Introduction

The AQUA Robot

The objective of the AQUA project is to produce a fully-autonomous amphibious robot which can explore underwater environments and gather data with minimum disturbance of the indigenous marine life. Its advanced vision system in combination with six independently-controlled flippers for locomotion gives AQUA its incredible manoeuvrability in the water allowing it to safely pass over coral in shallow waters as well as to explore a sandy bottom without physical contact.

Mechanics
The body of the AQUA version 1.0 robot is 50 by 65 by 13 centimeters and weighs approximately 18 kilograms. The shell is made of anodized aluminum. Later versions of AQUA are smaller and lighter. AQUA's legs are interchangeable: flippers for swimming and for limited walking along the beach, and rubber-treaded legs for walking. The legs are individually controlled by single-axis motors, allowing for large flexibility in finetuning the robot's walking and swimming gaits. AQUA can be tele-operated via a fiberoptic tether, or it can be used in an unthered mode.

Sensors

AQUA has both rear- and forward-facing video camera for use in both teleoperation and visual servoing. The acoustic localization sensor and the trinocular sensor are presently being developed as external modules by the Dalhousie and York teams and can be used in conjunction with the AQUA platform, the intention is to integrate

them into the body of the robot in the future.

Software
AQUA (and most RHex robots, if not all) is controlled using a C++ library called RoboDevel, which is a collection of libraries for programming the RHex family of robots. RoboDevel is made up of libraries and tools that are robot-independent, as well as code that is specific to each robot derived from the original RHex architecture. RoboDevel runs on a 1KHz loop in a real-time operating system (QNX for AQUA), operating the gait-generation and proportional servo software. The swimming and walking functionalities are implemented as RHexLib modules. A visual processing module for AQUA is being developed with VXL as the vision library.

Field Trials
As a part of the regular development cycle, AQUA and its external modules are tested locally. In McGill's case, for instance, this is done at the pool in the Atheletics Facility. When all the components have reached the next milestone in development, a field trial is scheduled. There has typically been a trial in early winter at the Bellairs Research Institute each year since the project's inception. The water is clear, allowing for the vision systems to be run through their paces, and also warm. The latter is important for the researchers who are swimming with AQUA. Even with wetsuits, the temeratures several metres below the surface can prove to be decidedly chilly. Perhaps most importantly, field trials at Bellairs allow AQUA to be put through its gaits in one of the

primary environments it is envisioned being used in: a coral reef. Two other opportunities for testing AQUA under different conditions have arisen. AQUA was tested in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean off of the shores of Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia in the fall of 2005. There, it was being evaluated for its usefulness in the fishing industry. August of 2006 found AQUA taking a swim in some particularly shallow and silty waters of Lac Ouareau, a lake in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal.

Robot Dynamics - Getting the Specs Right support

Well this article covers the dynamics involved in making a good robot! So lets see what are the dynamics involved in making a perfect Robot there are many factors that can affect like RPM torque of the motor, diameter of the wheel friction between the tyres and the floor etc. We shall discuss how to calculate your requirement and then proceed into its application. For that youll need to brush up your knowledge of kinematics and dynamics the first few pages explain the concepts involved if you feel you know all the concepts right just go directly to the implementation of the concepts.

Rotations per Minute (RPM):

Its the number of times the axle of the motor spins in a minute. I.e. the number of rotations the wheel makes in a minute. We get motors having different rpms the common ones being 45, 60,100,150,200,250,300 in normal gear motors and higher rpms for brushless motors.

Velocity:
Velocity is the distance travelled in unit time (unit time can be anything like seconds minutes or hours) so the units are meters per second or kilometres per hour etc. So how do we apply this to our robot and calculate the velocity of our robot. First of all we need to know the RPM of the motor used and the diameter of the wheel. Now we come to the fundamental concepts of circles. Consider a point on a circle lets assume this point is touching the ground when rotating the circle without slippage the point again touches the ground when the circle finishes one rotation .the distance travelled during this time period is the distance travelled for one rotation

And that distance is the product of the diameter and (=3.14). The total distance travelled per minute.

Speed of Bot = RPM x Distance per rotation

I have used diameter in calculating if you consider the radius it will be 2R.

Example:Lets consider an example RPM = 150; Diameter = 7 cm (0.07 m) Distance per rotation = 3.14 x 0.07 = 0.2198 Speed = 0.2198 x 150 = 32.98 m/min or 0.5496 m/s

Torque:It is the weight carrying capacity of the motor. The general units of torque are Kg/cm. I.e. the weight it can lift when attached at a distance of 1cm. Torque is also known as moment of force it is the force multiplied with the perpendicular distance from the point where the force is acting so the higher the torque the greater the force the robot can produce

Here you should notice the greater the radius the lesser will be the force at the end point youll need to consider this when choosing the radius of the wheel.

Stall Torque: This is the force that can stop the motors from rotating i.e. this force is equal to the maximum torque that is produced by the motors so the forces act against each other and nullify .This is also the condition when the motor pulls the maximum current and can damage itself. Care has to be taken so that the motor doesnt stall. A motor shouldnt be left in stalled condition for a long time you will end up losing the motor. In India we dont find any local shop mentioning the torque of the motors (some online shops do list) and those things are the ones sold at the shop just look for similar models and take in those values for calculations. It is equally important to know the stall current of the motor so as to decide upon your power supply the stall torque is the highest current that a motor takes up when in stalled condition.

Acceleration:This is a measure as to how fast will your bot get to its top speed. This is very tricky when correlating it to electronic motors so ill just explain you one thing straight if you feel your robot is going slower than it should and getting faster after a few seconds its because you are sacrificing acceleration for more weight (your bot is over loaded) you need to get higher torque motors with the same RPM ratings to get your bot to its top speed right from the beginning even here there will be a small time delay but it will be better than running a motor with less torque it will never reach the desired speed.

Traction:Traction is the maximum frictional force that can be produced between two surfaces without slipping. In general many people call this as grip on the floor. I.e. The force that prevents your robot from sliding off. you might be in a dilemma as to if high traction is good or not many believe that traction is only necessary for Sumo bots or battle bots but that isnt true traction is required for all your bots if you have a good traction the turning and the control of the bot will be easy and precise. So, how can you have a good traction? The first thing Id recommend is get your bot better wheels. If your robots motor has a higher torque which you think it wont be using (like when you end up using overkill motors just because you can afford them or you have them lying around) then increase the weight of your bot as traction increases with the weight of the body. But we wise when involving concepts like this as youll need to be clear with the game plan to take these decisions as a wrong choice will make the bot

vulnerable in some aspect or the other. Ok to make things simple ill give a few examples where you can put this into action but remember you are sacrificing some torque for this so youll need higher torque motors. In Battle robotics or if your robot should move on any other moving object or climbing steep inclines your bot SHOULD have a good traction in the other cases is might not be that needed but its always better to have some.

How to calculate forces? F = m.a (mass x acceleration)

Calculating forces is a must when you build your Robot! Lets get through the basics once. Every time we consider a set of forces we need to get the resultant force and its value to know how the body experiencing the force will behave. The resultant force as the name suggests is the net force acting i.e. the actual force the body is experiencing though there a number of forces the body experiences only the resultant of the forces acting on it. Look at the diagram below to understand.

In the above figure we are considering all the forces to be acting from centre but in reality there would be a rotational force due to the forces 10F, 5F and 10F there would be rotational torque produced. Like in the figure below.

Component of Force
You might consider some cases where force is acting at an angle then what will be the resultant force in the direction of movement of the body. Look at the diagram below and youll get it!

So in general when the force is acting at an angle as shown in the figure the force along the direction of movement can be found out by resolving it into its components like shown in the above diagram. Some general Force you can encounter:-

Force of Gravitation:This is the force that is applied on the body directed towards the centre of the earth. This force is equal to the weight of the body (f=m.a; a=9.8 m/s^2; f=m.g)

Normal Reaction
Normal reaction is the force exerted opposite to the direction of the applied force this supports the Newtons Third law. I.e. it gets things going for example its responsible for us standing on the ground.

CALCULATING FORCES ON INCLINES UP the INCLINE:When climbing up the incline a component of the gravitational force acts against us so the force we have on the robot is reduced by this component

as it acts in the opposite direction of the force we are applying to get our bot to the top the diagram below ill make it clear.

Down the Incline

When coming down the incline the component acts along with you so the force increases. Look at the figure below so get a clear picture

Friction on inclines:
Some times your bot might start slipping on inclines this is because the magnitude of the component of weight is greater than the force of friction

in between the tyres and the surface of the inclines. When applying this concept we dont have much to do other than to get a good set of tyres for your bot.

How things are related!

Now Ill tell you how all the concepts are related with each other. Distance from shaft v/s the effective force at the end point though the torque will remain constant for any value of the distance from shaft of the motor we should notice that as the distance from centre increases the force acting on the tip is decreasing. Because T=rxf and the total torque remains constant for a particular motor and you are increasing the radius so the effective force at the tip is reduced in turn. Have a look at the two examples below to get a clear picture

In this example the effective force at the end is torque/radius = 1 Kg

The same motor now has an effective force of 2Kg (Torque/radius = 2Kg) when the radius is reduced to 5 cm so it has to be noted that we shouldnt go for huge radii unless inevitable. In the two pictures I used rods the same concept can be applied to wheels also * When calculating force requirement for lifting objects youll need to consider the distance up to its centre of gravity!

Velocity V/s Rpm and Wheel Diameter

The velocity is also another thing which will give the winning edge to your robot so it is also a thing you need to think about! There are two ways in which you can increase your velocity either increase the Rpm or the Wheel diameter. You can do either of them but in general it is advised to go for higher rpm motor they somehow seem to have an edge over increasing wheel diameter but whatever you are doing you need to keep the requirement of torque in mind otherwise the winning edge if not understood or applied properly will make you lose.

Rpm V/S Torque:We could be confused in choosing the correct combinations of Rpm and torque. In general they are inversely proportional i.e. for a particular base motor as the rpm increases the torque decreases the maximum torque for a motor occurs at 0 RPM and the Minimum torque occurs when the motor is running at its highest possible RPM if youre not utilizing that much torque Where does that extra torque go? The extra torque is used in accelerating your Bot though not to 100% most of it goes that way.

Lets go a bit electrical! You might have mastered these concepts and made a bot involving good mechanics but youll be powering up the entire thing using electrical energy. Many people design bots excellent mechanical concepts but fail when choosing the power supply. I have myself had the leading edge of a good enough power supply many times as the opponents though had good mechanism etc they didnt have enough juice to pump through their bot. Whenever choosing a power supply you should keep in mind the power requirement of each and every part of your bot and get appropriate batteries and also never ignore the voltage recommendations of the components you are using. For example you have four motors on your bot which consume 3amps current at stall (yes! Youll need to consider the stall current when calculating) then the battery should have a current capacity at minimum 13amps (one amp extra just to be sure) alongside you should also know the voltage requirements if the rating of the motors is 12 volts the battery should be rates 12V 13 A (considering motors are wired parallel)

Example:Challenge: - SUMO ROBOT

Now its time we apply all the things we learnt to building an example Bot! Lets take up a challenge we have to build a Sumo bot and the general restriction a sumo bot goes like

Specifications:Max Weight 5Kg Dimensions 30x30x30 Max voltage 12V Now our task is to build a bot that will emerge as a winner in the competition .So lets start out calculating our requirements of force the first main task will be to push the other bot outside the arena also there will be other tasks like pushing bricks against inclines etc in qualification rounds now lets get to business so what would be our force requirements? First and foremost we will have to push the other bots outside the arena and they will weight around 5 Kg most people will go wrong here only they will consider this force only but there are other factors you will also need to consider the weight of your bot and some other force dampening factors like rough terrain etc. So the force will need to be around 11kg (5Kg to push + 5Kg to carry our bot + 1Kg for possible situations) now comes the incline part we need to know the angle of inclination beforehand generally around 25 degrees . Then comes in the speed of the bot this is dependent on you how much do you want? Well something around 0.50 m/s is good for sumo bots. Now lets list out all the

Requirements:Force: - 11 Kg Velocity: - 0.50 m/s So now we have the force required that is the effective force at the tip of the wheels what we have left to calculate is the diameter of the wheel the RPM and the torque of the motors required. Lets first get through the velocity first we have seen that

Speed of Bot = RPM x Distance per rotation

Now, 0.50 m/s = Rps distance per rotation (Rps = rotations per second *conversion taken as speed in m/s) And Distance per rotation = 3.14 x 2 x radius Keeping it aside, Torque = Radius x Force And Rps = Speed of the Bot / Distance per rotation = 0.50/2x3.14xRadius As we can see there are a number of possible combinations youll need to chose based on the material available in general the diameter of the wheels available is 7cm (radius = 3.5cm) or (0.035 m) now lets calculate the rpm needed RPM = RPS x 60 Rps = 0.50/2x3.14x0.035 = 2.2747 RPM = Rps x 60 = 2.2747 x 60 = 136.482 So now we got the Rpm to be 136.482 and the nearest readymade values is 150 RPM Torque = Radius x Force = 3.5 x 11 = 38.5 Kg/cm Again this load is shared by the number of motors on your bot! So if it is 2 the rating would be 150RPM and 19.25 Kg/cm torque.

History of robots
The history of robots has its roots as far back as ancient myths and legends. Modern concepts were begun to be developed when the Industrial Revolution allowed the use of more complex mechanics and the subsequent introduction of electricity made it possible to power machines with small compact motors. After the 1920s the modern formulation of a humanoid machine was developed to the stage where it was possible to envisage human sized robots with the capacity for near human thoughts and movements, first envisaged millennia before. The first uses of modern robots were in factories as industrial robots simple fixed machines capable of manufacturing tasks which allowed production without the need for human assistance. Digitally controlled industrial robots and robots making use of artificial intelligence have been built since the 1960s. Chinese accounts relate a history of automata back to the 10th century BC when Yan Shi is credited with making an automaton resembling a human in an account from the Lie Zi text. Western and Eastern civilisations have concepts of artificial servants and companions with a long history. Many ancient mythologies include artificial people, such as the mechanical servants built by the Greek god Hephaestus (Vulcan to the Romans), the clay golems of Jewish legend and clay giants of Norse legend. Likely fictional, the Iliad illustrates the concept of robotics by stating that the god Hephaestus made talking mechanical handmaidens out of gold. Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum is reputed to have built a mechanical pigeon around 400 BC, possibly powered by steam, capable of flying. The clepsydra was made in 250 BC by Ctesibius of Alexandria, a physicist and inventor from Ptolemaic Egypt. Heron of Alexandria (1070 AD) created programmable devices in the late 1st century AD, including one that allegedly could speak. Aristotle took up an earlier reference in Homer's Iliad and speculated that automatons could someday bring about human equality by making the abolition of slavery possible in his book Politics (ca. 322 BC).

Ancient beginnings

The water-powered mechanism of Su Song's astronomical clock tower, featuring a clepsydra tank, waterwheel, escapementmechanism, and chain drive to power anarmillary sphere and 113 striking clock jacks to sound the hours and to display informative plaques In ancient China, a curious account on automata is found in the Lie Zi text, written in the 3rd century BC. Within it there is a description of a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou (1023-957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork. The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time...As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih [Yan Shi] executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs completeliver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of

them artificial...The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted. Early water clocks are sometimes grouped in with the beginning of robotics. They began in China in the 6th century BC and the Greco-Roman world in the 4th century BC where the Clepsydra is known to have been used as a stopwatch for imposing a time limit on clients' visits in Athenian brothels. The idea of artificial people in western mythology dates at least as far back as the ancient legends of Cadmus, who sowed dragon teeth that turned into soldiers, and the myth of Pygmalion, whose statue of Galatea came to life. In Greek mythology, the deformed god of metalwork (Vulcan or Hephaestus) created mechanical servants, ranging from intelligent, golden handmaidens to more utilitarian three-legged tables that could move about under their own power, and the bronze man Talos defended Crete. Concepts akin to a robot can be found as long ago as the 4th century BC, when the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum postulated a mechanical bird he called "The Pigeon" which was propelled by steam. Yet another early automaton was the clepsydra, made in 250 BC by Ctesibius of Alexandria, a physicist and inventor from Ptolemaic Egypt. Hero of Alexandria (1070 AD) made numerous innovations in the field of automata, including one that allegedly could speak. Taking up the earlier reference in Homer's Iliad, Aristotle speculated in his Politics (ca. 322 BC, book 1, part 4) that automatons could someday bring about human equality by making possible the abolition of slavery: There is only one condition in which we can imagine managers not needing subordinates, and masters not needing slaves. This condition would be that each instrument could do its own work, at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation, like the statues of Daedalus or the tripods made by Hephaestus, of which Homer relates that "Of their own motion they entered the conclave of Gods on Olympus", as if a shuttle should weave of itself, and a plectrum should do its own harp playing. Hero of Alexandria (1070 AD) created numerous "programmable" automated devices, including one that allegedly could speak. Jewish lore mentions the Jewish legend of the Golem, a clay creature animated by Kabbalistic magic. Similarly, in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a clay giant, Mkkurklfi or Mistcalf, constructed to aid the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor, the God of Thunder. The word robot was popularized by Czech author Karel apek in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). According to Karel, his brother Josef was the actual inventor of the word "robot", creating the word from the Czech word "robota", meaning servitude. In 1927, Fritz Lang's Metropolis was released; the Maschinenmensch ("machine-human"), a gynoid humanoid robot, also called "Parody", "Futura", "Robotrix", or the

"Maria impersonator" (played by German actress Brigitte Helm), was the first robot ever to be depicted on film. The world's first actual robot, a humanoid named Televox operated through the telephone system, was constructed in the United States in 1927. In 1928, Makoto Nishimura produced Japan's first robot, Gakutensoku. In his 1936 paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" (submitted on 28 May 1936), Turing reformulated Kurt Gdel's 1931 results on the limits of proof and computation, replacing Gdel's universal arithmetic-based formal language with what are now called Turing machines, formal and simple devices. He proved that some such machine would be capable of performing any conceivable mathematical computation if it were representable as an algorithm, thus creating the basis for what is now called computer science. Many robots were constructed before the dawn of computer-controlled servomechanisms, for the public relations purposes of major firms. Electro appeared in Westinghouse's pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Some were built in between such major public gatherings, such as Garco, made by Garrett AiResearch in the 1950s. These were essentially machines that could perform a few stunts, like the automatons of the 18th century. Vannevar Bush created the first differential analyzer at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT). Known as the Differential Analyzer, the computer could solve differential equations. 1940 brought about the creation of two electrical computers, John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry's Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). Ultimately, ideas from ABC were stolen for ENIAC. In 1941 and 1942, Isaac Asimov formulated the Three Laws of Robotics, and in the process of doing so, coined the word "robotics". In the UK, the Robinson machine was designed for the British war effort in cracking Enigma messages. This was done at the British code-breaking establishment at Bletchley Park; Ultra is the name for the intelligence so received. Robinson was superseded by Colossus, which was built in 1943 to decode FISH messages by the British group Ultra; it was designed by Tommy Flowersand was 100 to 1000 times faster than Robinson, and was the first fully electronic computer. The Bletchley machines were kept secret for decades, and so do not appear in histories of computing written until recently. After the war, Tommy Flowers joined the team that built the early Manchester computers. In Germany, Konrad Zuse built the first fully programmable digital computer in the world (the Z3) in 1941; it would later be destroyed in 1944.Zuse was also known for building the first binary computer from 1936 to 1938, called the Z1; he also built the Z4, his only machine to survive World War II. The first American programmable computer was completed in 1944 by Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper. The Mark I (as it was called) ran computations for the US Navy until 1959. ENIAC was built in 1946 and gained fame because of

its reliability, speed, and versatility. John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly spent 3 years building ENIAC, which weighed over 60,000 lbs. In 1948, Norbert Wiener formulated the principles of cybernetics, the basis of practical robotics. The first Turtles (Elmo and Elsie) were created by pioneer roboticist William Grey Walter in 1949. The first working digital computer to be sold was Zuse's Z4 in Germany; the fully electronic US BINAC was sold twelve months earlier in September 1949 but it never worked reliably at the customer's site due to mishandling in transit. Second was the UK's Ferranti Mark 1 delivered in February 1951, the first software programmable digital electronic computer to be sold that worked upon delivery. It was based on the world's first software programmable digital electronic computer, Manchester's SSME of 1948. In 1950, UNIVAC I (also by Eckert and Mauchley) handled the US Census results; it was the third commercially marketed computer that worked on delivery (in December 1951). The Turing test is proposed by Alan Turing in his 1950 paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which opens with the words: "I propose to consider the question, 'Can machines think?'"

Construction of Aqua Robot.

Aqua Robot is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and applicatiomechanics mechatronics, and software. The concept and creation of machines that could operate autonomously dates back to classical times, but research into the functionality and potential uses of robots did not grow substantially until the 20th century. Today, robotics is a rapidly growing field, as we continue to research, design, and build new robots that serve various practical purposes, whether domestically, commercially, or militarily n of robots.Robotics is related to the sciences of electronics, engineering,

Etymology
The word robotics was derived from the word robot, which was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel apek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which premiered in 1921.[5] 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 iselectronics, he assumed robotics already referred to the science and technology of robots. 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). However, the word robotics appears in "Liar!"

Power source
Further information: Power supply and Energy storage At present; mostly (lead-acid) batteries are used, but potential power sources could be:

pneumatic (compressed gases) hydraulics (liquids) flywheel energy storage organic garbage (through anaerobic digestion) faeces (human, animal); may be interesting in a military context as faeces 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 unproven energy sources: for example Nuclear fusion, as yet not used in nuclear reactors whereas Nuclear fission is proven (although there are not many robots using it as a power source apart from the Chinese rover tests.. radioactive source (such as with the proposed Ford car of the '50s); to

those proposed in movies such as Red Planet

Actuation

A robotic leg powered by Air Muscles Actuators are like the "muscles" of a robot, the parts which convert stored energy into movement. By far the most popular actuators are electric motors that spin a wheel or gear, and linear actuators that control industrial robots in factories. But there are some recent advances in alternative types of actuators, powered by electricity, chemicals, or compressed air:

Electric motors
The vast majority of robots use electric motors, often brushed and brushless DC motors in portable robots or AC motors in industrial robots and CNCmachines.

Linear actuators
Various types of linear actuators move in and out instead of by spinning, particularly when very large forces are needed such as with industrial robotics. They are typically powered by compressed air (pneumatic actuator) or an oil (hydraulic actuator).

Series elastic actuators

A spring can be designed as part of the motor actuator, to allow improved force control. It has been used in various robots, particularly walking humanoidrobot.

Air muscles
Pneumatic artificial muscles, also known as air muscles, are special tubes that contract (typically up to 40%) when air is forced inside it. They have been used for some robot applications.

Muscle wire
Muscle wire, also known as Shape Memory Alloy, Nitinol or Flexinol Wire, is a material that contracts slightly (typically under 5%) when electricity runs through it. They have been used for some small robot applications.

Electroactive polymers
EAPs or EPAMs are a new plastic material that can contract substantially (up to 400%) from electricity, and have been used in facial muscles and arms of humanoid robots, and to allow new robots to float, fly, swim or walk.

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. 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.These motors are already available commercially, and being used on some robots.

Elastic nanotubes
Elastic nanotubes are a promising artificial muscle technology in early-stage experimental development. The absence of defects in carbon nanotubes enables these filaments to deform elastically by several percent, with energy storage levels of perhaps 10 J/cm3 for metal nanotubes. Human biceps could be replaced with an 8 mm diameter wire of this material. Such compact "muscle" might allow future robots to outrun and outjump humans.

Sensing&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.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. Scientists from several European countries and Israel developed a prosthetic hand in 2009, called SmartHand, which functions like a real one allowing patients to write with it, type on a keyboard, play piano and perform other fine movements. The prosthesis has sensors which enable the patient to sense real feeling in its fingertips.

Vision
Computer vision is the science and technology of machines that see. As a scientific discipline, computer vision is concerned with the theory behind artificial systems that extract information from images. The image data can take many forms, such as video sequences and views from cameras. In most practical computer vision applications, the computers are preprogrammed to solve a particular task, but methods based on learning are now becoming increasingly common. Computer vision systems rely on image sensors which detect electromagnetic radiation which is typically in the form of either visible light or infra-red light. The sensors are designed using solid-state physics. The process by which light propagates and reflects off surfaces is explained using optics. Sophisticated image sensors even require quantum mechanics to provide a complete understanding of the image formation process. There is a subfield within computer vision where artificial systems are designed to mimic the processing and behavior of biological systems, at different levels of complexity. Also, some of the learning-based methods developed within computer vision have their background in biology.

Manipulation
Robots needs 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,while the "arm" is referred to as amanipulator. 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. For the definitive guide to all forms of robot end-effectors, their design, and usage consult the book "Robot Grippers".

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. Fingers can for example be made of a chain with a metal wire run through it.

Vacuum Grippers
Vacuum grippers are very simple astrictive devices, but can hold very large loads provided the prehension surface is smooth enough to ensure

suction.Pick and place robots for electronic components and for large objects like car windscreens, often use very simple vacuum grippers.

Principles of Aqua Robotics

The word robot comes from the Czech word for forced labor, or serf. It was introduced by playwright Karel Capek, whose fictional robotic inventions were created by chemical and biological, rather than mechanical, methods. Basically a robots consists of:

A mechanical structure, such as a wheeled platform, arm, or other construction, capable of interacting with its environment.

Sensors to sense the environment and give useful feedback to the device.

Systems to process sensory input in the context of the current situation and instruct the device to perform actions in response to the situation.

Mechanical Structure
The robot structure consists basically of the robot body that includes arms and wheels. Some force such as electricity is required to make the arms and wheels turn under command. One of the most interesting aspects of robot in general is its behavior, which requires a form of intelligence.

Motors
A variety of electric motors provide power to robots, making them move with various programmed motions. The efficiency rating of a motor describes how much of the electricity

consumed is converted to

Mechanical energy.

DC motors. Permanent-magnet DC motors require only two leads, and use an arrangement of fixed- and electro-magnets (stator and rotor) and switches. These form a commutator to create motion through a spinning magnetic field.

AC motors. These motors cycle the power at the input-leads, to continuously move the field.

Stepping motors. They are like a brushless DC or AC motor. They move the rotor by applying power to different magnets in the motor in sequence (stepped). Stepping motors are designed for fine control and will not only spin on command, but can spin at any number of steps-per-second (up to their maximum speed).

Servomotors. Servos are simple DC motors with gearing and a feedback control system. They adjust themselves until they match the signal. Servos are used in radio control airplanes and cars.

More About Motors

Mechanisms
Gears and chains. Gears and chains are mechanical parts that

provide a mechanism to transmit rotational motion from one place to another with a possibly of changing it along the way. The speed change between two gears depends on the number of teeth on each gear.

Pulleys and belts. Pulleys and belts, two other simple machines used in robots, work the same way as gears and chains. Pulleys are wheels with a groove around the edge, and belts are the rubber loops that fit in that groove.

Gearboxes. A gearbox operates on the same principles as the gear and chain, without the chain. Examples of gearboxes are found on the transmission in a car and the paper-feed of a printer.

Sensors
Robots operate according to a basic measurement, requiring different kinds of sensors. A sense of time is usually built-in through perceptual hardware and software, which updates quickly. Sensors interact with external environment and transforms the energy associated with what is being measured (sound, light, pressure, temperature, etc.) into another form of energy. Common sensors used in robotics include light sensors, touch sensors, sound sensors, and acceleration sensor. A sound sensor is installed at the ear position of the robot in order to detect the voice of a subject. An acceleration

sensor is installed in the body to detect shaking. A touch sensor is installed in the forehead of the robot to detect touch

Power Supply
In general, power supply is provided by two types of sources: batteries that are used once only and then discarded; and rechargeable batteries that operate from a reversible chemical reaction and can be recharged thousand times. The first use of a rechargeable battery gives up to 4 hours of continuous operation in an application.

Control System
There are two main systems to control robots: logic circuit and a microcontroller.

Logic Circuit A digital logic circuit controls the mechanical system. The circuit is usually coupled to the mechanical structure through a bridge relay. A control signal generates a magnetic field in the relay's coil that mechanically closes a switch. transistors, for example, are good silicon switches, available in many technologies to control the mechanical systems.

Microcontroller
Microcontrollers are intelligent electronic devices that are used inside robots. They deliver functions similar to those performed by a microprocessor (CPU) inside a personal computer. Microcontrollers are slower and have less memory than CPUs, but are designed for real-world control problems. One of the major differences between CPUs and microcontrollers is the number of external components needed to operate them. Microcontrollers may run with no external parts, and typically need only an external crystal or oscillator. There are three main characteristics of a microcontroller for consideration: speed, size, and memory. Speed is designated in clock cycles, and is usually measured in millions of cycles per second (Megahertz, MHz). Size specifies the number of bits of information the Microcontroller can process in one step (for example, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-bits). Microcontrollers count most of their read-only memory (ROM) in thousands of bytes (kB) and random access memory(RAM) in single bytes.

Advantages
1) Going to far away planets. 2) Spying on people in ways people can't move and from views humans can't reach. 3) Going far down into the unknown waters where humans would be crushed 4) Giving us information that humans can't get. 5) Working at places 24/7 without any salary and food. Plus they don't get bored. 6) They can perform tasks faster than humans and much more consistently and accurately. 7) They can capture moments just too fast for the human eye to get, for example the Atlas detector in the LHC project can capture ~ 600000 frames per second while we can see at about 60. 8) Most of them are automatic so they can go around by themselves without any human interference. 9) They can entertain us and help us in certain tasks.

Disadvantages
1) People can lose jobs in factories 2) It needs a supply of power 3) It needs maintenance to keep it running 4) It costs money to make or buy a robot

Conclusion of Aqua Robot

Today we find most robots working for people in industries, factories, warehouses, and laboratories. Robots are useful in many ways. For instance, it boosts economy because businesses need to be efficient to keep up with the industry competition. Therefore, having robots helps business owners to be competitive, because robots can do jobs better and faster than humans can, e.g. robot can built, assemble a car. Yet robots cannot perform every job; today robots roles include assisting research and industry. Finally, as the technology improves, there will be new ways to use robots which will bring new hopes and new potentials.

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