In the last three decades, the field of robotics knows great flourish and acceptance, both at research level and application in everyday life. Nowadays, the rapid evolution appears from the applications and the deployment of almost all over the world and from the research results.
Countries such as Japan, US and Western and Eastern European countries, which have made significant progress to research and to technology, constitute the basic core of support and development of robotics. The reasons have to do with the economic benefits for their national economies as a result of automation and the overall modernization of production, and with the expectations and prospects fueled by the results at a scientific level.
Another reason for the spread of robotics is the closely dependent and interactive relationship with cutting-edge technology such as IT, Electronics, Automatic Control and the Craftsman Intelligence Systems, Sensor Technology, the Communications and others, which operates multiplying and triggering developments.
In our days, robotics applications are popular, as many are the references of media about achievements in research laboratories and several research groups dealing with particularly demanding and promising projects Notified robots that perform tasks in space and controlled from Earth, operating underwater explorations and work involved in medical surgery, or even robots socialize with people. Have been presented humanoids, crawlers – mobile robots, robots that have vision and hearing, having perception of changes in their environment, they have fingers and manage unknown objects with skill, moving in non-structured or in unfamiliar areas, setting targets and taking decisions like.
Current robotic systems serve different areas, not just research applications, but also industrial, exploratory and daily life applications. Τhis period, the purpose of Robotics is the development and integration of advanced sensor systems, adaptability and understanding to various known and unknown environmental conditions, decision-making in these environments, intelligence and autonomy.
The robotics research and technology, is the resultant of the following main sciences:
Engineering – Mechanical engineering: analysis and design mechanical components and mechanisms (couplings, joints, the transmission, axles, gears, action tools, etc.) and their functions (seated, avoid resonances, etc.).
- Mathematics, algorithms, algebra, tables, mathematical and numerical analysis, differential equations, optimization, Euclidean, analytic and computational geometry to solve mathematical accounting systems and the efficient implementation of complex calculations and control strategies, geometric representations, mathematical modeling and simulation, etc.
- Automatic control systems for the study and design of the arm control system, based on the pilot information feedback model of the internal sensors. Generally the problem of robotic control is: a) to obtain dynamic models of the operator, mathematical relationships ie. That describe in an accurate and complete, the behavior of the operator for any traffic conditions and b) the use of these models to the laws produce or control strategies to achieve the desired response and efficiency of the robotic system.
- Artificial Intelligence (and intelligent control) for integrating external sensory feedback, ie high level information to the robot control system, for achieving intelligent and ‘autonomous’ behavior in robot organized groups (social robotics).
- Software Technology and Programming, for the design, development, coding and implementation of the necessary algorithms and operation / management of the robotic system software point of view, both in programming application level (in integrated environments or programming languages) and operating system.
- Electronic, implementing the above functions with analog and digital circuits, microprocessors and sensors. Besides construction technologies of nanoelectronics, also proclaimed critical transformation agent of Robotics and Mechatronics systems in general (Mechatronics) acquired status by using these.
- Systems and production management for analysis, design, optimization and other practical issues of implementation of industrial applications with robots and advanced automated production cells.
Autonomous Robots and Application Types
Robots are mechanical or virtual artificial agents, usually electro-mechanical machines which are controlled by a computer program or electronic circuitry. There are separated into different categories depending on their functionality. Most popular robots are placed in hazardous places because these robots perform the tasks that humans are not able to access. Some robots can operate by themselves and other robots always need guidance from humans to perform the tasks. They are used in various fields like medical, space communication, military applications, and so on. An automatic robot is a type of manipulated robotic system considered to be as one of the earliest robotic systems by the control system it possesses. They are divided into three main categories based on their characteristics and applications: Autonomous controlled robots, Remote controlled robots and Manually controlled robots. Out of three types of robotic manipulation system, the autonomous system is further classified into four types, which can be implemented over a wide range of applications: Programmable, Non-programmable, Adaptive, and Intelligent.
Programmable Automatic Robot
Programmable robots are a first generation robot with an actuator facility on each joint. They can be reprogrammable based on the kind of task they are commissioned to. Robot kits like Lego mind storms, Bioloid from programmable Robotics can help the students to learn about its programming and working. The advanced mobile robot, robotic arms, and Gadgeteer are some of the most known examples of these robots type. However, the main drawback of this autonomous robot is that once is it programmed it cannot change its functionality even if there is an emergency. These robots can be used in different applications like mobile robotics, industrial controlling and spacecraft applications.
Non-Programmable Automatic Robot
These robots are one of the primary types of robot, in fact, a non-programmable robot. It is not even considered as a robot but as an exploiter lacking reprogrammable controlling device. An example of these types of robots are the mechanical arms used in industries which are attached to a programmable device. These types of robots find applications in some of the devices including path guiders and medical products’ carriers and also some line follower robots.
Adaptive Robot
Adaptive robots are also industrial robots that can be adapted independently to various ranges in the process. However, these robots are more complex than programmable robots. They be adapted up to a certain extent, and after evaluation, they can perform the action required in that adapted area. They are mostly equipped with a sophisticated sensory and control system. Sensors are used to sense environmental conditions, process variables and other parameters related to a particular task. Control system usually has access to these sensor signals, and depending on the implemented algorithm, they control the outputs. These robots can be used in different applications like aerospace, medical, consumer goods, house-hold applications and manufacturing industrial areas.
Intelligent Robots
Intelligent robots, as the name suggests, are the most intelligent of all the other types of robots with sensors and microprocessors for storing and processing the data. These robots performance is highly efficient due to their situation-based analyzing and task performing abilities. Intelligent robots can sense the senses like pain, smell and taste and are also capable of vision and hearing, and – in accordance, perform the actions and expressions like emotions, thinking and learning. These robots find their applications in the fields like medical, military applications and home appliance control systems, etc.
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