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INTRODUCTION TO
ROBOTICS
Part 1: Overview

Robotics and Automation

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Early Robot History

The word robot was introduced in 1920 in a
play by Czech writer Karel Capek called
R.U.R. , or Rossum's Universal Robots.
Robot comes from the Czech word robota,
meaning serf labor or drudgery.
The term robotics was coined in the 1940s
by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. In a
series of stories and novels, he imagined a
world in which mechanical beings were
mankind's devoted helpers.
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Asimov's Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being,
or, through inaction, allow a human being
to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by
human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as
long as such protection does not conflict
with the First or Second Law.
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Name Robots You Know

What robots do you know

about or have heard of ?

Give a name and a brief description.

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The First Robot

The first robot was called the Unimate
Installed in a General Motors automobile
manufacturing plant in 1961
Used to move and weld die castings
Basically a moving arm on a fixed base
The first robots were expensive (more than
$100,000) and not that useful
These robots look nothing like the popular
android concept used by fiction writers
Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved.
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Three Common Robot Applications

Industrial robots
are used for jobs
that are:
Dirty
Dangerous
Repetitive

Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved.

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Key factors in actual robot use

Knowledge of manufacturing system
dynamics, including:
materials handling
manufacturing processes
manufacturing economics
human behavior in factories
Each of these are Industrial Engineering
field specialties
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Benefits of Robot Use

Increased productivity
Improved (and consistent) quality
Reduction in cost of manufacturing
Improved management control of
process and productivity
Operation in hostile environments

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Focus on Jobs
Robots replace human workers
Primarily routine and labor intensive jobs
Robots create different types of jobs
Robot technicians, operators, and repairmen
Salesmen with technical knowledge
Engineers
Programmers
Supervisors with technical process and workflow
design expertise
New jobs require more knowledge and skill
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What is a Robot?
A machine capable of carrying out a
complex series of actions automatically, esp.
one programmable by a computer.
A robot is a mechanical contraption which
can perform tasks on its own, or with
guidance.
In practice a robot is usually an
electromechanical machine which is told
what to do by computer and electronic
programming.
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Example Robots
View example robots from the following
internet websites:
Industry
Student Competitions

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General Description
There is no consensus on which machines
qualify as robots but there is general
agreement among experts, and the public, that
robots tend to do some or all of the following:
move around
operate a mechanical limb
sense and manipulate their environment
exhibit intelligent behavior
especially behavior which mimics humans or other
animals.
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Our Definition
For us, a robot will have 3 features:

a mechanical device that can move around

and manipulate its environment
uses a microcontroller
requires a computer program to operate

Some robots we build may not be technically

considered true robots, primarily because they
will be manually controlled by the user.
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Robot Systems
Structural System
Physical system that provides support and stability
Propulsion System (motion)
Drive system includes motors, wheels, and gears
Sensor, Tool, and Feedback System
Perception, transducers
Tools, arms, grippers, manipulators, actuators
Control System
Microcontroller, electrical power, and joystick
Programming
Operation and control
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Simple Robot Block Diagram

External Internal
Environment Environment

Sensors Sensors

Control Unit

Actuator External Action

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Robot Basics
A robot is a device that can respond to and
manipulate its environment.
Sensors are used to gain information
about the robot environment.
A robot can only respond to what it senses.
Actuators are those devices which perform
the physical operations of the robot.
Manipulators/arms/grippers
Motors/propulsion/motion
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Types Of Control
Remote Control
Wireless using some type of joystick
Uses radio frequencies to communicate
Autonomous
Performs without human guidance
A computer program tells it what to do
Has sensors to respond to its environment
Tethered
Wires physically connect controller to robot
Wires may also deliver power
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Power
Our primary power source will be a battery
Portable (robot moves freely)
Heavy (may need extra support and protection)
Steady DC voltage
Needs to be recharged or replaced
May need multiple batteries with different
voltages
One for propulsion (motors), one for the
controller (joystick), one for the microcontroller
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Control System
Microcontroller (c)
Runs the computer program
Needs proper connections to make things work
Needs proper signals to make things work
Joystick
Sends user control signals to the c
Receives control signals from the c
Motor controller
Gets signals from the c
Sends power to the motors
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Robot Evolution
A robot cannot understand what it is sensing in the
traditional way that humans do.
It can only understand in the way that a program can
get information and make useful decisions as a
result.
What we think of as robot intelligence is simply the
ability to handle an increased number of variables.
varieties of situations
Newer robots are able to perform tasks that are non
repetitive and non sequential, and in more and more
complex environments.
Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved.