ROBOTICS

SUBMITTED BY
P.SRI VIJAY MUTHU A.ABDUL HAI

ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION

INTRODUCTION: Robots... I think that is a hot topic
What is a robot? Well it is a system that contains sensors, control systems, manipulators, power supplies and software all working together to perform a task. Designing, building, programming and testing a robot is a combination of physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, mathematics and computing. The Robotic Industries Association 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. Robotics is an increasingly visible and important component of modern business, especially in certain industries approximately 90 percent of all robots in operation today can be found in such facilities. But industrial robots are now being used in laboratories, research and development facilities, warehouses, hospitals, energy-oriented industries (petroleum, nuclear power, etc.), and other areas. Despite the cost, however, the Handbook of Industrial Robotics reported that the population of robots in North America nearly doubled between 1990 and 2000. Many business experts expect that, as robotics technology develops and implementation costs drop, smaller companies will increasingly be able to make use of robotics in their production processes.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ROBOTS: Sensing: First of all your robot would have to be able to sense its surroundings. It would do this in ways that are not similar to the way that you sense your surroundings. Giving your robot sensors: light sensors (eyes), touch and pressure sensors (hands), chemical sensors (nose), hearing and sonar sensors (ears), and taste sensors (tongue) will give your robot awareness of its environment. Movement: A robot needs to be able to move around its environment. Whether rolling on wheels, walking on legs or propelling by thrusters a robot needs to be able to move. To count as a robot either the whole robot moves, like the Sojourner or just parts of the robot moves, like the Canada Arm. Energy: A robot needs to be able to power itself. A robot might be solar powered, electrically powered, battery powered. The way your robot gets its energy will depend on what your robot needs to do. Intelligence: A robot needs some kind of "smarts." This is where programming enters the pictures. A programmer is the person who gives the robot its 'smarts.' The robot will have to have some way to receive the program so that it knows what it is to do.

ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGY:
Today's robotics systems operate 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. Robots are, of course, comprised of several different elements, depending on their purpose. The hand of a robot, for instance, is referred to in the industry as an "end effectors." Another central element of robotics control technology is the sensor. 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. 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. 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.

Types of robots
Simple Level Robots:
Are automatic machines that extend human potential. Do work that humans can but should not do.

Middle Level Robots:

Are programmable, multipurpose, electromechanical machines. Do work that humans normally do.

Complex Level Robots:

Are reprogrammable, multifunctional, manipulators. Are designed to move materials, tools and parts through programmed paths. Are suited for a variety of tasks.

Robots on earth:
Typical industrial robots do jobs that are difficult, dangerous or dull. They lift heavy objects, paint, handle chemicals, and perform assembly work. They perform the same job hour after hour, day after day with precision. They don't get tired and they don't make errors associated with fatigue and so are ideally suited to performing repetitive tasks. The major categories of industrial robots by mechanical structure are:

Cartesian robot /Gantry robot: Used for pick and place work, application of sealant, assembly operations, handling machine tools and arc welding. It's a robot whose arm has three prismatic joints, whose axes are coincident with a Cartesian coordinator. Cylindrical robot: Used for assembly operations, handling at machine tools, spot welding, and handling at die-casting machines. It's a robot whose axes form a cylindrical coordinate system. Spherical/Polar robot: Used for handling at machine tools, spot welding, die-casting, fettling machines, gas welding and arc welding. It's a robot whose axes form a polar coordinate system. SCARA robot: Used for pick and place work, application of sealant, assembly operations and handling machine tools. It's a robot which has two parallel rotary joints to provide compliance in a plane. Articulated robot: Used for assembly operations, die-casting, fettling machines, gas welding, arc welding and spray painting. It's a robot whose arm has at least three rotary joints. Parallel robot: One use is a mobile platform handling cockpit flight simulators. It's a robot whose arms have concurrent prismatic or rotary joints.

(Robots used for fabrication)

Parts of robots:
Manipulator

Pedestal

Controller End Effectors

Power Source

Applications of robots:
Robots in industries Robots in home Robots in space Robots in science Robots in navy and military Robots in medical Robots in games

The Boe-Bot Radar Robot:

The Boe-Bot Radar (Boe-Dar) project lets the Boe-Bot transmit its position wirelessly to a PC host program which displays the data in a simulated "radar" screen. This project is done entirely with standard Parallax products and requires no special programming other than some fine-tuning of encoders. The Boe-Dar PC software program is provided for free below courtesy of Phil Pilgrim. The Boe-Dar software shows the Boe-Bot's

coordinate position relative to home, travel velocity, event detection (infrared) and graphs the path of travel.

MATE-Tricks Robot:
The world's smallest nuclear submarine and research vessel. It ease of use couple with its exceptional abilities allowed us to work with a joystick and interpret its signals (resistance levels across sliding potentiometers) and use this signal to control 4 Minkota trolling motor control boards for both direction and speed. This control set-up enabled us to out-perform our competition in such events as the obstacle course.

Medical Applications:
Sign language hand spelling robot: 2003 California State Fair - 1st Place Winner in the Electronics and Inventions Category. Mechanical hand helps people who are both blind and deaf to interpret sign language.

Home applications:
Subroutine Robot:

The robot art project originated when I was looking for projects that would give my students further experience with subroutines. I had explained

that subroutines were very valuable when you were going to ask the robot to perform a repetitive act and didnt want to write the same code over and over again. Each student was instructed to develop at least 3 subroutines that would be used a number of times in a program. The robots were to use the program that the students had written to draw a design on a large piece of paper.

Firefighting Robot:
In this contest the robot is placed in a simulated four-room house. When the robot hears the sound of a fire alarm it starts searching the house for the fire (a candle) and extinguishes it. After extinguishing the candle, the

robot returns to where it originally started. The robot has to operate on its own without any outside assistance.

Space applications:
Although we have considered general robotic spacecraft issues here which are of critical importance to the

Space robotics as a discipline is focused on more specific

issues and reflects more closely the subject-area covered by terrestrial robotics? Indeed, space robotics, like its terrestrial counterpart, is generally divided into two subject-areas (though there is significant overlap):

robotic manipulators such devices are proposed for deployment in space or on planetary surfaces to emulate human manipulation capabilities; they may be deployed on free-flyer spacecraft or on-orbit servicing of other spacecraft, within space vehicles for payload

tending, or on planetary landers or rovers for the acquisition of samples;

robotic rovers such devices are proposed for deployment on planetary surfaces to emulate human mobility capabilities; they are typically deployed on the surfaces of terrestrial planets, small bodies of the solar system, planetary atmospheres (aero bots), or for penetration of ice layers (cry bots) or liquid layers (hydro bots).

(Space robotics in orbit)

Two important space robots which are proven in space: Remotely operated vehicle Remote manipulator system

Robots in science:

Moisture sensor Tumbleweed High altitude photographic balloon Wind direction application

Moisture sensor: A device that can sense the leak of a liquid from a pipe and then warn the surrounding area with an alarm using BASIC Stamp modules and RF communicators.

(Moisture sensor)

Tumble weed: A project by NASA that has the ability to visit other planets, collect data, and transmit that data back to satellites for processing.

(Tumble weed)

Robot in navy and army:

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy's MDARS-E is an armed robot that can track anything that moves. Told that I was the target, the unmanned vehicle trained its guns on me and ordered, "Stay where you are," in an intimidating robot voice. And yes, it was frightening. Perched atop a strip of cliffs lining a beautiful section of the Pacific Ocean, the Space and Naval Warfare System Command in San Diego develops semiautonomous armed robots for use in combat by the U.S. military. "We're not building Skynet" says Bart Everett, the technical director for robotics at SPAWAR. Though Everett assured me that the use of the robots' on-board weapons is under the strict control of their operators, the lab's bots can navigate and map complicated terrain, work cooperatively with soldiers and identify and confront hostile targets. Sure, they're no Johnny Five, but robots with guns are both creepy and fascinating.

Robots in games:
Jungle Robot is our newest edition to our award winning line of robotic and science kits. Jungle Robot is a mysterious robot. One day, you may look up and catch a glimpse of Jungle Robot crossing hand-over-hand high across a string extended from tree to tree in the jungle mist. Another day, you can catch him walking through the fallen leaves on the ground. A microphone and printed circuit board controls your multi-function (walking or climbing) friend. When you think Jungle Robot is asleep, just cry Wake Up! Your robot will immediately start climbing or walking and wait for another command.

(Jungle robot)

Merits of robots:
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. It improves high productivity and high quality products. Consequently, they can greatly reduce the costs of manufactured goods.

Demerit of robots:
Require skilled persons to operate Construction of robots cost is high Requires high maintenance

Conclusion:
In the universe everything has some merits and demerits but we take only the merits. Likewise robots also have some merits and demerits. Our India also encouraged the robotic technology and become the ROBOTIC NATION within a decade. .