Lesson 2.

1 What Is Automation and

Robotics?

Understandings
1. Automation is the use of technology to ease human labor or to extend the
mental or physical capabilities of humans.
2. Robotics is the specialized field of engineering and computer science that
deals with the design, construction, and application of robots.
3. The use of automation and robotics affects humans in various ways, both
positively and negatively, including their safety, comfort, choices, and attitudes
about a technologys development and use.
4. Automation and robotics have had an influence on society in the past and
present and will influence society in the future.
5. Engineers, designers, and engineering technologists are in high demand
for the development of future technology to meet societal needs and wants.

Knowledge and Skills

It is expected that students will:
Describe the purpose of automation and robotics and its effect
on society.
- Robotics and automation can efficiently compresses work in our
lifestyle and help innovate it.
Summarize ways that robots are used in todays world and the
impact of their use on society.
- Robots used for mass manufacture helps replaces manual labor and
creates an efficient production system improving lifestyle in many ways.
Describe positive and negative effects of automation and
robotics on humans in terms of safety and economics.
- Robots can malfunction and destroy production and affect the
environment; however, they are useful for planning tasks and progression our
daily lives.
Provide examples of STEM careers and the need for these
professionals in our society.
- Chemical engineering requires a huge part of robotics and automation
in order to do calculations and construct plans.

Essential Questions
1. What limitations do you think should be placed on the use of robots?
 - Mass manufacture and advancement in which could shift the equilibrium in
how society function drastically.
2. What type of robot do you think makes the most significant contribution to
our lives today and why?
- Phones and laptops make the most significant contributions to human
lifestyle.
3. What is the greatest concern that should be considered before converting
a factory from human workforce to robotic workforce?
- Technical malfunction which could led to tethered products and
manufacturization.
4. What impact do you think robots will have on your life in 10 years and in
50 years?
- Within the short amount of time as an average humans lifespan, we can
achieve such huge advancement above imagination in our technology. We have
achieved developing smartphones that can recognizes its user, in a couples of 30
or so years, achieving much greater feats are certainly not impossible and not
beyond our reach. Lifestyle can be changed drastically and our environment and
society can be affected in many ways. There are more than one way in which
robots and technology can help or destroy our ideals.

Key Terms
Algorithm A process/set of rules to be followed for calculations
Automation The use of automatic equipment in a system of manufacturing
Controller A person or thing that directs/regulates something
Computer program A program that is computer based, usually made with code
Debug Identify and remove errors on computer software or program
Economics The knowledge of production, consumption and wealth transfer
Electric Worked by, charged by or producing electricity
End effector The end of the robotic arm, designed to interact with the
environment.
Ethical Relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge.
Factory Building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured or
assembled chiefly by machine.
Hydraulic Denoting, related of ot operated by a liquid moving in a confined
space under pressure.
Impact The action of one object coming forcibly into contact with
another.
Limitation A limiting rule or circumstance; a restriction.
Maintenance The process of maintaining or preserving something
Manipulators a person who controls or influences others in a clever or
unscrupulous way.
Power supply The source of energy for a system
Pneumatic Containing or operated by air or gas under pressure
Programmer A person who writes computer programs.
Reprogram To program again or differently
Robot A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions
automatically, especially programmable by a computer
Robotics the branch of technology that deals with the design,
construction, operation, and application of robots.
Society The aggregate of people living together in a more or less
ordered community.
Trade-off a balance achieved between two desirable but incompatible
features; a compromise.
Troubleshoot Solve serious problems for a company or organization
Workforce The people engaged in or available for work, either in a country
or area or in a particular company or industry.
Work envelope The limit of confinement in which a robot can perform its tasks.