Robotic control is the system that contributes to the movement of
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...
s. This involves the mechanical aspects and programmable systems that makes it possible to control robots. Robotics could be controlled in various ways, which includes using manual control,
wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlli ...
, semi-
autonomous (which is a mix of fully automatic and wireless control), and fully autonomous (which is when it uses
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...
to move on its own, but there could be options to make it manually controlled). In the present day, as technological advancements progress, robots and their methods of control continue to develop and advance.
Modern robots (2000-present)
Medical and surgical
In the medical field, robots are used to make precise movements that are humanly difficult. Robotic surgery involves the use of less-invasive surgical methods, which are “procedures performed through tiny incisions”. Currently, robots use the
da Vinci surgical method, which involves the robotic arm (which holds onto surgical instruments) and a camera. The surgeon sits on a console where he controls the robot wirelessly. The feed from the camera is projected on a monitor, allowing the surgeon to see the incisions. The system is built to mimic the movement of the surgeon’s hands and has the ability to filter slight hand tremors. But despite the visual feedback, there is no physical feedback. In other words, as the surgeon applies force on the console, the surgeon won’t be able to feel how much pressure he or she is applying to the tissue.
Military
The earliest robots used in the military dates back to the 19th Century, where automatic weapons were on the rise due to developments in mass production. The first automated weapons were used in World War I, including radio-controlled,
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
[McKenna, A. (2016). ''The Future of Drone Use: Opportunities and Threats from Ethical and Legal Perspectives'' (B. Custers, Ed.). The Hague, The Netherlands: T.M.C. Asser Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-132-6] Since the invention, the technology of ground and aerial robotic weapons continues to develop, it transitioned to become part of modern warfare. In the transition phase of the development, the robots were semi-automatic, being able to be controlled remotely by a human controller. The advancements made in
sensor
A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon.
In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...
s and processors lead to advancements in capabilities of
military robots.
[Singer, P. W. (2009, February 11). Military robots and the laws of war. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/military-robots-and-the-laws-of-war/] Since the mid-20th century, the technology of
artificial intelligence (A.I.) began to develop
[Smith, C., McGuire, B., Huang, T., & Yang, G. (2006, December). ''The history of artificial intelligence''. https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/csep590/06au/projects/history-ai.pdf] and in the 21st century, the technology transferred to warfare, and the weapons that were semi-automatous is developing to become
lethal autonomous weapons systems, LAWS for short.
[Kessel, J. M., Reneau, N., & Chan, M. (2019, December 13). ''A.I. is making it easier to kill (You). here's how'' ideo file https://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/100000006082083/lethal-autonomous-weapons.html?searchResultPosition=1]
Impact
As the weapons are being developed to become fully autonomous, there is an ambiguous line of what is the line that separates an enemy to a civilian. There is currently a debate of whether or not artificial intelligence is able to differentiate these enemies and the question of what is morally and humanely right (for example, a child unknowingly working for the enemies).
Space exploration
Space missions involve sending robots into space in the goal of discovering more of the unknown. The robots used in space exploration have been controlled semi-autonomously. The robots that are sent to space have the ability to maneuver itself, and are self-sustaining. To allow for data collection and a controlled research, the robot is always in communications with scientists and engineers on Earth. For the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Curiosity rover
''Curiosity'' is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. ''Curiosity'' was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and la ...
, which is part of their Mars exploration program, the communication between the rover and the operators are made possible by “an international network of antennas that…permits constant observation of spacecraft as the Earth rotates on its own axis”.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...
is used in robotic control to make it able to process and adapt to its surroundings. It is able to be programmed to do a certain task, for instance, walk up a hill. The technology is relatively new, and is being experimented in several fields, such as the military.
Boston Dynamics' robots
Boston Dynamic’s “Spot” is an autonomous robot that uses four sensors and allows the robot to map where it is relative to its surroundings. The navigational method is called
simultaneous localization and mapping, or “SLAM” for short. Spot has several operating modes and depending on the obstacles in front of the robot, it has the ability to override the manual mode of the robot and perform actions successfully. This is similar to other robots made by Boston Dynamics, like the “Atlas”, which also has similar methods of control. When the “Atlas” is being controlled, the control software doesn’t explicitly tell the robot how to move its joints, but rather it employs mathematical models of the underlying physics of the robot’s body and how it interacts with the environment”. Instead of inputting data into every single joint of the robot, the engineers programmed the robot as a whole, which makes it more capable to adapt to its environment. The information in this source is dissimilar to other sources, except the second source, because robots vary so much depending on the situation.
[Guizzo, E. (2019, November 27). How boston dynamics is redefining robot agility. https://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/humanoids/how-boston-dynamics-is-redefining-robot-agility]
References
See also
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Synthetic Neural Modeling Synthetic things are composed of multiple parts, often with the implication that they are artificial. In particular, 'synthetic' may refer to:
Science
* Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis
* Synthetic ...
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Control theory
Control theory is a field of mathematics that deals with the control system, control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the application of system inputs to drive ...
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Cybernetics
Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...
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Mobile robot navigation
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Robot kinematics
In robotics, robot kinematics applies geometry to the study of the movement of multi-degree of freedom kinematic chains that form the structure of robotic systems. The emphasis on geometry means that the links of the robot are modeled as rig ...
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Simultaneous localization and mapping
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Robot locomotion
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Motion planning
Motion planning, also path planning (also known as the navigation problem or the piano mover's problem) is a computational problem to find a sequence of valid configurations that moves the object from the source to destination. The term is use ...
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Robot learning
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Vision Based Robot Control
obot study
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