SEM UNILAG HUB INTERACTIVE SESSION: ROBOTICS

Do you know: Robotics is the future and the future is now.

STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math (and medicine). These are all areas of learning that we need to be comfortable with to excel uniquely in the future. STEM makes creators, thinkers, problem solvers, doers, innovators, and inventors. Robotics is one of the most promising branches of the 4th industrial revolution which can improve human lives have great impact in our future.

Introduction to Robotics

What is robotics?

Robotics is a branch of technology that deals with the making, programming, and designing of machines to do work. A robot is a machine that does tasks without the help of a person.

Robotics is the intersection of science, engineering and technology that produces machines, called robots, that replaces human actions

Robots all consist of some sort of mechanical construction.

A robot has 3 major components.

Mechanical + Electrical + Computer programming = Robot

• The mechanical aspect of a robot helps it complete tasks in the environment for which it’s designed.
• Electrical components control and power the machinery. A battery, for example, is needed to power a large majority of robots.
• Robots contain at least some level of computer programming. Without a set of code telling it what to do, a robot would just be another piece of simple machinery. Inserting a program into a robot gives it the ability to know when and how to carry out a task.

Now, let’s dive right in!

History of Robotics

A robot is an artificial agent, meaning it acts as a substitute for a person, doing things it is designed for.

Robots are usually machines controlled by a computer program or electronic circuitry but they may be directly controlled by humans. They may also be designed to look like humans, in which case their appearance and behaviour may suggest intelligence. Most robots do a specific job, and they do not look like humans. They can come in many forms.

In fiction, however, robots usually look like people, and seem to have a life of their own. There are many books, movies, and video games with robots in them. Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot is perhaps the most famous.

People have been interested in building machines to do work for us for a long time. But it takes time and money to build just one machine, so early ideas stayed ideas, or were built to make rich people laugh. Leonardo da Vinci designed a man-shaped machine to look like a knight in 1464. It would be controlled with ropes and wheels. Other engineers and dreamers drew mechanical men. In1920, Karel Čapek wrote a story about them, and he used a word from Czech that is connected with ‘work’: robot.

The most successful robot designs in the 20th century were not made to look like people. They were designed for use. George Devol made the first of these, the Unimate, in 1954, with one arm and one hand. General Motors bought it in 1960. The next year, it started work in a factory in New Jersey, lifting and stacking pieces of metal that were too hot for people to touch. The engineers could program it, and reprogram it if they had to.

Types of Robots

There are different types of robots since robots are designed specifically for different purposes. This makes them vary in size, speed, weight, complexity and so on. Generally, there are five types of robots and they are:

Pre-Programmed Robots

Pre-programmed robots operate in a controlled environment where they do simple, repetitive tasks. An example of a pre-programmed robot would be a mechanical arm on an automotive assembly line. The arm serves one function — to weld a door on, to insert a certain part into the engine, etc. — and it’s job is to perform that task longer, faster and more efficiently than a human.

Humanoid Robots

Humanoid robots are robots that look like and/or mimic human behavior. These robots usually perform human-like activities (like moving, jumping and carrying objects), and are sometimes designed to look like us, even having human faces and expressions. Two of the most popular examples of humanoid robots are Hanson Robotics’ Sophia and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas.

Autonomous Robots

Autonomous robots operate independently of human operators. These robots are usually designed to carry out tasks in open environments that do not require human supervision. An example of an autonomous robot would be the Roomba vacuum cleaner, which uses sensors to roam throughout a home freely.

Teleoperated Robots

Teleoperated robots are mechanical bots controlled by humans. These robots usually work in extreme geographical conditions, weather, circumstances, etc. Examples of teleoperated robots are the human-controlled submarines used to fix underwater pipe leaks during the BP oil spill or drones used to detect landmines on a battlefield.

Augmenting Robots

Augmenting robots either enhance current human capabilities or replace the capabilities a human may have lost. Some examples of augmenting robots are robotic prosthetic limbs or exoskeletons used to lift hefty weights.

Applications of Robots

1. Fighting forest fires

2. Working alongside humans in manufacturing plants (known as co-bots)

3. Robots that offer companionship to elderly individuals

4 .Surgical assistants

5. Last-mile package and food order delivery

6. Autonomous household robots that carry out tasks like vacuuming and mowing the grass

7. Assisting with finding items and carrying them throughout warehouses

8. Used during search-and-rescue missions after natural disasters

9. Landmine detectors in war zones

Uses of Robots

Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is probably the oldest and most well-known user of robots. These robots and co-bots (bots that work alongside humans) work to efficiently test and assemble products, like cars and industrial equipment. It’s estimated that there are more than three million industrial robots in use right now.

Logistics (Movement of Goods)

Shipping, handling and quality control robots are becoming a must-have for most retailers and logistics companies. Because we now expect our packages arriving at blazing speeds, logistics companies employ robots in warehouses, and even on the road, to help maximize time efficiency. Right now, there are robots taking your items off the shelves, transporting them across the warehouse floor and packaging them.

Home

It’s not science fiction anymore. Robots can be seen all over our homes, helping with chores, reminding us of our schedules and even entertaining children. The most well-known example of home robots is the autonomous vacuum cleaner Roomba. Additionally, robots have now evolved to do everything from autonomously mowing grass to cleaning pools.

Travel

Is there anything more science fiction-like than autonomous vehicles? These self-driving cars are no longer just imagination. A combination of data science and robotics, self-driving vehicles are taking the world by storm. Tesla vehicles are examples of self driving vehicles.

Health care

Robots have made big waves in the health-care industry. These mechanical marvels have use in just about every aspect of healthcare, from robot-assisted surgeries to bots that help humans recover from injury in physical therapy. Examples of robots at work in healthcare are Toyota’s healthcare assistants, which help people regain the ability to walk, and “TUG,” a robot designed to autonomously stroll throughout a hospital and deliver everything from medicines to clean linens.

What basic knowledge do you need to start a robotics career?

• Programming
• Engineering design
• Micro controllers

Look around you, things are changing everyday, humans are evolving, same as technology. We need to become more comfortable with the ‘new robotic world’. A time will come when all Men will do is to make, program and control robots to work for them, from way life is progressing, I say this without regret: “robotics is the future of man kind”.

The future is now, Start Now

— Samuel Onasanya (Mechanical Design Sub-team Head)