Robotics

Robotics is the term used in artificial intelligence that deals with a study of creating intelligent
and efficient robots.

What are Robots

Robots are multifunctional, re-programmable, automatic industrial machine designed for
replacing human in hazardous work.
Robots can be work as:-
o An automatic machine sweeper
o In space
o A machine removing mines in a war field
o An automatic car for a child to play with
o In military, etc.

Objective
The aim of the robot is to manipulate the objects by perceiving, moving, picking, modifying the
physical properties of object.

What is Robotics
Robotics is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is mainly composed of electrical
engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science engineering for construction,
designing and application of robots.
Robotics is science of building or designing an application of robots. The aim of robotics is to
design an efficient robot.

Aspects of Robotics
o The robots have electrical components for providing power and control the machinery.
o They have mechanical construction, shape, or form designed to accomplish a particular
task.
o It contains some type of computer program that determines what, when and how a robot
does something.

Components of Robot
Consider the robot structure showing different components of robots are:
Consider the key components of robotics are:-
o Power Supply - The working power to the robot is provided by batteries, hydraulic, solar
power, or pneumatic power sources.
o Actuators - Actuators are the energy conversion device used inside a robot. The major
function of actuators is to convert energy into movement.
o Electric motors (DC/AC)- Motors are electromechanical component used for converting
electrical energy into its equivalent mechanical energy. In robots motors are used for
providing rotational movement.
o Sensors - Sensors provide real time information on the task environment. Robots are
equipped with tactile sensor it imitates the mechanical properties of touch receptors of
human fingerprints and a vision sensor is used for computing the depth in the
environment.
o Controller - Controller is a part of robot that coordinates all motion of the mechanical
system. It also receives an input from immediate environment through various sensors.
The heart of robot's controller is a microprocessor linked with the input/output and
 monitoring device. The command issued by the controller activates the motion control
mechanism, consisting of various controller, actuators and amplifier.
Robot Locomotion
Locomotion is the method of moving from one place to another. The mechanism that makes a
robot capable of moving in its environment is called as robot locomotion.
There are many types of locomotion's:-
o Wheeled
o Legged
o Tracked slip/skid
o Combination of legged and wheeled locomotion

Legged locomotion
o It comes up with the variety of one, two, four, and six legs. If a robot has multiple legs
then leg coordination is required for locomotion.
o Legged locomotion consumes more power while demonstrating jump, hop, walk, trot,
climb up or down etc.
o It requires more number of motors for accomplish a movement. It is suited for rough as
well as smooth terrain where irregular or too smooth surface makes it consume more
operational power. It is little difficult to implement because of stability issues.
AD
The total number of possible gaits (a periodic sequence of release and lift events for each of the
total legs) a robot can travel depending upon the number of robot legs.
If a robot has K legs, then the number of possible events is,

In case of a two-legged robot (K=2), therefore the number of possible events is

Hence, there are six possible different events:-

o Lifting the Right leg
o Lifting the Left leg
o Releasing the right leg
o Releasing the left leg
o Releasing both the legs together
o Lifting both the legs together
In case of K=4 legs, there are 5040 possible events. Hence the complexity of robots is dependent
on number of legs of robots. On increasing legs of a robot the complexity of robotic system
increases.
Wheeled Locomotion
It requires less number of motors for accomplishing a movement. It is little easy to implement as
there are lesser stability issues in case of more number of wheels. It is more power efficient as
compared to legged locomotion.
o Castor wheel - It rotates around the offset steering joint and wheel axle.
o Standard wheel - It rotates around the contact and the wheel axle.
o Ball or spherical wheel - This wheel is technically difficult to implement due to
architectural complexity. It is an Omni directional wheel with only one directional
movement is allowed.
o Swedish 45 and Swedish 90 wheels - It is an Omni-wheel, which rotates around the
contact point, around the wheel axle, and around the rollers.
Slip/Skid Locomotion
In Slip/Skid locomotion the vehicles use tracks as available in a tank. The robot is steered by
moving tracks with different speeds in the same or opposite direction. It offers stability because
of large contact area of ground and track.

Types of Robots
1) Mobile Robots
Mobile robots are able to move from one location to another location using locomotion. It is an
automatic machine that is capable of navigating an uncontrolled environment without any
requirement of physical and electromechanical guidance devices. Mobile Robots are of two
types:
(a) Rolling robots - Rolling robots require wheels to move around. They can easily and quickly
search. But they are only useful in flat areas.
(b) Walking robots - Robots with legs are usually used in condition where the terrain is rocky.
Most walking robots have at least 4 legs.

2) Industrial Robots
Industrial robots perform same tasks repeatedly without ever moving. These robots are working
in industries in which there is requirement of performing dull and repeated tasks suitable for
robot.
An industrial robot never tired, it will perform their works day and night without ever
complaining.

3) Autonomous Robots
Autonomous robots are self-supported. They use a program that provides them the opportunity to
decide the action to perform depending on their surroundings.
Using artificial intelligence these robots often learn new behavior. They start with a short routine
and adapt this routine to be more successful in a task they perform. Hence, the most successful
routine will be repeated.
AD
4) Remote Controlled Robots
Remote controlled robot used for performing complicated and undetermined tasks that
autonomous robot cannot perform due to uncertainty of operation.
Complicated tasks are best performed by human beings with real brainpower. Therefore a person
can guide a robot by using remote. Using remote controlled operation human can perform
dangerous tasks without being at the spot where the tasks are performed.
Let's see a NASA robot designed to explore volcanoes via remote control:

Types of Robot Sensors

There are different type of sensors are available to choose from and the characteristics of sensors
are used for determining the type of sensor to be used for particular application.
1) Light Sensor
Light sensor is a transducer used for detecting light and creates a voltage difference equivalent to
the light intensity fall on a light sensor.
The two main light sensors used in robots are Photovoltaic cells and Photo resistor. Other kind
of light sensors like phototransistors, phototubes are rarely used.
The type of light sensors used in robotics are:
Photo resistor - It is a type of resistor used for detecting the light. In photo resistor resistance
varies with change in light intensity. The light falls on photo resistor is inversely proportional to
the resistance of the photo resistor. In general photo resistor is also called as Light Dependent
Resistor (LDR).
Consider the circuit diagram of Photo resistor sensor:

Photovoltaic Cells - Photovoltaic cells are energy conversion device used to convert solar
radiation into electrical electric energy. It is used if we are planning to build a solar robot.
Individually photovoltaic cells are considered as an energy source, an implementation combined
with capacitors and transistors can convert this into a sensor.
Consider the circuit diagram of photovoltaic cell is,
2) Proximity Sensor
Proximity sensor can detect the presence of nearby object without any physical contact. The
working of a proximity sensor is simple. In proximity sensor transmitter transmits an
electromagnetic radiation and receiver receives and analyzes the return signal for interruptions.
Therefore the amount of light receiver receives by surrounding can be used for detecting the
presence of nearby object.
Consider the types of proximity sensors used in robotics are:-
Infrared (IR) Transceivers - In IR sensor LED transmit the beam of IR light and if it find an
obstacle then the light is reflected back which is captured by an IR receiver.
Consider the PCB board layout of IR Transceiver circuit:

Ultrasonic Sensor - In ultrasonic sensors high frequency sound waves is generated by

transmitter, the received echo pulse suggests an object interruption.
In general ultrasonic sensors are used for distance measurement in robotic system.
Consider the interfacing of ultrasonic sensor with Microcontroller unit:
3) Sound Sensor
Sound sensors are generally a microphone used to detect sound and return a voltage equivalent to
the sound level. Using sound sensor a simple robot can be designed to navigate based on the
sound receives.
Implementation of sound sensors is not easy as light sensors because it generates a very small
voltage difference which will be amplified to generate measurable voltage change.
AD
Consider the sound sensor based switching circuit:

AD
4) Temperature Sensor
Temperature sensors are used for sensing the change in temperature of the surrounding. It is
based on the principle of change in voltage difference for a change in temperature this change in
voltage will provide the equivalent temperature value of the surrounding.
Few generally used temperature sensors IC?s are TMP35, TMP37, LM34, LM35, etc.
Consider the temperature sensor pin diagram description is,
5) Acceleration Sensor
Acceleration sensor is used for measuring acceleration and tilt. An accelerometer is a device
used for measuring acceleration.
AD
The two kinds of forces which affect an accelerometer is:-
o Static Force - It is the frictional force between any two objects. By measuring this
gravitational force we can determine the how much robot is tilting. This measurement is
useful in balancing robot, or for determining whether robot is driving on a flat surface or
uphill.
o Dynamic Force - It is the amount of acceleration required to move an object.
Measurement of dynamic force using an accelerometer tells about the velocity/speed at
which robot is moving.
Accelerometer is comes in different configuration. Always use the one which is most appropriate
for your robot. Some factors need to be considered before selecting accelerometer is:
1. Sensitivity
2. Bandwidth
3. Output type: Analog or Digital
4. Number of Axis: 1,2 or 3
Consider the schematic diagram of basic accelerometer: