Robotics

Introduction to Robotics, Understanding about various Robots and there use cases

What is a Robot?

The first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the word robot is a machine that resembles a human and is capable of performing tasks we do on a daily basis. While these tasks may appear simple to us, they are actually quite complex for a robot to perform. Behind every seemingly basic action lies a world of mathematics, physics, and sophisticated algorithms.

Take, for example, the task of picking up an object and placing it somewhere else. Sounds simple, right? But for a robot, it’s anything but. The robot needs to: Perceive and locate the object (using sensors or cameras), Understand its orientation, Know where to place it and how to navigate there, And finally, learn how to grip it appropriately without dropping or damaging it.

Each of these steps involves layers of computation—like coordinate transformations, path planning, inverse kinematics, and force control. So, while it might take us just a few seconds to move a cup, it could take a robot thousands of calculations and carefully coordinated movements.

At its core, I like to think of a robot as a machine that takes input from the environment, processes that input using algorithms, and performs meaningful actions in response. It’s a bridge between sensing and acting—guided by planning and control. A more formal definition follows below.

“A Robot is the intelligent connection of perception to action.”

i.e. if a machine has perception of something and make action based on that perception with intelligent connection then we can call it as a Robot.

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Three fundamentals of functions of a Robot:

There are three basics function of a robot that is sense, plan and act.

graph LR
  S(Sense) --> P(Plan / Think)
  P --> A(Act)
  A --> S(Sense)

Sensing: understand/sense the environment using sensor like camera, temperature, etc.

Planing: Plan accordingly to achieve a particular task using micro-controllers or a computer.

Acting: Act on that plan to achieve the desired result/outcome using motors, servo, arms, etc.

A robot can also be defined as a “programmable machine that interacts with environment through sensors (perception), Controls/process (intelligence) actuator (movement/action).”

What is Robotics?

Now we can know what robot and we know how to define one is lets have a look at the field that studies robots i.e. Robotics it is the study of Robots or machines that are capable for preforming tasks autonomously or with minimal human intervention. It is a interdisciplinary subject where concepts from various disciplines are used to solve a engineering problem.

Evolution of Robotics Research:

summary on paper “Evolution of Robotics and Research”.
- Elena Gracia, Maria Antonia Jimenez, Pablo Gonzalez De Santos, and Manuel Armanda.

This paper explains how robotics research evolve form motion control for industrial robots to intelligent control and social learning robots, it explains the trend in robotics research that focuses more on interactions between human and robots. the new trend is dominated by service robots as it aligns with the goal of getting robots closer to humans needs.

The paper emphasizes the current and future trend of robots in field and service area, It address the evolution of robotics research in three different areas: robot manipulator, mobile robots and biologically inspired robots. Although these area may have some shared research topics but they differ significantly in most research topics.

Section on Robot Manipulator includes industrial robots, medical robots and rehabilitation robots, on mobile robots includes terrestrial, under water robots and aerial robots, Biologically inspired robots mainly include walking robot and humanoid robot. In spite of the difference in research between robot manipulator, mobile robot and biologically inspired robots these three converge in the current and future intended use i.e. field and service robots.