Robotics

The Shadow robot hand system

Robotics is the engineering science and technology of robots, and their design,
manufacture, and application.[1] Robotics is related to electronics, mechanics, and
software.[2] The word robot was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in
his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. The first recorded use
of the term was by Isaac Asimov in his 1941 science fiction short-story Liar!"[3]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Origins
• 2 Components of robots
o 2.1 Structure
o 2.2 Power source
o 2.3 Actuation
 o 2.4 Sensing
 2.4.1 Touch
o 2.5 Manipulation
o 2.6 Locomotion
 2.6.1 Rolling robots
 2.6.2 Walking robots
 2.6.3 Other methods of locomotion
o 2.7 Environmental interaction and navigation
o 2.8 Human-robot interaction
• 3 Control
• 4 Dynamics and kinematics
• 5 Robot research
• 6 Education and training
o 6.1 Employment in robotics
• 7 Healthcare
• 8 See also
• 9 Notes

• 10 References

[edit] Origins
See also: History of robots and Robot

Stories of artificial helpers and companions likewise attempts to create them have a long
history, but fully autonomous machines only appeared in the 20th century. The first
digitally operated and programmable robot, the Unimate, was installed in 1961 to lift hot
pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them. Today, commercial and
industrial robots are in widespread use performing jobs cheaper or more accurately and
reliably than humans. They are also employed for jobs which are too dirty, dangerous, or
dull to be suitable for humans. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly, and
packing; transport; earth and space exploration; surgery; weaponry; laboratory research;
safety; and mass production of consumer and industrial goods.[4]

Date Significance Robot Name Inventor

Descriptions of more than 100 machines

First Ctesibius, Philo of
and automata, including a fire engine, a
century Byzantium, Heron
wind organ, a coin-operated machine, and
A.D. and of Alexandria, and
a steam-powered engine, in Pneumatica
earlier others
and Automata by Heron of Alexandria
 Boat with
1206 programmable Humanoid Automatons four Al-Jazari
musicians

Mechanical
c. 1495 Designs for a humanoid robot Leonardo da Vinci
knight

Mechanical duck that was able to eat, flap Digesting Jacques de

1738
its wings, and excrete Duck Vaucanson

Japanese mechanical toys that served tea,

1800s Karakuri toys Tanaka Hisashige
fired arrows, and painted

Rossum's
First fictional automatons called "robots"
1921 Universal Karel Čapek
appear in the play R.U.R.
Robots

Humanoid robot exhibited at the 1939 and Westinghouse

1930s Elektro
1940 World's Fairs Electric Corporation

Simple robots exhibiting biological Elsie and

1948 William Grey Walter
behaviors[5] Elmer

First commercial robot, from the

Unimation company founded by George
1956 Unimate George Devol
Devol and Joseph Engelberger, based on
Devol's patents[6]

1961 First installed industrial robot Unimate George Devol

1963 First palletizing robot[7] Palletizer Fuji Yusoki Kogyo

1973 First industrial robot with six Famulus KUKA Robot Group
 electromechanically driven axes[8]

Programmable universal manipulation

1975 PUMA Victor Scheinman
arm, a Unimation product

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word robotics was first used in print by
Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Liar!", published in May 1941 in
Astounding Science Fiction. Asimov was unaware that he was coining the term; since the
science and technology of electrical devices is electronics, he assumed robotics already
referred to the science and technology of robots. However, in some of Asimov's other
works, he states that the first use of the word robotics was in his short story Runaround
(Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942).[9][10] The word robotics was derived from the
word robot, which was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which premiered in 1921.[11]

[edit] Components of robots

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[edit] Structure

The structure of a robot is usually mostly mechanical and can be called a kinematic chain
(its functionality being similar to the skeleton of the human body). The chain is formed of
links (its bones), actuators (its muscles), and joints which can allow one or more degrees
of freedom. Most contemporary robots use open serial chains in which each link connects
the one before to the one after it. These robots are called serial robots and often resemble
the human arm. Some robots, such as the Stewart platform, use a closed parallel
kinematical chain. Other structures, such as those that mimic the mechanical structure of
humans, various animals, and insects, are comparatively rare. However, the development
and use of such structures in robots is an active area of research (e.g. biomechanics).
Robots used as manipulators have an end effector mounted on the last link. This end
effector can be anything from a welding device to a mechanical hand used to manipulate
the environment.

[edit] Power source

At present; mostly (lead-acid) batteries are used, but potential power sources could be:

• pneumatic (compressed gasses)

• hydraulics (compressed liquids)
 • flywheel energy storage
• organic garbages (through anaerobic digestion)
• feces (human, animal); may be interesting in a military context as feces of small
combat groups may be reused for the energy requirements of the robot assistant
(see DEKA's project Slingshot stirling engine on how the system would operate)
• still untested energy sources (eg Joe Cell, ...)
• radioactive source (such as with the proposed Ford car of the '50); to those
proposed in movies such as Red Planet

[edit] Actuation

A robot leg powered by Air Muscles

Actuators are the "muscles" of a robot, the parts which convert stored energy into
movement. By far the most popular actuators are electric motors, but there are many
others, powered by electricity, chemicals, and compressed air.

• Motors: The vast majority of robots use electric motors, including brushed and
brushless DC motors.
• Stepper motors: As the name suggests, stepper motors do not spin freely like DC
motors; they rotate in discrete steps, under the command of a controller. This
makes them easier to control, as the controller knows exactly how far they should
have rotated, without having to use a sensor. The controller can't tell if the motor
has stalled and the shaft didn't turn. They are used on many robots and CNC
machines, as their main advantage over DC motors, is that you can specify how
 much to turn, for more precise control, rather than a "spin and see where it went"
approach.
• Piezo motors: A recent alternative to DC motors are piezo motors or ultrasonic
motors. These work on a fundamentally different principle, whereby tiny
piezoceramic elements, vibrating many thousands of times per second, cause
linear or rotary motion. There are different mechanisms of operation; one type
uses the vibration of the piezo elements to walk the motor in a circle or a straight
line.[12] Another type uses the piezo elements to cause a nut to vibrate and drive a
screw. The advantages of these motors are nanometer resolution, speed, and
available force for their size.[13] These motors are already available commercially,
and being used on some robots.[14][15]
• Air muscles: The air muscle is a simple yet powerful device for providing a
pulling force. When inflated with compressed air, it contracts by up to 40% of its
original length. The key to its behavior is the braiding visible around the outside,
which forces the muscle to be either long and thin, or short and fat (almost like a
Chinese finger trap). Since it behaves in a very similar way to a biological muscle,
it can be used to construct robots with a similar muscle/skeleton system to an
animal.[16] For example, the Shadow robot hand uses 40 air muscles to power its
24 joints.
• Electroactive polymers: Electroactive polymers are a class of plastics which
change shape in response to electrical stimulation.[17] They can be designed so that
they bend, stretch, or contract, but so far there are no EAPs suitable for
commercial robots, as they tend to have low efficiency or are not robust.[18]
Indeed, all of the entrants in a recent competition to build EAP powered arm
wrestling robots, were beaten by a 17 year old girl.[19] However, they are expected
to improve in the future, where they may be useful for microrobotic
applications.[20]
• Elastic nanotubes: These are a promising, early-stage experimental technology.
The absence of defects in nanotubes[disambiguation needed] enables these filaments to
deform elastically by several percent, with energy storage levels of perhaps 10J
per cu cm for metal nanotubes. Human biceps could be replaced with an 8mm
diameter wire of this material. Such compact "muscle" might allow future robots
to outrun and outjump humans.[21]

[edit] Sensing

[edit] Touch

Current robotic and prosthetic hands receive far less tactile information than the human
hand. Recent research has developed a tactile sensor array that mimics the mechanical
properties and touch receptors of human fingertips.[22] The sensor array is constructed as a
rigid core surrounded by conductive fluid contained by an elastomeric skin. Electrodes
are mounted on the surface of the rigid core and are connected to an impedance-
measuring device within the core. When the artificial skin touches an object the fluid path
around the electrodes is deformed, producing impedance changes that map the forces
received from the object. The researchers expect that an important function of such
artificial fingertips will be adjusting robotic grip on held objects.

[edit] Manipulation

Robots which must work in the real world require some way to manipulate objects; pick
up, modify, destroy, or otherwise have an effect. Thus the 'hands' of a robot are often
referred to as end effectors,[23] while the arm is referred to as a manipulator.[24] Most robot
arms have replaceable effectors, each allowing them to perform some small range of
tasks. Some have a fixed manipulator which cannot be replaced, while a few have one
very general purpose manipulator, for example a humanoid hand.

• Mechanical Grippers: One of the most common effectors is the gripper. In its
simplest manifestation it consists of just two fingers which can open and close to
pick up and let go of a range of small objects. See industrial robot end effectors.
• Vacuum Grippers: Pick and place robots for electronic components and for large
objects like car windscreens, will often use very simple vacuum grippers. These
are very simple astrictive[25] devices, but can hold very large loads provided the
prehension surface is smooth enough to ensure suction.
• General purpose effectors: Some advanced robots are beginning to use fully
humanoid hands, like the Shadow Hand, MANUS,[26] and the Schunk hand.[27]
These highly dexterous manipulators, with as many as 20 degrees of freedom and
hundreds of tactile sensors.[28]

For the definitive guide to all forms of robot endeffectors, their design, and usage consult
the book "Robot Grippers".[29]

[edit] Locomotion

See also: Robot locomotion

[edit] Rolling robots

Segway in the Robot museum in Nagoya.

For simplicity, most mobile robots have four wheels. However, some researchers have
tried to create more complex wheeled robots, with only one or two wheels.

• Two-wheeled balancing: While the Segway is not commonly thought of as a

robot, it can be thought of as a component of a robot. Several real robots do use a
similar dynamic balancing algorithm, and NASA's Robonaut has been mounted
on a Segway.[30]
• Ballbot: Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new type of
mobile robot that balances on a ball instead of legs or wheels. "Ballbot" is a self-
contained, battery-operated, omnidirectional robot that balances dynamically on a
single urethane-coated metal sphere. It weighs 95 pounds and is the approximate
height and width of a person. Because of its long, thin shape and ability to
maneuver in tight spaces, it has the potential to function better than current robots
can in environments with people.[31]
• Track Robot: Another type of rolling robot is one that has tracks, like NASA's
Urban Robot, Urbie.[32]

[edit] Walking robots

iCub robot, designed by the RobotCub Consortium

Walking is a difficult and dynamic problem to solve. Several robots have been made
which can walk reliably on two legs, however none have yet been made which are as
robust as a human. Many other robots have been built that walk on more than two legs,
due to these robots being significantly easier to construct.[33][34] Hybrids too have been
proposed in movies such as I, Robot, where they walk on 2 legs and switch to 4
(arms+legs) when going to a sprint. Typically, robots on 2 legs can walk well on flat
floors, and can occasionally walk up stairs. None can walk over rocky, uneven terrain.
Some of the methods which have been tried are:

• ZMP Technique: The Zero Moment Point (ZMP) is the algorithm used by robots
such as Honda's ASIMO. The robot's onboard computer tries to keep the total
inertial forces (the combination of earth's gravity and the acceleration and
deceleration of walking), exactly opposed by the floor reaction force (the force of
the floor pushing back on the robot's foot). In this way, the two forces cancel out,
leaving no moment (force causing the robot to rotate and fall over).[35] However,
this is not exactly how a human walks, and the difference is quite apparent to
human observers, some of whom have pointed out that ASIMO walks as if it
needs the lavatory.[36][37][38] ASIMO's walking algorithm is not static, and some
dynamic balancing is used (See below). However, it still requires a smooth
surface to walk on.
• Hopping: Several robots, built in the 1980s by Marc Raibert at the MIT Leg
Laboratory, successfully demonstrated very dynamic walking. Initially, a robot
with only one leg, and a very small foot, could stay upright simply by hopping.
The movement is the same as that of a person on a pogo stick. As the robot falls to
one side, it would jump slightly in that direction, in order to catch itself.[39] Soon,
the algorithm was generalised to two and four legs. A bipedal robot was
demonstrated running and even performing somersaults.[40] A quadruped was also
demonstrated which could trot, run, pace, and bound.[41] For a full list of these
robots, see the MIT Leg Lab Robots page.
• Dynamic Balancing or controlled falling: A more advanced way for a robot to
walk is by using a dynamic balancing algorithm, which is potentially more robust
than the Zero Moment Point technique, as it constantly monitors the robot's
motion, and places the feet in order to maintain stability.[42] This technique was
recently demonstrated by Anybots' Dexter Robot,[43] which is so stable, it can even
jump.[44] Another example is the TU Delft Flame.
• Passive Dynamics: Perhaps the most promising approach utilizes passive
dynamics where the momentum of swinging limbs is used for greater efficiency.
It has been shown that totally unpowered humanoid mechanisms can walk down a
gentle slope, using only gravity to propel themselves. Using this technique, a
robot need only supply a small amount of motor power to walk along a flat
surface or a little more to walk up a hill. This technique promises to make walking
robots at least ten times more efficient than ZMP walkers, like ASIMO.[45][46]

[edit] Other methods of locomotion

RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle

• Flying: A modern passenger airliner is essentially a flying robot, with two

humans to manage it. The autopilot can control the plane for each stage of the
journey, including takeoff, normal flight, and even landing.[47] Other flying robots
are uninhabited, and are known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). They can be
smaller and lighter without a human pilot onboard, and fly into dangerous
territory for military surveillance missions. Some can even fire on targets under
command. UAVs are also being developed which can fire on targets
automatically, without the need for a command from a human. However these
robots are unlikely to see service in the foreseeable future because of the morality
issues involved. Other flying robots include cruise missiles, the Entomopter, and
the Epson micro helicopter robot. Robots such as the Air Penguin, Air Ray, and
Air Jelly have lighter-than-air bodies, propelled by paddles, and guided by sonar.

Two robot snakes. Left one has 64 motors (with 2 degrees of freedom per segment), the
right one 10.

• Snaking: Several snake robots have been successfully developed. Mimicking the
way real snakes move, these robots can navigate very confined spaces, meaning
they may one day be used to search for people trapped in collapsed buildings.[48]
The Japanese ACM-R5 snake robot[49] can even navigate both on land and in
water.[50]
• Skating: A small number of skating robots have been developed, one of which is
a multi-mode walking and skating device, Titan VIII[dead link]. It has four legs, with
unpowered wheels, which can either step or roll.[51] Another robot, Plen, can use a
miniature skateboard or rollerskates, and skate across a desktop.[52]
 • Climbing: Several different approaches have been used to develop robots that
have the ability to climb vertical surfaces. One approach mimicks the movements
of a human climber on a wall with protrusions; adjusting the center of mass and
moving each limb in turn to gain leverage. An example of this is Capuchin,[53]
built by Stanford University, California. Another approach uses the specialised toe
pad method of wall-climbing geckoes, which can run on smooth surfaces such as
vertical glass. Examples of this approach include Wallbot [54] and Stickybot.[55] A
third approach is to mimick the motion of a snake climbing a pole[citation needed].
• Swimming: It is calculated that when swimming some fish can achieve a
propulsive efficiency greater than 90%.[56] Furthermore, they can accelerate and
maneuver far better than any man-made boat or submarine, and produce less noise
and water disturbance. Therefore, many researchers studying underwater robots
would like to copy this type of locomotion.[57] Notable examples are the Essex
University Computer Science Robotic Fish,[58] and the Robot Tuna built by the
Institute of Field Robotics, to analyze and mathematically model thunniform
motion.[59] The Aqua Penguin, designed and built by Festo of Germany, copies the
streamlined shape and propulsion by front "flippers" of penguins. Festo have also
built the Aqua Ray and Aqua Jelly, which emulate the locomotion of manta ray,
and jellyfish, respectively.

[edit] Environmental interaction and navigation

RADAR, GPS, LIDAR, ... are all combined to provide proper navigation and obstacle
avoidance
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Though a significant percentage of robots in commission today are either human

controlled, or operate in a static environment, there is an increasing interest in robots that
can operate autonomously in a dynamic environment. These robots require some
combination of navigation hardware and software in order to traverse their environment.
In particular unforeseen events (eg. people and other obstacles that are not stationary) can
cause problems or collisions. Some highly advanced robots as ASIMO, EveR-1, Meinü
robot have particularly good robot navigation hardware and software. Also, self-
controlled cars, Ernst Dickmanns' driverless car, and the entries in the DARPA Grand
Challenge, are capable of sensing the environment well and subsequently making
navigational decisions based on this information. Most of these robots employ a GPS
navigation device with waypoints, along with radar, sometimes combined with other
sensory data such as LIDAR, video cameras, and inertial guidance systems for better
navigation between waypoints.

[edit] Human-robot interaction

Kismet can produce a range of facial expressions.

If robots are to work effectively in homes and other non-industrial environments, the way
they are instructed to perform their jobs, and especially how they will be told to stop will
be of critical importance. The people who interact with them may have little or no
training in robotics, and so any interface will need to be extremely intuitive. Science
fiction authors also typically assume that robots will eventually be capable of
communicating with humans through speech, gestures, and facial expressions, rather than
a command-line interface. Although speech would be the most natural way for the human
to communicate, it is quite unnatural for the robot. It will be quite a while before robots
interact as naturally as the fictional C-3PO.

• Speech recognition: Interpreting the continuous flow of sounds coming from a

human (speech recognition), in real time, is a difficult task for a computer, mostly
because of the great variability of speech. The same word, spoken by the same
person may sound different depending on local acoustics, volume, the previous
word, whether or not the speaker has a cold, etc.. It becomes even harder when
the speaker has a different accent.[60] Nevertheless, great strides have been made in
the field since Davis, Biddulph, and Balashek designed the first "voice input
system" which recognized "ten digits spoken by a single user with 100%
accuracy" in 1952.[61] Currently, the best systems can recognize continuous,
natural speech, up to 160 words per minute, with an accuracy of 95%.[62]
 • Gestures: One can imagine, in the future, explaining to a robot chef how to make
a pastry, or asking directions from a robot police officer. On both of these
occasions, making hand gestures would aid the verbal descriptions. In the first
case, the robot would be recognizing gestures made by the human, and perhaps
repeating them for confirmation. In the second case, the robot police officer
would gesture to indicate "down the road, then turn right". It is quite likely that
gestures will make up a part of the interaction between humans and robots.[63] A
great many systems have been developed to recognize human hand gestures.[64]
• Facial expression: Facial expressions can provide rapid feedback on the progress
of a dialog between two humans, and soon it may be able to do the same for
humans and robots. Frubber robotic faces have been constructed by Hanson
Robotics, allowing a great amount of facial expressions due to the elasticity of the
rubber facial coating and imbedded subsurface motors (servos) to produce the
facial expressions.[65] The coating and servos are built on a metal skull. A robot
should know how to approach a human, judging by their facial expression and
body language. Whether the person is happy, frightened, or crazy-looking affects
the type of interaction expected of the robot. Likewise, robots like Kismet and the
more recent addition, Nexi[66] can produce a range of facial expressions, allowing
it to have meaningful social exchanges with humans.[67]
• Artificial emotions Artificial emotions can also be imbedded and are composed
of a sequence of facial expressions and/or gestures. As can be seen from the
movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, the programming of these artificial
emotions is quite complex and requires a great amount of human observation. To
simplify this programming in the movie, presets were created together with a
special software program. This decreased the amount of time needed to make the
film. These presets could possibly be transferred for use in real-life robots.
• Personality: Many of the robots of science fiction have a personality, something
which may or may not be desirable in the commercial robots of the future.[68]
Nevertheless, researchers are trying to create robots which appear to have a
personality:[69][70] i.e. they use sounds, facial expressions, and body language to try
to convey an internal state, which may be joy, sadness, or fear. One commercial
example is Pleo, a toy robot dinosaur, which can exhibit several apparent
emotions.[71]

[edit] Control
A robot-manipulated marionette, with complex control systems
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The mechanical structure of a robot must be controlled to perform tasks. The control of a
robot involves three distinct phases - perception, processing, and action (robotic
paradigms). Sensors give information about the environment or the robot itself (e.g. the
position of its joints or its end effector). This information is then processed to calculate
the appropriate signals to the actuators (motors) which move the mechanical.

The processing phase can range in complexity. At a reactive level, it may translate raw
sensor information directly into actuator commands. Sensor fusion may first be used to
estimate parameters of interest (e.g. the position of the robot's gripper) from noisy sensor
data. An immediate task (such as moving the gripper in a certain direction) is inferred
from these estimates. Techniques from control theory convert the task into commands
that drive the actuators.

At longer time scales or with more sophisticated tasks, the robot may need to build and
reason with a "cognitive" model. Cognitive models try to represent the robot, the world,
and how they interact. Pattern recognition and computer vision can be used to track
objects. Mapping techniques can be used to build maps of the world. Finally, motion
planning and other artificial intelligence techniques may be used to figure out how to act.
For example, a planner may figure out how to achieve a task without hitting obstacles,
falling over, etc.

Control systems may also have varying levels of autonomy. Direct interaction is used for
haptic or tele-operated devices, and the human has nearly complete control over the
robot's motion. Operator-assist modes have the operator commanding medium-to-high-
level tasks, with the robot automatically figuring out how to achieve them. An
autonomous robot may go for extended periods of time without human interaction.
Higher levels of autonomy do not necessarily require more complex cognitive
capabilities. For example, robots in assembly plants are completely autonomous, but
operate in a fixed pattern.

[edit] Dynamics and kinematics

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The study of motion can be divided into kinematics and dynamics. Direct kinematics
refers to the calculation of end effector position, orientation, velocity, and acceleration
when the corresponding joint values are known. Inverse kinematics refers to the opposite
case in which required joint values are calculated for given end effector values, as done in
path planning. Some special aspects of kinematics include handling of redundancy
(different possibilities of performing the same movement), collision avoidance, and
singularity avoidance. Once all relevant positions, velocities, and accelerations have been
calculated using kinematics, methods from the field of dynamics are used to study the
effect of forces upon these movements. Direct dynamics refers to the calculation of
accelerations in the robot once the applied forces are known. Direct dynamics is used in
computer simulations of the robot. Inverse dynamics refers to the calculation of the
actuator forces necessary to create a prescribed end effector acceleration. This
information can be used to improve the control algorithms of a robot.

In each area mentioned above, researchers strive to develop new concepts and strategies,
improve existing ones, and improve the interaction between these areas. To do this,
criteria for "optimal" performance and ways to optimize design, structure, and control of
robots must be developed and implemented.

[edit] Robot research

TOPIO, a robot can play ping-pong, developed by TOSY. [72]
Further information: Open-source robotics and Evolutionary robotics

Much of the research in robotics focuses not on specific industrial tasks, but on
investigations into new types of robots, alternative ways to think about or design robots,
and new ways to manufacture them.

A first particular new innovation in robotdesign is the opensourcing of robot-projects. To

describe the level of advancement of a robot, the term "Generation Robots" can be used.
This term is coined by Professor Hans Moravec, Principal Research Scientist at the
Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute in describing the near future evolution of
robot technology. First, second and third generation robots are First generation robots,
Moravec predicted in 1997, should have an intellectual capacity comparable to perhaps a
lizard and should become available by 2010. Because the first generation robot would be
incapable of learning, however, Moravec predicts that the second generation robot would
be an improvement over the first and become available by 2020, with an intelligence
maybe comparable to that of a mouse. The third generation robot should have an
intelligence comparable to that of a monkey. Though fourth generation robots, robots
with human intelligence, professor Moravec predicts, would become possible, he does
not predict this happening before around 2040 or 2050.[73]

The second is Evolutionary Robots. This is a methodology that uses evolutionary

computation to help design robots, especially the body form, or motion and behavior
controllers. In a similar way to natural evolution, a large population of robots is allowed
to compete in some way, or their ability to perform a task is measured using a fitness
function. Those that perform worst are removed from the population, and replaced by a
new set, which have new behaviors based on those of the winners. Over time the
population improves, and eventually a satisfactory robot may appear. This happens
without any direct programming of the robots by the researchers. Researchers use this
method both to create better robots,[74] and to explore the nature of evolution.[75] Because
the process often requires many generations of robots to be simulated, this technique may
be run entirely or mostly in simulation, then tested on real robots once the evolved
algorithms are good enough.[76] Currently, there are about 1 million industrial robots
toiling around the world, and Japan is the top country having high density of utilizing
robots in its manufacturing industry.[77]

[edit] Education and training

The SCORBOT-ER 4u - educational robot.

Robotics as an undergraduate area of study is fairly common, although few universities

offer robotics degrees.

In the United States, only Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) offers a Bachelor of
Science in Robotics Engineering. Universities that have graduate degrees focused on
robotics include Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, UPENN, UCLA, WPI, and
SDSM&T.

In Australia, there are Bachelor of Engineering degrees at the universities belonging to

the Centre for Autonomous Systems (CAS)[78]: University of Sydney, University of New
South Wales, and the University of Technology, Sydney. Other universities include
Deakin University, Flinders University, Swinburne University of Technology, University
of Western Australia, and the University of Western Sydney. Others offer degrees in
Mechatronics.

In India a post-graduate degree in Mechatronics is offered at Madras Institute of

Technology, Chennai. Mechatronics at bachelor level is offered at SASTRA university,
Thanjur and kongu college of engineering, Erode.

In the UK, Robotics degrees are offered by a number of institutions including the Heriot-
Watt University, University of Essex, the University of Liverpool, University of Reading,
Sheffield Hallam University, Staffordshire University, University of Sussex, Robert
Gordon University, and the University of Wales, Newport.

In Mexico, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education offers a

Bachelor of Science in Digital Systems and Robotics Engineering[79] and a Bachelor of
Science in Mechatronics.[80]

In Iran, the Shahrood University of Technology and Hamedan University of Technology

offer a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering. Others offer degrees in
Mechatronics. Universities that have graduate degrees focused on Mechatronics include
Sharif University of Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, K. N. Toosi
University of Technology, University of Tabriz, and Semnan University.

Robots recently became a popular tool in raising interests in computing for middle and
high school students. First year computer science courses at several universities were
developed which involves the programming of a robot instead of the traditional software
engineering based coursework. Examples include Course 6 at MIT and the Institute for
Personal Robots in Education at the Georgia Institute of Technology with Bryn Mawr
College.

Some specialised robotics jobs require new skills, such as those of robot installer and
robot integrator.[81] While universities have long included robotics research in their
curricular offerings and tech schools have taught industrial robotic arm control, new
college programs in applied mobile robots are under development at universities in both
the US and EU, with help from Microsoft, MobileRobots Inc., and other companies
encouraging the growth of robotics.

Robotics courses are also available online, for example at RAS Robotic Courseware.

[edit] Employment in robotics

A robot technician builds small all-terrain robots. (Courtesy: MobileRobots Inc)

As the number of robots increases, robotics-related jobs grow. Some jobs require existing
job skills, such as building cables, assembling parts, and testing.

[edit] Healthcare
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article
by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (July 2009)

Script Pro manufactures a robot designed to help pharmacies fill prescriptions that consist
of oral solids or medications in pill form. The pharmacist or pharmacy technician enters
the prescription information into its information system. The system, upon determining
whether or not the drug is in the robot, will send the information to the robot for filling.
The robot has 3 different size vials to fill determined by the size of the pill. The robot
technician, user, or pharmacist determines the needed size of the vial based on the tablet
when the robot is stocked. Once the vial is filled it is brought up to a conveyor belt that
delivers it to a holder that spins the vial and attaches the patient label. Afterwards it is set
on another conveyor that delivers the patient’s medication vial to a slot labeled with the
patient's name on an LED read out. The pharmacist or technician then checks the contents
of the vial to ensure it’s the correct drug for the correct patient and then seals the vials
and sends it out front to be picked up. The robot is a very time efficient device that the
pharmacy depends on to fill prescriptions.

McKesson’s Robot RX is another healthcare robotics product that helps pharmacies

dispense thousands of medications daily with little or no errors. The robot can be ten feet
wide and thirty feet long and can hold hundreds of different kinds of medications and
thousands of doses. The pharmacy saves many resources like staff members that are
otherwise unavailable in a resource scarce industry. It uses an electromechanical head
coupled with a pneumatic system to capture each dose and deliver it to its either stocked
or dispensed location. The head moves along a single axis while it rotates 180 degrees to
pull the medications. During this process it uses barcode technology to verify its pulling
the correct drug. It then delivers the drug to a patient specific bin on a conveyor belt.
Once the bin is filled with all of the drugs that a particular patient needs and that the robot
stocks, the bin is then released and returned out on the conveyor belt to a technician
waiting to load it into a cart for delivery to the floor.

[edit] See also

Robotics portal
Main article: Outline of robotics

• Category:Robotics suites
• Future of robotics
• Glossary of robotics
• History of technology
• Human virtualization
• Industrial robot
• List of emerging robotic technologies
• NASA robots
• Naturoid
• Open source hardware
• Robot
• Robotics suite
• Whegs

[edit] Notes
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[edit] References
• K. S. Fu & R.C. Gonzalez & C.S.G. Lee, Robotics: Control, Sensing, Vision, and