[Volume 1, Issue 1]

Introduction to Robotics

22 MARCH 2018

Contents

INTRODUCTION TO
ROBOTICS Robot defined
Word robot was coined by a Czech novelist Karel Capek in a 1920 play
titled Rassum’s Universal Robots (RUR). Robot in Czech is a word for
worker or servant.
MIT'S ROBOT FISH
CAN BLEND IN AND
SPY ON REAL SEA
CREATURES

ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF
ROBOT FISH

Karel Capek

Definition of robot is any machine made by one of the Robot Institute of

America.

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.

Robot used in English describes any construct that automates some

behavior. For example, a garage door opener automates the behavior of
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opening a door. A garage door opener has a sensor to detect the signal
from the remote control, actuators to open the door, and a control
system to stop turn off the motors and lights when the garage is fully
closed. In practice, this type of a machine is better described as a
Mechatronic device, and is a subset of the more interesting robots that
include autonomy or resourcefulness.

22 MARCH 2018

History of Robot

The first commercial,

digital and programmable
robot was built by George Example of Mechatronic Systems
Devol in 1954 and was
A Mechatronic Device is a degenerate robot with these components:
named the Unimate. It
was sold to General 1. Sensors, which detect the state of the environment.
Motors in 1961 where it 2. Actuators, which modify the state of the environment.
was used to lift pieces of
3. A Control System, which controls the actuators based on the
hot metal from die environment as depicted by the sensors.
casting machines at the
Inland Fisher Guide Plant A Robot is a mechatronic device which also includes resourcefulness or
autonomy. A device with autonomy does its thing “on its own” without a
in the West Trenton human directly guiding it moment-by-moment.
section of Ewing
Township, New Jersey.
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[Volume 1, Issue 2]

MIT's Robot Fish Can

Blend in and Spy on Real
Sea Creatures
22 MARCH 2018
Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory (CSAIL) have built a fish robot that can swim in the open
Creators water alongside the very animals it is researching.
It looks like a fish, moves like a fish, but it’s definitely a robot. It’s name is
SoFi (short for soft robotic fish), and according to its creators at MIT’s
computer science and AI lab CSAIL, it’s the most versatile bot of its kind.
And with its built-in cameras, scientists should be able to use SoFi to get
close to the ocean’s inhabitants without spooking them — hopefully
giving us greater insight into the lives of under-observed sea creatures.
SoFi is not the first robot fish designed for scientific use, but it does bring
Robert together a number of different innovations that give it a unique
advantage.
Katzschmann (SoFi's
co-creator)

Joseph DelPreto (SoFi’s co-

author)

SoFi gets up close and personal with its research subjects

Robotic fish have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. They

are now "secret agents" that can infiltrate schools of fish in controlled
scenarios. The new CSAIL robofish called "SoFi" appears to set a new
standard in its ability to blend into open water.
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22 MARCH 2018

A Robotic Fish Swims in the Ocean

“To our knowledge, this is the first robotic fish that can swim untethered
in three dimensions for extended periods of time,” says CSAIL PhD
candidate Robert Katzschmann, lead author of the new journal article
published today in Science Robotics, in a press statement. “We are
excited about the possibility of being able to use a system like this to get
closer to marine life than humans can get on their own.”
Ankur Mehta (SoFi’s lead
researcher) SoFi can handle going 50 feet deep into open water for up to 40 minutes.
It's strong enough to push back against currents, and it takes high-
resolution photos. Using a waterproofed Super Nintendo controller, the
SoFi can swim in a straight line, turn, and dive up or down.

Most important, though, is SoFi’s propulsion system. This is a powerful

hydraulic actuator that pumps water in and out of a pair of internal
chambers, moving its tail fin back and forth. Not only is this quieter than
using propellors like a submarine, but it’s also less dangerous, as there
are no sharp moving parts, and better camouflage. A hydraulic tail is
quiet and looks just like the real thing (or should that be the real fin).
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22 MARCH 2018

SoFi’s repurposed Nintendo controller

For a start, its housing is made from molded and 3D printed plastics,
meaning it’s cheap and fast to fabricate. It’s got a built-in buoyancy tank
full of compressed air that means it can adjust its depth and linger at
specific points in the water column (good for stakeouts). It’s also got a
custom control system, which uses coded audio bursts to transmit
instructions from a human operator. SoFi can swim semi-autonomously,
and will keep going in a specific direction without oversight, but a handler
can steer it left or right, up and down, using a modified Super Nintendo
controller.

SoFi's back half is made of silicone rubber and flexible plastic, while the
head, which holds all the electronics, is 3D-printed. To swim, SoFi's motor
pumps water into two balloon-like chambers in its tail, which function
like a set of pistons in an engine. When one chamber expands, it flexes
and bends to one side or the other.

Taking apart the Sofi

Getting SoFi to swim at various depths proved to be one of the greatest

challenges for Katzschmann and the team. Its fins have “dive planes” that
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adjust the up-or-down pitch of the fish. It does all this with minimal motor
noise and low-frequency communications with the research team on
wavelengths from 20 to 36 kilohertz.
“The robot is capable of close observations and interactions with marine
life and appears to not be disturbing to real fish,” says CSAIL director
Daniela Rus.
But, says Rus, compared to earlier biomimetic fish, SoFi is a finished
22 MARCH 2018 product. “It could be an extraordinary tool for studying marine biology”
she says. “To find out about the secret lives of animals that live
underwater, we need to collect more data. This could help.”
With a proven model, the team is now tweaking SoFi through an
improved pump system and minor alterations to the body and tail. After
that, they plan on building more SoFis that would use their robotic eyes to
follow schools of fish.
“We view SoFi as a first step toward developing almost an underwater
observatory of sorts,” says Rus. “It has the potential to be a new type of
tool for ocean exploration and to open up new avenues for uncovering
the mysteries of marine life.”
Rus and her colleagues are already planning upgrades for SoFi, which
could include live-streaming video. (At this point in time, a human
operator has to be in line-of-sight with the robot to control it.) Another
next step might even involve creating whole schools of robot fish that can
navigate as a single creature to collect greater amounts of data; or split
off to comb the seafloor as individual scouts. “There are just so many
mysterious underwater phenomena we have yet to witness,” says Rus.

WHO DID IT?

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22 MARCH 2018

From left to right: Joseph DelPreto, Ankur Mehta, Farnam Jahanian

(Director of CISE at NSF), and Robert Katzschmann.

WHY THEY DID IT?

As climate change and overfishing wreak havoc on oceans, scientists are
racing to study marine life in detail. But scuba-diving humans don't
exactly blend in, which can make it hard to watch some animals up-
close. SoFi could act as marine biologists' unobtrusive eyes and ears.
“When we were designing the robot, we tried to make sure that it's
moving to conserve the life we're trying to observe,” says co-
author Joseph DelPreto.

HOW THEY DID IT?

To build better aquatic robots, researchers have mimicked tuna, jellyfish,
lobsters and they’ve also built robots out of pliable materials, such as the
squishy “octobot.”
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[Volume 1, Issue 3]

Advantages and
Disadvantages of Robot
Fish
22 MARCH 2018
ADVANTAGE:
1. Do jobs that are dangerous for humans.
2. Do repetitive jobs that are boring, stressful, or laborintensive for
humans.
3. Do menial tasks that human don’t want to do.
4. Vast unexplored field of robotics.
5. Each design is assured to be unique.
6. Wide area of opportunities as most part of our world is water.
7. Too many opportunities in commercial applications.
8. Testing environment can be anything from a local pond, bucket of
water or a swimming pool.

DISADVANTAGE:
1. It needs a supply of power.
2. It cost much money in the maintenance and repair.
3. It can store large amounts of data but the storage, access,
retrieval is not as effective as the human brain.
4. The robot fish are not able to act any different from what they
are programmed to do.
5. The robot fish are not intelligent or sentient. They can never
improve the results of their jobs outside of their predefined
programming.
6. Water proofing: Electronics hate water and not water proofing
the circuitry resulting in shorting your entire circuit.
7. Deeper depths require more sophisticated designs and
considerable research.
8. Not all land based sensors work in the same way in water.
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