ROBOTICS

 What is robotics :-
Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and
engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use
of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and
assist humans. Robotics integrates fields of mechanical engineering,
electrical engineering, information engineering, mechatronics,
electronics, bioengineering, computer engineering, control engineering,
software engineering, mathematics, etc.

Robotics develops machines that can substitute for humans and

replicate human actions. Robots can be used in many situations for
many purposes, but today many are used in dangerous environments
(including inspection of radioactive materials, bomb
detection and deactivation), manufacturing processes, or where humans
cannot survive (e.g. in space, underwater, in high heat, and clean up and
containment of hazardous materials and radiation). Robots can take on
any form, but some are made to resemble humans in appearance. This is
claimed to help in the acceptance of robots in certain replicative
behaviours which are usually performed by people. Such robots attempt
to replicate walking, lifting, speech, cognition, or any other human
activity. Many of today's robots are inspired by nature, contributing to
the field of bio-inspired robotics.

 History:-
In 1948, Norbert Wiener formulated the principles of cybernetics, the
basis of practical robotics.
Fully autonomous robots only appeared in the second half of the 20th
century. The first digitally operated and programmable robot,
the Unmated, was installed in 1961 to lift hot pieces of metal from a die
casting machine and stack them. Commercial and industrial robots are
 widespread today and used to perform jobs more cheaply, more
accurately and more reliably, than humans. They are also employed in
some jobs which are too dirty, dangerous, or dull to be suitable for
humans. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly, packing
and packaging, mining, transport, earth and space exploration,
surgery, weaponry, laboratory research, safety, and the mass
production of consumer and industrial goods.

 Applications:-
As more and more robots are designed for specific tasks, this method of
classification becomes more relevant. For example, many robots are
designed for assembly work, which may not be readily adaptable for
other applications. They are termed as "assembly robots". For seam
welding, some suppliers provide complete welding systems with the
robot i.e. the welding equipment along with other material handling
facilities like turntables, etc. as an integrated unit. Such an integrated
robotic system is called a "welding robot" even though its discrete
manipulator unit could be adapted to a variety of tasks. Some robots are
specifically designed for heavy load manipulation, and are labelled as
"heavy-duty robots".

 Robots:-

1) Robear:-
Robear is a high-tech teddy designed to lift an elderly patient from a bed
into a wheelchair.
Robear comes from Toshiharu Mukai, a scientist who leads the Robot
Sensor Systems Research Team at the Riken-SRK Collaboration Center
for Human-Interactive Robot Research. Robear is the team's third
robot bear.
2) Spot:-
Spot is just one of many different robots created by Boston Dynamics.
He's smaller than the first-generation LS3 Big Dog, but just as capable.
Spot is a 73kg electrically-powered and hydraulically-actuated robot that
can walk, trot, climb, and take a kick and stay standing. Here's hoping
Google adapts it for use by everyone soon.
3) Xiaomi CyberDog:-
If you like the look of Spot but want something more affordable then
you'll like the look of the Xiaomi CyberDog.
This is a quadruped robot capable of moving as fast as 3.2 meters per
second. It's capable of object motion tracking, creating real-time maps,
avoiding obstacles as it moves and more.
CyberDog is powered by Nvidia’s Jetson Xavier A.I. platform so it's got
some serious intelligence under the hood too. Yours for just 9,999
Chinese yuan (about $1,540).

4) A bird-legged drone:-
Stanford engineers have developed a new robot with features inspired
by a bird that include claws, curling toes and bendable legs.
The published research shows a bot that's able to land like a bird on
branches and other surfaces. This will certainly make it easier for future
drones and robots to land. And in more places too.
5) Henn na Hotel:-
A hotel in southwestern Japan, called Weird Hotel, is staffed almost
totally by robots to save labor costs.
The hotel is called Henn na Hotel in Japanese and was shown to
reporters, complete with robot demonstrations. One feature demoed
was the use of facial recognition instead of e-keys during check-in.
6) Stripper bots:-
At the 2014 CeBIT expo in Hanover, German software developer Tobit
had a booth showcasing two pole dancing robots and a robot DJ with a
megaphone for a head. The two bots could dance in time to the music.

7) Ava Robotics:-
Ava Robotics has designed a robot that allows workers to easily move
around a remote location as if they were really there.
This robot combines high definition video conferencing technology with
robotic mobility allowing remote workers to communicate easily with
their colleagues too.
8) ASIMO:-
ASIMO is a humanoid robot that Honda has been developing for over
a decade. It features hand dexterity as well as the ability to run fast, hop,
jump, run backward, and climb and descend stairs. ASIMO can also
recognise the faces and voices of multiple people speaking and can
accurately predict what you'll do next.

9) RoBoHon:-
RoBoHon is a smartphone disguised as a robot. The little robot works as
a normal phone, with a screen for a belly, but also does more.
The bot can move and talk for call alerts and more. It even has a
projector in its face so it can lean forward and project larger images on
surfaces. This could be useful for viewing photos, following a recipe or
simply as a novel hands-free option.
10) Sophia robot:-
Sophia is a social humanoid robot developed by the Hong Kong-based
company Hanson Robotics. Sophia was activated on February 14,
2016, and made her first public appearance in mid-March 2016 at South
by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, United States.
Sophia has been covered by media around the globe, and has
participated in many high-profile interviews. In October 2017, Sophia
was given Saudi Arabian citizenship, and became the first robot to
receive citizenship of any country. In November 2017, Sophia was
named the United Nations Development Programme's first Innovation
Champion, and is the first non-human to be given a United Nations title.

 History:-
Sophia was first activated on February 14, 2016. The robot, modeled
after the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, Audrey Hepburn, and its
inventor's wife, Amanda Hanson, is known for its human-like appearance
and behavior compared to previous robotic variants. As of 2018,
Sophia's architecture includes scripting software, a chat system,
 and OpenCog, an AI system designed for general reasoning. Sophia
imitates human gestures and facial expressions and is able to answer
certain questions and to make simple conversations on predefined
topics (e.g. on the weather). Sophia uses speech recognition technology
from Alphabet Inc. (the parent company of Google) and is "designed to
get smarter over time".[citation needed] Its speech synthesis ability is
provided by CereProc's text-to-speech engine, and also allows it to sing.
Sophia's intelligence software is designed by Hanson Robotics. The AI
program analyses conversations and extracts data that allows it to
improve responses in the future.

 Features:-
A computer vision algorithm processes input from cameras within
Sophia's eyes, giving Sophia visual information on its surroundings. It can
follow faces, sustain eye contact, and recognize individuals. It can
process speech and have conversations using a natural language
subsystem. Around January 2018, Sophia was upgraded with functional
legs and the ability to walk. CNBC has commented on Sophia's "lifelike"
skin and its ability to emulate more than 60 facial expressions.
Sophia is conceptually similar to the computer program ELIZA, which
was one of the first attempts at simulating a human conversation. The
software has been programmed to give pre-written responses to specific
questions or phrases, like a chatbot. These responses are used to create
the illusion that the robot is able to understand conversation, including
stock answers to questions like "Is the door open or shut?" In 2017
Hanson Robotics announced plans to open Sophia to a cloud
environment using a decentralized blockchain marketplace.

 Events:-
Sophia has been interviewed in the same manner as a human, striking
up conversations with hosts. Some replies have been nonsensical, while
others have impressed interviewers such as 60 Minutes's Charlie Rose. In
a piece for CNBC, when the interviewer expressed concerns about robot
behavior, Sophia joked that he had "been reading too much Elon Musk.
And watching too many Hollywood movies". Musk tweeted that Sophia
should watch The Godfather and asked "what's the worst that could
happen?" Business Insider's chief UK editor Jim Edwards interviewed
Sophia, and while the answers were "not altogether terrible", he
predicted that Sophia was a step towards "conversational artificial
intelligence". At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, a BBC
News reporter described talking with Sophia as "a slightly awkward
experience".
On October 11, 2017, Sophia was introduced to the United Nations with
a brief conversation with the United Nations Deputy Secretary-
General, Amina J. Mohammed. On October 25, at the Future Investment
Summit in Riyadh, the robot was "granted Saudi Arabian citizenship",
becoming the first robot ever to have a nationality, described as
a publicity stunt. This attracted controversy as some commentators
wondered if this implied that Sophia could vote or marry, or whether a
deliberate system shutdown could be considered murder. Social media
users used Sophia's citizenship to criticize Saudi Arabia's human rights
record. In December 2017, Sophia's creator David Hanson said in an
interview that Sophia would use its citizenship to advocate for women's
rights in its new country of citizenship; Newsweek criticized that "What
[Hanson] means, exactly, is unclear".