Developing a humanoid robot has long since captured the human imagination and will be the continued focus in the future of robotics. Scientists say there are two obstacles to creating a robot with human or super-human intelligence: vision and processing sensory information. "It is almost impossible to predict when machines will become as clever as humans," admits Ronald Arkin, a robotics expert at the Mobile Robot Laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia. "Although work in magnetic resonance imaging holds great promise, researchers can now watch areas of the brain light up as individuals carry out specific mental tasks. When we have that knowledge, we can pass it on to computers."
Motor vehicle production is one area where robotics automation is already being used. Yet imagine a world where we can read, have a glass of wine, talk freely on our cell phones or take a nap while our personal automobile drives itself from our workplace to our doorstep. Or perhaps we'll abandon the wheeled prototypes altogether and kick back in our personal flying car like numerous science fiction films predict. So how far are we from such a future?
Well, in 2007, the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency had 83 robotic system vehicles driving through a 60-mile urban course, navigating around other vehicles, pedestrians and obstacles; all without incident. Just three years ago, robotic vehicles couldn't even drive straight across the wide-open desert without crashing. "The robotics industry is developing in much the same way the computer business did thirty years ago," Microsoft founder Bill Gates observed.
So what is in store for the future of robotics in the workplace? The US military is one of the biggest donators to robotic research, as they hope to replace human lives with robotics automation, reducing our casualties in war. Robots are already completing reconnaissance missions, disassembling explosives and firing on enemy combatants.
Military chiefs are aiming to make a third of all ground vehicles driver-less by 2015. Researchers are also looking at robots similar to those featured in Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" that cooperate together in a swarm-like way to complete complex tasks. Just the size of a small bug, these insect swarms look unassuming but are capable of jamming communication lines, gathering intelligence and firing at enemy combatants.
The future of robotics is taking aim at the rapidly aging population, with the end goal of providing for the elderly in places like the US which will see 97 million baby boomers in need of care or in Japan, where 22% of the population is over 65. Currently $1 billion is spent each year researching how autonomous robots can care for the elderly. Secom's "My Spoon" robot, for instance, can feed disabled people by breaking up food into chewable morsels and spooning it into their mouths. "Paro," another Japanese invention, looks like a baby seal and responds to the affection of lonely elderly patients, while also monitoring their heart rate and health symptoms.
Educate yourself further about the future of Robotics from Mike Selvon articles portal and download your free audio gift on the robotics technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon
วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 12 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2552
วันอังคารที่ 10 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2552
Robotic Arm Technology Has Rapidly Improved
Cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick professes to be the "first Cyborg." Project Cyborg began in August of 1998, when Warwick implanted a computer chip into his left arm, which later allowed him to open doors, move a robotic hand and operate an electronic wheelchair. The implant also allowed him to tap into the Internet at Columbia University in New York and control a robotic arm at the University of Reading in the UK.
Another one of the experiments tested telepathic communication between two individuals by way of implants. In the 70s, researchers felt that robotic arms would be a vital asset to the workplace. Little did they know, humans would consider fusing themselves with this technology to become super-human cyborgs!
Starting in 1975, robotic arms have been used for industrial purposes. In some cases, they do the work more quickly, more accurately and more efficiently than human workers ever could. Yet in other instances, they simply perform work that is too monotonous, dangerous or undesirable for men and women.
In the US auto industry, for example, there is one robotic arm for every ten workers. Industrial robots lift heavy objects, handle chemicals, and paint and assemble parts. Rather than replace jobs, the robotic system is intended to free up more creative, fulfilling work for people instead. After all, the Czech word "robota" translates to "drudgery work."
Using a modified robotic arm, Dr. Alon Wolf and Dr. Howie Choset have developed a machine that can perform minimally-invasive surgery with great accuracy. The invention is called the "CardioARM" and has been designed for abdominal surgery, heart bypass surgery and mouth surgery, but can also be used to perform a laparoscopy, colonoscopy, and arthroscopy.
The CardioARM is operated by a joystick and can navigate through the body to the problem areas. The flexible tele-operated probe is programmed to remember pathways and it can take tools into regions that surgeons would otherwise have to slice into. "Tools in operation rooms are not flexible. The CardioARM is flexible enough for remote and hard to reach anatomies," explains Dr. Wolf. "The heart is a good example... now we don't have to cut the person open."
Robotic arm technology has rapidly improved over the span of just thirty years. But what is the end goal of robotics technology? Is it to build robots that can work as our slaves? Is it to find minimally-invasive, infallible methods of performing surgery? Is it to treat injuries? Is it to teach? Or is it to become super-humans? There are a number of ways to approach this science, making it impossible to tell just what the future of robotic development holds.
Educate yourself further about the robotic arm from Mike Selvon articles portal and download your free audio gift on the robotics technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon
Another one of the experiments tested telepathic communication between two individuals by way of implants. In the 70s, researchers felt that robotic arms would be a vital asset to the workplace. Little did they know, humans would consider fusing themselves with this technology to become super-human cyborgs!
Starting in 1975, robotic arms have been used for industrial purposes. In some cases, they do the work more quickly, more accurately and more efficiently than human workers ever could. Yet in other instances, they simply perform work that is too monotonous, dangerous or undesirable for men and women.
In the US auto industry, for example, there is one robotic arm for every ten workers. Industrial robots lift heavy objects, handle chemicals, and paint and assemble parts. Rather than replace jobs, the robotic system is intended to free up more creative, fulfilling work for people instead. After all, the Czech word "robota" translates to "drudgery work."
Using a modified robotic arm, Dr. Alon Wolf and Dr. Howie Choset have developed a machine that can perform minimally-invasive surgery with great accuracy. The invention is called the "CardioARM" and has been designed for abdominal surgery, heart bypass surgery and mouth surgery, but can also be used to perform a laparoscopy, colonoscopy, and arthroscopy.
The CardioARM is operated by a joystick and can navigate through the body to the problem areas. The flexible tele-operated probe is programmed to remember pathways and it can take tools into regions that surgeons would otherwise have to slice into. "Tools in operation rooms are not flexible. The CardioARM is flexible enough for remote and hard to reach anatomies," explains Dr. Wolf. "The heart is a good example... now we don't have to cut the person open."
Robotic arm technology has rapidly improved over the span of just thirty years. But what is the end goal of robotics technology? Is it to build robots that can work as our slaves? Is it to find minimally-invasive, infallible methods of performing surgery? Is it to treat injuries? Is it to teach? Or is it to become super-humans? There are a number of ways to approach this science, making it impossible to tell just what the future of robotic development holds.
Educate yourself further about the robotic arm from Mike Selvon articles portal and download your free audio gift on the robotics technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 8 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2552
The Key Components Behind Robotics and Automation
When you think of "robot," what do you envision? Does your robot walk upright like "C3PO" or roll like "R2D2?" Does your robot have a rigid mechanical face or an expressionistic soft face? Does it pick up objects or does it function as a robotic vacuum? Perhaps your intelligent system works in the medical field or in robotic welding. Since there are a number of different uses for robotics and automation, it's reasonable to assume there are many, many robot design options. To begin thinking about how these complex machines move, we need to look to physics, science, math and engineering.
One of the primary components used in robotic automation is the actuator, which converts stored energy into movement. Most actuators are electric motors (brushed and brushless DC motors, to be exact), although chemical and compressed air actuators exist as well. Stepper motors rotate in easy-to-control motions, commanded by a controller rather than a sensor. Piezo or Ultrasonic motors use rapidly vibrating piezo-ceramic elements, which ultimately cause motion. Air muscles work with compressed air, behaving similarly to human muscles which contract and expand. Elastic nanotubes are in experimental stages right now but appear promising, holding high levels of stored energy.
Locomotion is a key component of robotics and automation. Some prototypes roll on one to four wheels. For instance, NASA's "Robonaut" and "Urbie," Carnegie Mellon University's "Ballbot," not to mention characters like George Lucas's "R2D2" and The Jetson's "Rosie," all roll around. However, several robots like Honda's "ASIMO," can walk. The Anybot "Dexter Robot" can jump and MIT Leg Laboratory has developed complex robots that can trot, run, pace and bound. Even still, some robots, like those used in the military, are best suited for flight. Snaking motion robots have been used to save construction workers who were buried in a wreck. Essex University devised robotic fish for research purposes too. There is a place for every type of locomotion in industrial robotics.
For some, human interaction is the end-all and be-all of robotics and automation. At Disney World, the "Imagineers" developed singing, blinking, winking, emotional robots that almost seem like real people. Researchers say that the future of robots is the ability to communicate with humans through facial expressions, speech and gestures, rather than simply on predictable programmed responses. Kismet can create a range of facial expressions, which can help people interact more meaningfully with their companion bots.
Educate yourself further about robotics and automation from Mike Selvon articles portal and download your free audio gift on the robotics technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon
One of the primary components used in robotic automation is the actuator, which converts stored energy into movement. Most actuators are electric motors (brushed and brushless DC motors, to be exact), although chemical and compressed air actuators exist as well. Stepper motors rotate in easy-to-control motions, commanded by a controller rather than a sensor. Piezo or Ultrasonic motors use rapidly vibrating piezo-ceramic elements, which ultimately cause motion. Air muscles work with compressed air, behaving similarly to human muscles which contract and expand. Elastic nanotubes are in experimental stages right now but appear promising, holding high levels of stored energy.
Locomotion is a key component of robotics and automation. Some prototypes roll on one to four wheels. For instance, NASA's "Robonaut" and "Urbie," Carnegie Mellon University's "Ballbot," not to mention characters like George Lucas's "R2D2" and The Jetson's "Rosie," all roll around. However, several robots like Honda's "ASIMO," can walk. The Anybot "Dexter Robot" can jump and MIT Leg Laboratory has developed complex robots that can trot, run, pace and bound. Even still, some robots, like those used in the military, are best suited for flight. Snaking motion robots have been used to save construction workers who were buried in a wreck. Essex University devised robotic fish for research purposes too. There is a place for every type of locomotion in industrial robotics.
For some, human interaction is the end-all and be-all of robotics and automation. At Disney World, the "Imagineers" developed singing, blinking, winking, emotional robots that almost seem like real people. Researchers say that the future of robots is the ability to communicate with humans through facial expressions, speech and gestures, rather than simply on predictable programmed responses. Kismet can create a range of facial expressions, which can help people interact more meaningfully with their companion bots.
Educate yourself further about robotics and automation from Mike Selvon articles portal and download your free audio gift on the robotics technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon
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