History of Robotics | Lego Mindstorms Robotics

Wednesday, November 6, 20130 comments



History of Robotics | Lego Mindstorms Robotics

Introduction to Robotics

O     Since the time of our earliest ancestors, ideas of machines and contraptions that can make man�s work easier and faster always in the minds of human civilizations.
O     Human being as the highest form of living creature initiated a dynamic momentum of change. This is a change that necessitates him to continuously conquer the world that entrusted to him.
O     The living planet, earth has been continuously engaged in advancement in both technological and biological. Advancement in human knowledge seeks to perfect a seems to be always imperfect world that he lives in.  
O     Logical and poetic ideas and words like these are the ground root of every scientific invention and development. And the one invention and development that continuously seeks a lot of challenges from both the physical and biological worlds of science is ROBOTICS!
O     Robotics concentrates itself in the perfection of the creation of a living machine, a dream and a vision by the ancestors of scientific realm that is becoming more and more a fact than fiction.
O     The mechanical machines (robots) will be alive only through the aide of human�s intelligent step-by-step instructions.  

What is a Robots?

Some book and some people:
Robots � are machines that are capable of doing repetitive tasks and are controlled by a computer.
According to some professionals:
Robots � if it is a machine that is capable of deciding what to do in a given environment and responds based on an instance or stimuli.

Robots must be able to relate to the environment.

Example:
Car assembly robots � car factory robots
O     A mechanical arms work or operate in car production.
Asimo � a very famous Honda robot is a genuinely designed intelligent robot.
O     It can respond to human interaction.
O     Has the ability to walk like human
O     It can navigate itself in different environments.  

Brief History of Robots and Robotics

The idea of robots dates back to antiquity when people started imagining and giving out ideas about mechanical creations that resemble humans and other living things.

Fictional lliad:

1.      Hephaestus � a god, and used gold in making mechanical talking handmaidens.
2.      Handmaiden�A personal maid or female servant.
3.      Archytas of Tarentum � was said to have built a mechanical wooden bird that can really fly.

322 B.C.

Aristotle � was said to have dreamt of mechanical devices that can help humans, looks like a human beings and also be able to do things that humans can.

Ancient China (3rdcentury B.C.)
O     One of the oldest civilizations of the world.
O     Chinese people encountering creations that are capable of moving and mimicking a human.
8thCentury
O     Muslim alchemist had plans for making artificial animals, like snakes, insects and even humans.

Book of Stones � was said to have those special codes and plans in making these creator controlled animals.

9thCentury
O     Book of ingenious devices � also contains inventions that have said to be linked with the early programmable mechanisms.

From 1400s � 1700s
O     Leonardo Da Vinci
            - famous inventions and ideas either actually built or just plain sketch on a paper.
- His various ideas on how things move and making early mechanical humans made him very prominent.
- His work on the mechanical man or some call it armor shows how good he is in inventing  mechanical machines. 

In 1800s
O     Great developments with regards to computer and so called mechanical calculators.
O     This phase of the history is also called the computer history or history  of computer technology.

Charles Babbage

O     Invented difference and analytical machine made possible of use of complex machines that can do a lot of computations simultaneously.

George Boole
O     The creator of symbolic logic programming.

In 1990s
O     Marks the beginning of the era of the word robots.
O     Mechanical machines were being invented.

Karel Capek
O     A Czech author who wrote the 1921 play Rossum�s Universal Robots or R.U.R.
O     Robots as a word or term was coined and made famous in the said play.
O     According to him, the word �robot� was really an idea of his brother Josef.
O     Robot was coined from the Czech word �robota�, which means servitude or slavery.

The development of computer technology is mostly attributed to the inventions of microprocessors.
Integrating the capabilities of computers and mechanical wonders from electric motors, is coupled with the advancement of molding metals, plastic and alloys materials.
This enables designers and engineers to create more and more complex robotic machines.

Shakey
O     Among the famous robots that were developed.
O     Built by Stanford Research Institute in 1970.
O     Was said to be the first real robot that is capable of interacting with its surroundings.
Lego
O     Also has robotics and it is mainstreamed in schools as a great tool in preparing children
            to higher education engineering and related science and mathematics based learning.


The Early Robots

1. Mechanical wonders
O     Are the ideas, dreams and some actually created and constructed mechanical machines that move and animate like the way robot do today.
O     Drawings and sketches on papers contained the magic of knowing how to make things work.
2. Fictional ideas
O     These are robots that may only exist in movies and plays and can not be manufactured or designed in real world.
O     The funny thing is more and more fictional robots are becoming realistic robots.

Types of Robots

Real and manufacturability robots are becoming to reality because of the facts and components available in science and technology.
1. Electrical or mechanical
O     Robots that exist way far beyond the advent of electricity are controlled by mechanical devices and human made energy.
O     Power energy creators based on electricity like motors and electromagnets were used in order to make the animation of these machines effective and efficient.
O     Up to now, machines we call robots all depend on the electricity that powers the tiny chips of semiconductors and the motors as well as the wheels that make them mobile. 
2. With human intervention
O     Human dependency is very crucial to the development of robots and designs.
O     Humans are the one responsible for the programming and designing process.
3. Without human intervention
O     A type of robot which doesn�t need any further direct human intervention. These type of robot are called autonomous robots. You just turn it ON and it is already alive.
Ex. Vacuum cleaner and Robots in car manufacturing industry.

The Modern Day Robots

Modern day robot are created for use in vast areas of interest and industry. A lot of them are used in industry , but more and more are becoming focused towards the field of medicine.
1. Electronic miniaturization
O     More and more robots are decreasing in size. It tends to be smaller and smaller as the development in motors and microprocessors continued to grow.
2. Autonomous
O     Robots that behave and move on their own. Upon power ON, it moves and does the bidding it is designed to do without further human intervention.
O     It is possible because of the program made by programmer.
3. Remote Controlled
O     Robots that have a level of operation where human intervention is required.
4. Artificial Intelligence
O     In the study of AI, some scientist believe that it is possible to create a robot or a mechanically advanced machine that is capable of being true autonomous, very close to human intelligence.
5. Nanotechnology
O     Also called Nanotech, is the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale.
Nanorobotics
O     Is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the microscopic scale of a nanometer.
O     There are already experimental studies of robots small enough to be injected in the human blood vein. With the use of an external computer, the robot can be controlled and can literally swim inside the vein of a living human body.

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