14 OPTION Robotics and automated systems CHAPTER OUTCOMES KEY TERMS You will learn about: Actuators Magnetic gripper • the history of robots and robotics output devices, such as motors type of end effector used to pick and end effectors, that convert up metallic objects • different types of robots energy and signals to motion Motion sensor • the purpose, use and function of Automated control system automated control component robots group of elements that maintains that detects sudden changes of • automated control systems a desired result by manipulating movement • input, output and processing the value of another variable in Optical sensor devices associated with automated the system automated control component control systems. Controller that detects changes in light or in You will learn to: processes information from colour sensors and transmits appropriate • defi ne and describe robots, Robot commands to actuators in robotics and automated control automatically guided machine automated systems systems that is able to perform tasks on Cyborgs its own • examine and discuss the purpose humans who use mechanical or Robotics of robots and hardware devices electromechanical technology to associated with robots science of the use and study of give them abilities they would not robots • examine and discuss hardware otherwise possess Sensor devices associated with automated Degrees of freedom control systems input device that accepts data measure of robotic motion—one from the environment • investigate robotic and automated degree of freedom is equal to one Solenoid control systems. movement either back and forth type of actuator that produces (linear movement) or around in a movement using a magnetic circle (rotational) current End effector Temperature sensor mechanical device attached to the automated control component end of a robotic arm that carries that measures temperature out a particular task 280 IN ACTION Electric humans The combination of artifi cial materials within the body has long fascinated humans and been the basis for captivating science fi ction. From the 1970s Six Million Dollar Man to recent movies such as Ironman 2, we have been enthralled by the idea of the half-human, half-machine with super- human abilities. Cyborgs are humans who use mechanical or electromechanical technology to give them abilities they would not otherwise possess. ‘Cyborg’ is actually a science fi ction shortening of ‘cybernetic organism’. Research in robotics, digital technology, electronics and nanotechnology may, over the next half century, alter the way we think about cybernetic technology. The fi rst generation of cyborgs is already walking among us. Millions of people around the world today have implanted medical devices, from pacemakers and artifi cial joints, to cochlear implants and artifi cial retinas, to brain chips and insulin pumps. Deep brain implants that alleviate the disabling tremors of Parkinson’s disease are also in use. On the horizon are bionic eyes to let the blind see, and muscle implants that could allow paraplegics to stand and even walk. Artifi cial bones, blood, skin, eyes and even noses are now all being developed, and each could conceivably help people with a variety of medical conditions. Brain-machine interfaces are in the development phase and may eventually enable quadriplegic patients to control devices with their mind. Creating a reliable brain-machine interface is a tough job, since we don’t fully understand how the brain works. In Australia, researchers are developing brain implants that can detect the onset of epileptic seizures and suppress them. They are also exploring new electrically conducting plastics that could stimulate and guide nerve fi bres to repair spinal cords. Technologies developed here for pacemakers and cochlear implants can be transferred to many conditions where nerves have been damaged and need to Figure 14.1 Cyborgs may seem far-fetched, but the combination be stimulated. of human beings with mechanical technology is already assisting Despite the obvious benefi ts of cyborg and robotic people with a variety of medical conditions. technologies, they are presenting society with an ethical challenge. There is a concern they may be used by people without a genuine need. For example, retinal implants and wearable computers could be used to allow people to ? secretly record and transmit their vision. There is an ethical Questions leap between using technology to help people overcome 1 Provide a defi nition of a cyborg. disabilities, and using it to ‘improve’ healthy humans. 2 Identify the high-tech implants and prostheses which are currently restoring function for people with disabilities or injuries. 3 Describe the ethical challenge presented by cyborg and robotic technologies. 281 14.1 Robotics Robotics is the science of the use and study of robots. The term 'robot' is usually applied to an automatically The history of robots guided machine which is able to perform tasks on its Mechanical, computerised robots have been around for own. Robots currently perform many functions, from less than fi fty years but the concept of robotic humans making cars to defusing bombs. Children and adults is not so new. The ancient Greeks spoke of ‘mechanical play with toy robots, while vacuum-cleaning robots helpers’. In the fi fteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci, a are sucking up dirt in a growing number of homes. famous Italian mathematician, artist and designer, drew plans for a mechanical knight (see Figure 14.2). The knight was for entertainment and it was designed to The use of robots keep a perfect beat once its handle had been wound. A robot can be programmed to perform tasks During the 1920s, a playwright named Karel Capek normally carried out by humans. These tasks are often wrote a play called R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). repetitive, tedious, dangerous, very precise or even In Capek’s play, the Rossum’s factory produced impossible for people to undertake. Robots have the mechanical devices which were called ‘robota’, the advantage of never getting tired, being able to work Czech word for work. At fi rst, these human-like with much higher accuracy than humans, and even machines are merely unintelligent slaves, but later, being able to do things that humans can’t do, such a scientist gives the creatures emotions. The robots as working in extreme temperatures. When robots eventually turn bad, kill the humans and take over perform boring, repetitive tasks in place of human the world. workers, employees can spend more time performing creative, less tedious tasks. Following the early instances of robots in plays and science fi ction stories, robots started to appear on Early and modern robots television shows, such as Lost in Space, and have since featured in many movies including 2001: A Space The earliest robots were built specifi cally to perform Odyssey, Star Wars, Judge Dredd and Transformers. simple tasks on an assembly line. These types of robots are still widely used in manufacturing. Modern robots usually have sensors to accept data from the environment and are increasingly found in the area of artifi cial intelligence. Intelligent robots are designed to imitate human behaviour and thought processes. Their inputs may include the senses of vision, touch, hearing and smell. An intelligent robot must be able to do two things: • obtain information from its surroundings • carry out physical tasks. Modern robots possess three characteristics: • programmability—they can be programmed to perform tasks like a computer • mechanical capability—they can perform tasks in the environment like a machine • fl exibility—they can perform a variety of tasks by being reprogrammed or by responding to external conditions. INFOBIT The word ‘robot’ comes from the Czech word ‘robota’, which means drudgery or work. Figure 14.2 Leonardo da Vinci’s drumming robot, created by engineer Gabriele Niccolai from da Vinci’s sketches. 282 Information and Software Technology Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) took a different view of robots from those writers before him. He was the fi rst to give robots characteristics which showed respect for humans. Asimov thought robots should be regarded as a very important technological innovation. In 1942, he wrote a story about robots, ‘Runaround’, which contained his Three Laws of Robotics. He later added a fourth law and called it the zeroth law. These laws are: • Zeroth Law: a robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. • First Law: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate the Zeroth Law. • Second Law: a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would confl ict with the Zeroth or First Law. • Third Law: a robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not confl ict with the Zeroth, First or Second Law. The robot industry The history of robots is quite new. While the ideas Figure 14.4 When robots fi rst appeared in movies, they were have been around for some time, the construction and often depicted as unfeeling villains with the potential to run use of robots did not really begin until the mid-1950s. amok and take over the world. More recently, robots have been portrayed as intelligent, social beings with a range of human-like • In 1956, the fi rst robot company was formed by emotions. George Devol and Joseph Engelberger. • In 1959, the fi rst instance of computer-assisted manufacturing was demonstrated at a laboratory at INFOBIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archytas of Tarentum, a friend of Plato’s, built a • In 1961, the fi rst industrial robot, called UNIMATE, mechanical bird driven by a jet of compressed air— came online in a General Motors car factory in New arguably history’s fi rst robot—in the fi fth century BCE.