ASIMO (2000) at the Expo 2005, a humanoid robot

[edit] Factory robots

Car production
Over the last three decades automobile factories have become dominated by robots. A typical
factory contains hundreds of industrial robots working on fully automated production lines,
with one robot for every ten human workers. On an automated production line, a vehicle
chassis on a conveyor is welded, glued, painted and finally assembled at a sequence of robot
stations.
Packaging
Industrial robots are also used extensively for palletizing and packaging of manufactured
goods, for example for rapidly taking drink cartons from the end of a conveyor belt and
placing them into boxes, or for loading and unloading machining centers.
Electronics
Mass-produced printed circuit boards (PCBs) are almost exclusively manufactured by pickand-place robots, typically with SCARA manipulators, which remove tiny electronic
components from strips or trays, and place them on to PCBs with great accuracy.[82] Such
robots can place hundreds of thousands of components per hour, far out-performing a human
in speed, accuracy, and reliability.[83]

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs)

An intelligent AGV drops-off goods without needing lines or beacons in the workspace
Mobile robots, following markers or wires in the floor, or using vision[84] or lasers, are used
to transport goods around large facilities, such as warehouses, container ports, or hospitals.[85]
Early AGV-Style Robots
Limited to tasks that could be accurately defined and had to be performed the same
way every time. Very little feedback or intelligence was required, and the robots
needed only the most basic exteroceptors (sensors). The limitations of these AGVs are
that their paths are not easily altered and they cannot alter their paths if obstacles
block them. If one AGV breaks down, it may stop the entire operation.
Interim AGV-Technologies
Developed to deploy triangulation from beacons or bar code grids for scanning on the
floor or ceiling. In most factories, triangulation systems tend to require moderate to
high maintenance, such as daily cleaning of all beacons or bar codes. Also, if a tall
pallet or large vehicle blocks beacons or a bar code is marred, AGVs may become
lost. Often such AGVs are designed to be used in human-free environments.
Intelligent AGVs (i-AGVs)
Such as SmartLoader,[86] SpeciMinder,[87] ADAM,[88] Tug[89] Eskorta,[90] and MT 400
with Motivity[91] are designed for people-friendly workspaces. They navigate by
recognizing natural features. 3D scanners or other means of sensing the environment
in two or three dimensions help to eliminate cumulative errors in dead-reckoning
calculations of the AGV's current position. Some AGVs can create maps of their
environment using scanning lasers with simultaneous localization and mapping
(SLAM) and use those maps to navigate in real time with other path planning and
obstacle avoidance algorithms. They are able to operate in complex environments and
perform non-repetitive and non-sequential tasks such as transporting photomasks in a
semiconductor lab, specimens in hospitals and goods in warehouses. For dynamic
areas, such as warehouses full of pallets, AGVs require additional strategies using
three-dimensional sensors such as time-of-flight or stereovision cameras.

Recent and future developments

Main article: Future of robotics

As of 2005, the robotic arm business is approaching a mature state, where they can provide
enough speed, accuracy and ease of use for most of the applications. Vision guidance (aka
machine vision) is bringing a lot of flexibility to robotic cells. However, the end effector
attached to a robot is often a simple pneumatic, 2-position chuck. This does not allow the
robotic cell to easily handle different parts, in different orientations.
Hand-in-hand with increasing off-line programmed applications, robot calibration is
becoming more and more important in order to guarantee a good positioning accuracy.
Other developments include downsizing industrial arms for light industrial use such as
production of small products, sealing and dispensing, quality control, handling samples in the
laboratory. Such robots are usually classified as "bench top" robots. Robots are used in
pharmaceutical research in a technique called High-throughput screening. Bench top robots
are also used in consumer applications (micro-robotic arms). Industrial arms may be used in
combination with or even mounted on automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to make the
automation chain more flexible between pick-up and drop-off.

[edit] Market structure

According to the World Industrial Robotics 2011 report, there were 1,035,000 operational
industrial robots by the end of 2010.[4] This number is estimated to reach 1,308,000 by the
end of 2014.[5]
The Japanese government estimates the industry could surge from about $5.2 billion in 2006
to $26 billion in 2010 and nearly $70 billion by 2025. In 2005, there were over 370,000
operational industrial robots in Japan. A 2007 national technology roadmap by the Trade
Ministry calls for 1 million industrial robots to be installed throughout the country by 2025.[6]
In August 2011, China Business News quoted Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou as saying the
company planned to use 1 million robots within three years, up from about 10,000 robots in
use now and an expected 300,000 next year.[7]
Estimated worldwide annual supply of industrial robots:[8]
Year

Supply

1998

69,000

1999

79,000

2000

99,000

2001

78,000

2002

69,000

Year

Supply

2003

81,000

2004

97,000

2005

120,000

2006

112,000

2007

114,000

2008

113,000

2009

60,000

2010

118,000

2011[9] 150,000

Modern robots

A laparoscopic robotic surgery machine

[edit]Mobile

robot

Main articles: Mobile robot and Automated guided vehicle

Mobile robots have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to one
physical location. An example of a mobile robot that is in common use today is the automated guided
vehicle or automatic guided vehicle (AGV). An AGV is a mobile robot that follows markers or wires in
[citation needed]
the floor, or uses vision or lasers. AGVs are discussed later in this article.
Mobile robots are also found in industry, military and security environments. They also appear as
consumer products, for entertainment or to perform certain tasks like vacuum cleaning. Mobile robots

are the focus of a great deal of current research and almost every major university has one or more
[citation needed]
labs that focus on mobile robot research.
Modern robots are usually used in tightly controlled environments such as on assembly lines because
they have difficulty responding to unexpected interference. Because of this most humans rarely
encounter robots. However domestic robots for cleaning and maintenance are increasingly common
[citation
in and around homes in developed countries. Robots can also be found in military applications.
needed]

[edit]Industrial

robots (manipulating)

Main articles: Industrial robot and Manipulator

Industrial robots usually consist of a jointed arm (multi-linked manipulator) and an end effector that is
attached to a fixed surface. One of the most common type of end effector is a gripper assembly.
The International Organization for Standardization gives a definition of a manipulating industrial robot
in ISO 8373:
"an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or
more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation
[42]
applications."
This definition is used by the International Federation of Robotics, the European Robotics Research
[43]
Network (EURON) and many national standards committees.

A Pick and Place robot in a factory

[edit]Service

robot

Main article: Service robot

Most commonly industrial robots are fixed robotic arms and manipulators used primarily for production
and distribution of goods. The term "service robot" is less well-defined. IFR has proposed a tentative
definition, "A service robot is a robot which operates semi- or fully autonomously to perform services
[citation needed]
useful to the well-being of humans and equipment, excluding manufacturing operations."
[edit]Modular

robot

Modular robots are a new breed of robots that are designed to increase the utilization of the robots by
modularizing the robots. The functionality and effectiveness of a modular robot is easier to increase
compared to conventional robots. These robots are composed of a single type of identical, several
different identical module types, or similarly shaped modules, which vary in size. Their architectural
structure allows hyper-redundancy for modular robots, as they can be designed with more than 8
degrees of freedom (DOF). Creating the programming, inverse kinematics and dynamics for modular

robots is more complex than with traditional robots. Modular robots may be composed of L-shaped
modules, cubic modules, and U and H-shaped modules. ANAT technology, an early modular robotic
technology patented by Robotics Design Inc., allows the creation of modular robots from U and H
shaped modules that connect in a chain, and are used to form heterogeneous and homogenous
modular robot systems. These ANAT robots can be designed with n DOF as each module is a
complete motorized robotic system that folds relatively to the modules connected before and after it in
its chain, and therefore a single module allows one degree of freedom. The more modules that are
connected to one another, the more degrees of freedom it will have. L-shaped modules can also be
designed in a chain, and must become increasingly smaller as the size of the chain increases, as
payloads attached to the end of the chain place a greater strain on modules that are further from the
base. ANAT H-shaped modules do not suffer from this problem, as their design allows a modular
robot to distribute pressure and impacts evenly amongst other attached modules, and therefore
payload-carrying capacity does not decrease as the length of the arm increases. Modular robots can
be manually or self-reconfigured to form a different robot, that may perform different applications.
Because modular robots of the same architecture type are composed of modules that compose
different modular robots, a snake-arm robot can combine with another to form a dual or quadra-arm
robot, or can split into several mobile robots, and mobile robots can split into multiple smaller ones, or
combine with others into a larger or different one. This allows a single modular robot the ability to be
fully specialized in a single task, as well as the capacity to be specialized to perform multiple different
tasks.
[44]

Modular robotic technology is currently being applied in hybrid transportation, industrial

[45]
[46]
automation, duct cleaning and handling. Many research centres and universities have also
studied this technology, and have developed prototypes.
[edit]Collaborative

robots
This section may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion,
tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (September 2012)

A collaborative robot or Cobot is a robot that can safely and effectively interact with human workers in
performance of simple industrial tasks. Baxter, introduced on September 18, 2012, a product of
Rethink Robotics, whose principal was Rodney Brooks, was an industrial robot selling for about
$20,000 which was designed to safely interact with neighboring human workers and be
programmable for the performance of simple tasks. The robot stops if its movement encounters a
human in the way of its robotic arm and has a prominent off switch which its human partner can push
if necessary. The product, intended for sale to small business, was touted as the robotic analogue of
[47]
the personal computer. Costs were projected to be the equivalent of a worker making $4 an hour.
[edit]Robots

in society

TOPIO, a humanoid robot, played ping pong at Tokyo International Robot Exhibition (IREX) 2009.[48][49]

Roughly half of all the robots in the world are in Asia, 32% in Europe, and 16% in North America, 1%
[50]
[51]
in Australasia and 1% in Africa. 30% of all the robots in the world are in Japan, making Japan the
country with the highest number of robots.
[edit]Regional

perspectives

In Japan and South Korea, ideas of future robots have been mainly positive, and the start of the prorobotic society there is thought to be possibly due to the famous 'Astro Boy'. Asian societies such as
Japan, South Korea, and more recently, China, believe robots to be more equal to humans, having
[52]
them care for old people, play with or teach children, or replace pets etc. The general view in Asian
cultures is that the more robots advance, the better.
"This is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can co-exist," says Japanese firm
[53]
Mitsubishi about one of the many humanistic robots in Japan. South Korea aims to put a robot in
[54][55]
every house there by 2015-2020 in order to help catch up technologically with Japan.
Western societies are more likely to be against, or even fear the development of robotics, through
much media output in movies and literature that they will replace humans. Some believe that the West
regards robots as a 'threat' to the future of humans, partly due to religious beliefs about the role of
[56][57]
humans and society.
Obviously, these boundaries are not clear, but there is a significant
difference between the two cultural viewpoints.

Military robots
Some experts and academics have questioned the use of robots for military combat, especially when
[70]
such robots are given some degree of autonomous functions. There are also concerns about
[71]
technology which might allow some armed robots to be controlled mainly by other robots. The US
Navy has funded a report which indicates that, as military robots become more complex, there should
[72][73]
be greater attention to implications of their ability to make autonomous decisions.
One
researcher states that autonomous robots might be more humane, as they could make decisions
[74]
more effectively. However, other experts question this.
[75]

One robot in particular, the EATR, has generated public concerns

over its fuel source, as it can
[76]
continually refuel itself using organic substances. Although the engine for the EATR is designed to
[77]
run on biomass and vegetation specifically selected by its sensors, which it can find on battlefields
[78]
or other local environments, the project has stated that chicken fat can also be used.
Manuel De Landa has noted that "smart missiles" and autonomous bombs equipped with artificial
perception can be considered robots, as they make some of their decisions autonomously. He
believes this represents an important and dangerous trend in which humans are handing over
[79]
important decisions to machines.
[edit]Relationship

to unemployment

Main article: Technological unemployment

A recent example of human replacement involves Taiwanese technology company Foxconn who, in
July 2011, announced a three year plan to replace workers with more robots. At present the company
[80]
uses ten-thousand robots but will increase them to a million robots over a three year period.
Service robots of different varieties including medical robots, underwater robots, surveillance robots,
demolition robots and other types of robots that carry out a multitude of jobs are gaining in numbers.
Service robots are everyday tools for mankind. They can clean floors, mow lawns and guard homes
and will also assist old and handicapped people, do some surgeries, inspect pipes and sites that are
[81]
hazardous to people, fight fires and defuse bombs.

[edit]Contemporary

uses

A general-purpose robot acts as a guide during the day and a security guard at night

See also: List of robots

At present there are two main types of robots, based on their use: general-purpose autonomous
robots and dedicated robots.
Robots can be classified by their specificity of purpose. A robot might be designed to perform one
particular task extremely well, or a range of tasks less well. Of course, all robots by their nature can
be re-programmed to behave differently, but some are limited by their physical form. For example, a
factory robot arm can perform jobs such as cutting, welding, gluing, or acting as a fairground ride,
while a pick-and-place robot can only populate printed circuit boards.
[edit]General-purpose

autonomous robots

Main article: Autonomous robot

General-purpose autonomous robots can perform a variety of functions independently. Generalpurpose autonomous robots typically can navigate independently in known spaces, handle their own
re-charging needs, interface with electronic doors and elevators and perform other basic tasks. Like
computers, general-purpose robots can link with networks, software and accessories that increase
their usefulness. They may recognize people or objects, talk, provide companionship, monitor
environmental quality, respond to alarms, pick up supplies and perform other useful tasks. Generalpurpose robots may perform a variety of functions simultaneously or they may take on different roles
at different times of day. Some such robots try to mimic human beings and may even resemble
people in appearance; this type of robot is called a humanoid robot. Humanoid robots are still in a
very limited stage, as no humanoid robot, can, as of yet, actually navigate around a room that it has
never been in. Thus humanoid robots are really quite limited, despite their intelligent behaviors in their
well-known environments.

Future of robotics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Main article: Robotics

TOPIO, a humanoid robot, played ping pong at Tokyo IREX 2009.[1][2]

This article is about the future of robotics for civil use.

Contents
[hide]

1 Types of robots
2 Applications
3 Market evolution
4 Projected robotics timeline
5 Robot rights
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Types of robots

Humanoid robots:

Lara is the first female humanoid robot with artificial muscles (metal alloy strands that
instantly contract when heated by an electric current.) [1] [2] instead of electric motors
(2006).
Asimo is one of the most advanced projects as of 2009.

Modular robots: can be built from standard building blocks that can be combined in different
ways.

Utility fog

M-Tran - a snake-like modular robot that uses genetic algorithms to evolve walking
programs
Self replicating robots [3] [4] - modular robots that can produce copies of themselves using
existing blocks.
Swarmanoid [5] [6] is a project that uses 3 specialized classes of robots (footbots, handbots
and eyebots) to create an effective swarm. Such swarm should be able, for example, tidy a
bedroom with each robot doing what it is best at.
Self-Reconfiguring Modular Robotics

Educational toy robots:

Educational toy robots

Sports robots:

RoboCup
TOPIO

[edit] Applications

Caterpillar plans to develop remote controlled machines and expects to develop fully
autonomous heavy robots by 2021.[7] Some cranes already are remote controlled.
It was demonstrated that a robot can perform a herding [8] task.
Robots are increasingly used in manufacturing (since 1960s). In auto industry they can
amount for more than half of the "labor". There are even "lights off" factories such as an
IBM keyboard manufacturing factory in Texas that are 100% automated.[3]
Robots such as HOSPI [9] are used as couriers in hospitals, etc. Other hospital tasks
performed by robots are receptionists, guides and porters helpers, [10] (not to mention
surgical robot helpers such as Da Vinci)
Robots can serve as waiters [11] [12] and cooks.[13]

[edit] Market evolution

Today's market is not fully mature. One or more software compatibility layers have yet to
emerge to allow the development of a rich robotics ecosystem (similar to today's personal
computers one). The most commonly used software in the robotics research are Free
Software solutions such as Player/Stage or cross-platform technologies such as URBI.
Microsoft is currently working in this direction with its new proprietary software Microsoft
Robotics Studio. The use of open source tools helps in continued improvement of the tools
and algorithms for robotic research from the point one team leaves it.

[edit] Projected robotics timeline

2015-2020 - every South Korean household will have a robot and many European, The
Ministry of Information and Communication (South Korea), 2007[4]
2018 - robots will routinely carry out surgery, South Korea government 2007[4]
2022 - intelligent robots that sense their environment, make decisions, and learn are used in
30% of households and organizations - TechCast[5]
2030 - robots capable of performing at human level at most manual jobs Marshall Brain[6]

2034 - robots (home automation systems) performing most household tasks, Helen Greiner,
Chairman of iRobot[7]
2050 - robot "brains" based on computers that execute 100 trillion instructions per second
will start rivaling human intelligence[8]

Military robots :

2015 - one third of US fighting strength will be composed of robots - US Department of

Defense, 2006[9]
2035 - first completely autonomous robot soldiers in operation - US Department of Defense,
2006[9]

Developments related to robotics from the Japan NISTEP [10] 2030 report :

2013-2014 agricultural robots (AgRobots[11],[12]).

2013-2017 robots that care for the elderly
2017 medical robots performing low-invasive surgery
2017-2019 household robots with full use.
2019-2021 Nanorobots

Meet Baxter the Robot, Your Potential New

Co-Worker
By Stephanie Mlot
September 18, 2012 12:45pm EST
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The future is here and it is being ushered in by Rethink Robotics.

The Massachusetts-based company on Tuesday introduced Baxter, your potential
new co-worker or possibly just the perfect mechanical somebody to bring you
breakfast in bed.
Baxter is the world's first humanoid robot capable of applying common sense behavior
to manufacturing environments, according to Rethink, which promises that the
machine is safe enough to work shoulder-to-shoulder with people.
"Robotics have been successful in designing robots capable of super-human speed
and precision" but it's been difficult to build one that's able to inherently understand
and adapt to their environment in human-like fashion, Rethink Robotics CTO
Rodney Brooks said in a statement.
"We believed that if we could cross that chasm with the manufacturing environment
specifically in mind, we could offer new hope to the millions of American
manufacturers who are looking for innovative ways to compete in our global
economy," Brooks said.
Rethink's robot sports six key features to that end, including software programming
that is advertised as allowing Baxter to be taught just like any person, and the broad
task flexibility to move to varied tasks over the course of a day, week, or month,
without extensive retraining. Additionally, the machine comes ready-to-use off of the
factory floor in less than an hour, the company said.
"Our guiding vision was to create a robot that would break the mold in two distinct
ways," Rethink CEO Scott Eckert said. Aside from learning and functioning in a more
human-like way, Eckert said Rethink wanted to create a hardware and software
platform that could continually grow through new applications.
Baxter is being touted as an affordable option for midsize and small companies
which have never been able to afford robots. His list price begins at $22,000, plus an
additional $1,000 for an electric parallel gripper or vacuum cup gripper, and $1,500
for a mobile pedestal to allow Baxter to move around a work space. For one of
everything, the robot's total price tag reaches $25,500.
Rethink Robotics expects the machine to receive regular software updates, and will
make a software development kit (SDK) available early next year to allow
programmers, robot enthusiasts, inventors, and others to play around with Baxter's
features.
"It was important to us that we remain true to the vision of the company and Baxter
is proof positive that you can manufacture a superior product cost-effectively with
American manufacturing," Eckert said.
The first unit shipments of the robot, which is already available for pre-order, will
begin in October.

Robots in manufacturing

Today most robots are used in manufacturing operations; the applications can be divided into
three categories: (1) material handling, (2) processing operations, and (3) assembly and
inspection.
Material-handling applications include material transfer and machine loading and unloading.
Material-transfer applications require the robot to move materials or work parts from one
location to another. Many of these tasks are relatively simple, requiring robots to pick up parts
from one conveyor and place them on another. Other transfer operations are more complex, such
as placing parts onto pallets in an arrangement that must be calculated by the robot. Machine
loading and unloading operations utilize a robot to load and unload parts at a production
machine. This requires the robot to be equipped with a gripper that can grasp parts. Usually the
gripper must be designed specifically for the particular part geometry.
In robotic processing operations, the robot manipulates a tool to perform a process on the work
part. Examples of such applications include spot welding, continuous arc welding, and spray
painting. Spot welding of automobile bodies is one of the most common applications of industrial
robots in the United States. The robot positions a spot welder against the automobile panels and
frames to complete the assembly of the basic car body. Arc welding is a continuous process in
which the robot moves the welding rod along the seam to be welded. Spray painting involves the
manipulation of a spray-painting gun over the surface of the object to be coated. Other operations
in this category include grinding, polishing, and routing, in which a rotating spindle serves as the
robots tool.
The third application area of industrial robots is assembly and inspection. The use of robots in
assembly is expected to increase because of the high cost of manual labour common in these
operations. Since robots are programmable, one strategy in assembly work is to produce multiple
product styles in batches, reprogramming the robots between batches. An alternative strategy is
to produce a mixture of different product styles in the same assembly cell, requiring each robot in
the cell to identify the product style as it arrives and then execute the appropriate task for that
unit.
The design of the product is an important aspect of robotic assembly. Assembly methods that are
satisfactory for humans are not necessarily suitable for robots. Using a screw and nut as a
fastening method, for example, is easily performed in manual assembly, but the same operation
is extremely difficult for a one-armed robot. Designs in which the components are to be added
from the same direction using snap fits and other one-step fastening procedures enable the work
to be accomplished much more easily by automated and robotic assembly methods.
Inspection is another area of factory operations in which the utilization of robots is growing. In a
typical inspection job, the robot positions a sensor with respect to the work part and determines
whether the part is consistent with the quality specifications.
In nearly all industrial robotic applications, the robot provides a substitute for human labour.
There are certain characteristics of industrial jobs performed by humans that identify the work as
a potential application for robots: (1) the operation is repetitive, involving the same basic work
motions every cycle; (2) the operation is hazardous or uncomfortable for the human worker
(e.g.,spray painting, spot welding, arc welding, and certain machine loading and unloading

tasks); (3) the task requires a work part or tool that is heavy and awkward to handle; and (4) the
operation allows the robot to be used on two or three shifts.

Abstract
Robots : Autonomous machines which were initially made to reduce human involvement in the 4D
jobs (Dull, Dirty, Dangerous, __________) . However as robots developed, their functionality
increased while their cost per hour reduced matching them up to human labour costs. The most
extensive use of robot technology is seen in the manufacturing industries where they are used for
varied purposes like spot welding, painting, laser cutting and precision work; jobs that reduce the
possibility in manufacturing errors hence quality. This paper showcases a general outlook of ropbots
in manufacturing industries esp how they were conceived, how they are currently used and how
they are planned to be used in the future.