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Robot! What’s that?

Whether you’re a kid or an adult, everyone has an idea of what robots are … from the Robot on “Lost in Space” to the “Transformers”. But they do so much more than just “compute”. It is a machine that gathers information about its environment (senses) and uses that information (thinks) to follow instructions to do work (acts).

This is the working definition of robots that Robotics exhibit developers used for this exhibit. Today technology is changing at incredible rates making the identification of a robot somewhat difficult. Things that we use everyday incorporate features beyond those of early robots.

Many things in your home include sensors and/or programmable computer chips that control their operation — for example your laptops, remote car locking systems and air conditioners which responds to room temperature and may be programmed to turn the heat down at night and up in the morning. However, a roboticist would probably not say your laptop or air conditioner is a robot. Likewise, robots are doing more and more.

Today’s robots are incorporating multiple sensors and are able to use this information to behave autonomously -making decisions for themselves based on information that they receive.They are tools that help us achieve things, and they can be used in factories to build cars and electronics. They can explore underwater and on other planets, where it is not possible for a person to go. Today, you also see them being used in hospitals, in farming and transportation applications, for national defense and security, and so much more.

There is endless variety in the size, shape and jobs of robots. Some robots are used day after day in factories, while others are highly experimental and use artificial intelligence to behave more and more like living creatures, able to act independently in changing environments. Robots are being designed to perform precision surgery, explore space, the ocean, other dangerous areas.

Most robots have three main parts: a controller (a brain); mechanical parts to help it move (robots can be powered by air, water, or electricity), and sensors that can tell the robot about its surroundings. These parts work together to control how a robot functions(Details in future posts).

Robotics technology, like other fields within engineering, helps make people’s lives better. It also showcases how important it is to learn as much as you can about science, technology, engineering, and math while you are in schools and colleges 🙂

To know more about robots and their applications, visit our site robolab.in