • sandlot • melilot •polyglot • Camelot • ocelot •monoglot • sub-plot • Lancelot •cachalot • counterplot • Wilmot •guillemot • motmot • bergamot