Robotics 101

Ahoy everyone! Today is the first day of National Robotics Week of 2013! With Saturday being the first day of National Robotics Week I would like to start a thread about an introduction to robotics. With the continuing advancement in robotics it should be required for everyone to know the basics of robotics. As a rational character I always imagine how the future of our planet will change as robotics becomes more involved with our daily lives. However, this is just about an introduction into robotics. I would like to go over what robotics is, the basics, and what not. I cannot include everything and my work will be sloppy. That is why it is great to learn together. Now come on and join me on this wonderful ride of SCIENCE!!!

Introduction to Robotics
I can safely say our lives have been influenced by robotics or we have seen robotic characters in movies like Wall-E, R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars, and the Terminator franchise. As you can see from the videos from entertainment to creating the characters it's awesome!

The popular Curiosity rover that was watched by millions, if not billions of people who watched the Curiosity left the Earth, landed on Mars, and now is exploring the red planet. The list goes on and on.


Wikipedia defines the basic definition of robotics as:

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots, as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing. These technologies deal with automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behavior, and/or cognition.

How Robotics Work

On the most basic level, human beings are made up of five major components:
A body structure
A muscle system to move the body structure
A sensory system that receives information about the body and the surrounding environment
A power source to activate the muscles and sensors
A brain system that processes sensory information and tells the muscles what to do

Of course, we also have some intangible attributes, such as intelligence and morality, but on the sheer physical level, the list above about covers it.

A robot is made up of the very same components. A typical robot has a movable physical structure, a motor of some sort, a sensor system, a power supply and a computer "brain" that controls all of these elements. Essentially, robots are man-made versions of animal life -- they are machines that replicate human and animal behavior.

As you can this is basically what a robot is and how it works properly. The vast majority of robots will have similarities. A moveable body like wheels or movable segments. Typically made of metal or plastic.

The vast majority of robots do have several qualities in common. First of all, almost all robots have a movable body. Some only have motorized wheels, and others have dozens of movable segments, typically made of metal or plastic. Like the bones in your body, the individual segments are connected together with joints.

Robots spin wheels and pivot jointed segments with some sort of actuator. Some robots use electric motors and solenoids as actuators; some use a hydraulic system; and some use a pneumatic system (a system driven by compressed gases). Robots may use all these actuator types.

A robot needs a power source to drive these actuators. Most robots either have a battery or they plug into the wall. Hydraulic robots also need a pump to pressurize the hydraulic fluid, and pneumatic robots need an air compressor or compressed air tanks.

The robot's computer controls everything attached to the circuit. To move the robot, the computer switches on all the necessary motors and valves. Most robots are reprogrammable -- to change the robot's behavior, you simply write a new program to its computer.

There is much more information to include and digest. Since I'm very tired I thought this would be the best for an intro on this subject. We can all go over together the information I have included and use this to inspire our interest in robotics.
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