Download Definition of a `Robot`

Definition of a 'Robot'
According to the Robot Institute of America (1979) a robot is:
"A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through
various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks".
A more inspiring definition can be found in Webster. According to Webster a robot is:
"An automatic device that performs functions normally ascribed to humans or a machine in the form of a human."
First use of the word 'robot'
The acclaimed Czech playwright Karel Capek (1890-1938) made the first use of the word ‘robot’,
from the Czech word for forced labor or serf. Capek was reportedly several times a candidate for the
Nobel prize for his works and very influential and prolific as a writer and playwright.
The use of the word Robot was introduced into his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) which
opened in Prague in January 1921.
In R.U.R., Capek poses a paradise, where the machines initially bring so many benefits but in the
end bring an equal amount of blight in the form of unemployment and social unrest.
First use of the word 'robotics'
The word 'robotics' was first used in Runaround, a short story published in 1942, by Isaac
Asimov (born Jan. 2, 1920, died Apr. 6, 1992). I, Robot, a collection of several of these stories,
was published in 1950.
Three Laws of Robotics
Asimov also proposed his three "Laws of Robotics", and he later added a 'zeroth law'.
Law Zero: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to
harm.
Law One: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law.
Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders
would conflict with a higher order law.
Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.
Benefits
Robots offer specific benefits to workers, industries and countries. If introduced correctly, industrial robots can improve
the quality of life by freeing workers from dirty, boring, dangerous and heavy labor. it is true that robots can cause
unemployment by replacing human workers but robots also create jobs: robot technicians, salesmen, engineers,
programmers and supervisors.
The benefits of robots to industry include improved management control and productivity and consistently high quality
products. Industrial robots can work tirelessly night and day on an assembly line without an loss in performance.
Consequently, they can greatly reduce the costs of manufactured goods. As a result of these industrial benefits,
countries that effectively use robots in their industries will have an economic advantage on world market.
(ESTRATTO DAL SITO how stuff works)
How Robots work
On the most basic level, human beings are made up of five major components:
 A body structure
 A muscle system to move the body structure
 A sensory system that receives information about the body and the surrounding environment
 A power source to activate the muscles and sensors
 A brain system that processes sensory information and tells the muscles what to do
Of course, we also have some intangible attributes, such as intelligence and morality, but on the sheer physical level, the
list above about covers it.
A robot is made up of the very same components. A typical robot has a movable physical structure, a motor of some sort,
a sensor system, a power supply and a computer "brain" that controls all of these elements. Essentially, robots are manmade versions of animal life -- they are machines that replicate human and animal behavior.
The robot's computer controls everything attached to the circuit. To move the robot, the computer switches on all the
necessary motors and valves. Most robots are reprogrammable -- to change the robot's behavior, you simply write a
new program to its computer.
The robotic arm
The most common manufacturing robot is the robotic arm. A typical robotic arm is made up of seven metal segments,
joined by six joints. The computer controls the robot by rotating individual step motors connected to each joint (some
larger arms use hydraulics or pneumatics).
Mobile Robots
Robotic arms are relatively easy to build and program because they only operate within a confined area. Things get a bit
trickier when you send a robot out into the world.
Photo courtesy NASA
NASA's FIDO Rover is designed for exploration on Mars.
The first obstacle is to give the robot a working locomotion system. If the robot will only need to move over smooth
ground, wheels or tracks are the best option. Wheels and tracks can also work on rougher terrain if they are big enough.
But robot designers often look to legs instead, because they are more adaptable. Building legged robots also helps
researchers understand natural locomotion -- it's a useful exercise in biological research.
Photo courtesy Fujitsu and K&D Technology, Inc.
Fujitsu's HOAP-1 robot
Typically, hydraulic or pneumatic pistons move robot legs back and forth. The pistons attach to different leg segments
just like muscles attach to different bones. It's a real trick getting all these pistons to work together properly.
As a baby, your brain had to figure out exactly the right combination of muscle contractions to walk upright without falling
over. Similarly, a robot designer has to figure out the right combination of piston movements involved in walking and
program this information into the robot's computer. Many mobile robots have a built-in balance system (a collection of
gyroscopes, for example) that tells the computer when it needs to correct its movements.
Bipedal locomotion (walking on two legs) is inherently unstable, which makes it very difficult to implement in robots. To
create more stable robot walkers, designers commonly look to the animal world, specifically insects. Six-legged insects
have exceptionally good balance, and they adapt well to a wide variety of terrain.
Some mobile robots are controlled by remote -- a human tells them what to do and when to do it. The remote control
might communicate with the robot through an attached wire, or using radio or infrared signals. Remote robots, often
called puppet robots, are useful for exploring dangerous or inaccessible environments, such as the deep sea or inside a
volcano. Some robots are only partially controlled by remote. For example, the operator might direct the robot to go to a
certain spot, but not steer it there -- the robot would find its own way.
Mobile robots also work in homes and businesses. Hospitals may use robots to transport medications. Some museums
use robots to patrol their galleries at night, monitoring air quality and humidity levels. Several companies have developed
robotic vacuums.
Autonomous Robots
Autonomous robots can act on their own, independent of any controller. The basic idea is to program the robot to
respond a certain way to outside stimuli. The very simple bump-and-go robot is a good illustration of how this works.
This sort of robot has a bumper sensor to detect obstacles. When you turn the robot on, it zips along in a straight line.
When it finally hits an obstacle, the impact pushes in its bumper sensor. The robot's programming tells it to back up, turn
to the right and move forward again, in response to every bump. In this way, the robot changes direction any time it
encounters an obstacle.
Photo courtesy NASA
The autonomous Urbie is designed for
various urban operations, including
military reconnaissance
and rescue operations.
Simpler mobile robots use infrared or ultrasound sensors to see obstacles. These sensors work the same way as animal
echolocation: The robot sends out a sound signal or a beam of infrared light and detects the signal's reflection. The robot
locates the distance to obstacles based on how long it takes the signal to bounce back.
More advanced robots use stereo vision to see the world around them. Two
cameras give these robots depth perception, and image-recognition software
gives them the ability to locate and classify various objects. Robots might also use
microphones and smell sensors to analyze the world around them.
Some autonomous robots can only work in a familiar, constrained environment.
Lawn-mowing robots, for example, depend on buried border markers to define the
limits of their yard. An office-cleaning robot might need a map of the building in
order to maneuver from point to point.
More advanced robots can analyze and adapt to unfamiliar environments, even
to areas with rough terrain. These robots may associate certain terrain patterns
with certain actions. A rover robot, for example, might construct a map of the land
in front of it based on its visual sensors. If the map shows a very bumpy terrain
pattern, the robot knows to travel another way. This sort of system is very useful
for exploratory robots that operate on other planets (check out JPL Robotics to learn more).
Urbie's view
Robots and Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It's certainly the most controversial: Everybody
agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there's no consensus on whether
a robot can ever be intelligent.
AI in the Movies
Like the term "robot" itself, artificial intelligence is hard to define. Ultimate AI would be a

2001: A Space
recreation of the human thought process -- a man-made machine with our intellectual
Odyssey
abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason,
AI
the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas. Roboticists are 
Bicentennial Man
nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have had made a lot
Blade Runner
of progress with more limited AI. Today's AI machines can replicate some specific 
elements of intellectual ability.

Demon Seed
Computers can already solve problems in limited realms. The basic idea of AI

The Matrix
problem-solving is very simple, though its execution is complicated. First, the AI robot
Short Circuit
or computer gathers facts about a situation through sensors or human input. The

The Terminator
computer compares this information to stored data and decides what the information

Westworld
signifies. The computer runs through various possible actions and predicts which action
will be most successful based on the collected information. Of course, the computer
can only solve problems it's programmed to solve -- it doesn't have any generalized
analytical ability. Chess computers are one example of this sort of machine.
Some modern robots also have the ability to learn in a limited capacity. Learning robots recognize if a certain action
(moving its legs in a certain way, for instance) achieved a desired result (navigating an obstacle). The robot stores this
information and attempts the successful action the next time it encounters the same situation. Again, modern computers
can only do this in very limited situations. They can't absorb any sort of information like a human can. Some robots can
learn by mimicking human actions. In Japan, roboticists have taught a robot to dance by demonstrating the moves
themselves.
Some robots can interact socially. Kismet, a robot at M.I.T's Artificial Intelligence Lab, recognizes human body
language and voice inflection and responds appropriately. Kismet's creators are interested in how humans and babies
interact, based only on tone of speech and visual cue. This low-level interaction could be the foundation of a human-like
learning system.
Kismet and other humanoid robots at the M.I.T. AI Lab operate using an unconventional control structure. Instead of
directing every action using a central computer, the robots control lower-level actions with lower-level computers. The
program's director, Rodney Brooks, believes this is a more accurate model of human intelligence. We do most things
automatically; we don't decide to do them at the highest level of consciousness.
The real challenge of AI is to understand how natural intelligence works.
Developing AI isn't like building an artificial heart -- scientists don't have a simple,
concrete model to work from. We do know that the brain contains billions and
billions of neurons, and that we think and learn by establishing electrical
connections between different neurons. But we don't know exactly how all of these
connections add up to higher reasoning, or even low-level operations. The
complex circuitry seems incomprehensible.
Because of this, AI research is largely theoretical. Scientists hypothesize on how
and why we learn and think, and they experiment with their ideas using robots.
Brooks and his team focus on humanoid robots because they feel that being able
to experience the world like a human is essential to developing human-like
intelligence. It also makes it easier for people to interact with the robots, which
potentially makes it easier for the robot to learn.
Just as physical robotic design is a handy tool for understanding animal and
human anatomy, AI research is useful for understanding how natural intelligence
works. For some roboticists, this insight is the ultimate goal of designing robots.
Others envision a world where we live side by side with intelligent machines and
use a variety of lesser robots for manual labor, health care and communication. A
number of robotics experts predict that robotic evolution will ultimately turn us into
Photo courtesy Kitano Symbiotic Systems
Project
cyborgs -- humans integrated with machines. Conceivably, people in the future
could load their minds into a sturdy robot and live for thousands of years!
Kitano's PINO
In any case, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In
"The Humanoid Robot"
the coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific
worlds and into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s.
The best way to understand robots is to look at specific designs. The links on the next page will show you a variety of
robot projects around the world.