Portal:Robotics
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Arts · Biography · Geography · History · Mathematics · Philosophy · Science · Society · Technology  Robotics is the science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application. Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics, and software. A person working in the field is a roboticist. The word robotics was first used in print by Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Runaround" (1941). A robot is an electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device that can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks. Robots may be used to perform tasks that are too dangerous or difficult for humans, such as radioactive waste clean-up, or may be used to automate mindless repetitive tasks that should be performed with more precision by a robot than by a human, such as automobile production.  The word robot is used to refer to a wide range of machines, the common feature of which is that they are all capable of movement and can be used to perform physical tasks. Robots take on many different forms, ranging from humanoid, which mimic the human form and way of moving, to industrial, whose appearance is dictated by the function they are to perform. Robots can be grouped generally as mobile robots (eg. autonomous vehicles), manipulator robots (eg. industrial robots) and self reconfigurable robots, which can conform themselves to the task at hand. Robots may be controlled directly by a human, such as remotely-controlled bomb-disposal robots and robotic arms; or may act according to their own decision making ability, provided by artificial intelligence. However, the majority of robots fall in-between these extremes, being controlled by pre-programmed computers.  The Mobile Servicing System or Canadarm2 is a robotic system and associated equipment on the International Space Station that plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance: moving equipment and supplies around the station, supporting astronauts working in space, and servicing instruments and other payloads attached to the space station. The MSS was designed and manufactured by MDA Space Missions for the Canadian Space Agency's contribution to the International Space Station. Launched on STS-100 in April 2001, this next generation Canadarm is a bigger, better, smarter version of the space shuttle's original robotic arm. Canadarm2 is 17.6 meters (57.7 ft) long when fully extended and has seven motorized joints. It has a mass of 1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb) and a diameter of 35 cm (13¾ in). The arm is capable of handling large payloads of up to 116,000 kg (256,000 lb) and assisting with docking the space shuttle. Canadarm2 can move end-over-end to reach many parts of the Space Station in an inchworm-like movement, limited only by the number of Power Data Grapple Fixtures (PDGFs) on the station. PDGFs located around the station provide power, data and video to the arm through its Latching End Effectors (LEEs). The arm can also travel the entire length of the space station using the Mobile Base System.  Credit: commons:User:Chris 73 Toyota robot at the Toyota Kaikan in Toyota City. Concepts: AI - Automation - Behavior - Calibration - Control - Cybernetics - Human interaction - Kits -Locomotion - Mapping - Mechatronics - Microbotics - Nanorobotics - Neural network - Odometry - Pathfinding - Servomechanism - Software - Vision  David Hanson is an American robotics designer and researcher, best known as the creator of a series highly realistic humanoid robots. Hanson was educated as a designer and artist. In 1996, Hanson received a BFA in film/animation/video (FAV) from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). While a student at RISD, Hanson tinkered with robotics and AI at Brown University. In addition to hardware development, Hanson and his company (Hanson Robotics Inc) develop "conversational personnas." Hanson's robots use speech recognition software, natural language processing, computer vision, and Hanson's own AI systems for responsive animations and 3D spatial reasoning and sensory fusion. Hanson has also created "robotic humanoid sculptures" named K-Bot, Vera, and Eva (now at the University of the West of England (UWE), in Bristol). Hanson's latest robot, the androgynous android (or "androgynoid") Jules, also now resides at UWE, for use in cognitive science research and AI development. The United States Postal Service is wrapping mailboxes in some 200 cities nationwide in a special covering to look like "Star Wars" robot, R2-D2.More...  NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered more evidence on the Planet Mars(pictured) that water may have flowed beneath the surface and that "cracks" that lead below the surface may have, at one time, been "habitable" for "microbial life." More... A tiny pneumatic hand, with the ability to grasp objects smaller than a millimeter across has been developed by Yen-Wen Lu and Chang-Jin Kim of UCLA's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. More... [+] Roboticists
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