Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots and computer system for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing. A robot is a mechanical device which is under the control of a processor.
The concept of creation of machine that could operate autonomously dates back to classical times but research into the functionality and potential uses of robots did not grow substantially until the 20th century. Today robotics is rapidly grow in field, as we continue to research, design, and build new robot that serve various practical purposes, whether domestically, or militarily.
Application area of robots
1. Automated Transportation (Self-driving Robot)
The first widespread, high visibility use of mobile robots are seen by Autonomous Self-driving cars. The progress of automated self-driving vehicles development is surprising in the recent 10 or 15 years. New automobiles without robotics are like a computer with wheels. But with robotics, they are more efficient and dangerous free.
Self-driving robots are not that robots that can drive cars. Actually, this means that the cars are made like robots and artificial intelligence is introduced in that cars. In a modern world like in many countries in Europe and America, the automated self-driving vehicle is available. Like buses, trams, trains are automated. But vehicles like cars that run in the streets are not quite general. But recently, Audi, Mercedes, Google are introducing self-driving cars. The day is not that far when human drivers won’t be needed for driving vehicles. As a result, the accidents may not be occurring that much like today.
2. Security, Defense, and Surveillance
The Job of a security, defense, and surveillance robot is normal. It surveys the desired area. It immediately notifies the owner if there is any type of disturbance occurred. This kind of robot is used in the military. This kind of robot can also be used in human daily life.
In the military, this type of robot does various kind of jobs. They are used to arm and disarm bombs. They are sent to the desired area to monitor enemy’s activity which is definitely a dangerous job for the soldiers.
For use in human’s daily life, this type of robot monitors home when people are away from their home. This robot helps people to monitor the skies, ground, and water from a remote location. You can control this type of robots from another location to send it to your desired location to monitor the activities of that location. Thus, you can protect your home and properties from being harmed if you are not there to monitor them.
3. Robots Cooking
After passing a full working day in the office, it becomes annoying to motivate yourself to cook a proper delicious meal for you when you get home. Instead of cooking the meal in a proper traditional way, many try to cook the food in a shortcut way which sometimes isn’t healthy and tasty enough. But how it would be if you would have a robotic cooking assistant for you which would make the food as you want?
There are many programmable robots which can cook food according to your choice. You just have to set the quantity of the ingredients of the food. The rest will be done by the robot. Many robots are now introduced which can copy you. All you need is just do the cooking in front of the robot for once. The movement of your body is recorded by the camera. From then, the robot will copy your actions to make that food for you. This kind of robotic cooking assistants is introduced in many hotels and houses.
Some companies manufacture this kind robot. Among them, Moley Robotics, Shadow Robot Companies are quite famous.
4. Medicine
The impact of robotics is undeniable in the field is medicine. Recently, engineers have successfully discovered surgical robots. This success has attracted large financial investment on robots in medical science.
Recently, Google and Johnson & Johnson are working together to create next-generation medical robot system. In the recent past, robots were only used in the clinical system just as assistants. But now, they are introduced as part and parcel of the clinical system. Though it is not possible yet, it is not too far that robots will replace surgeons in surgical operations.
Robot system in established in clinics around the world. So, engineers are working hard to successfully invent micro and nanorobots. Because they are capable of doing things which need precise and accurate performance as a human cannot do that kind of things. For drug delivery system, these robots can locally concentrate therapeutic payload around pathological sites so that they can reduce the dose of administrative drugs and side effects caused by them.
5. Education
Robotics is now called as a General-Purpose Technology. That means it has the potential to alter societies by its impacts on economic and social structures. So, now it is natural to discuss robotics in education.
Many students suffer from various kinds of diseases every day. So, they cannot physically attend the classes. For this reason, they miss lessons. Engineers have made that kind of robots which can help the students attend their classes from afar. The robot performs as a person in the classroom which is controlled by the person himself. Its cameras are his eyes and body is for interacting with other students and teachers. So, the person can see and do everything in the classroom that he wants to do from the hospital or the house.
Autistic students generally find it irritating and confusing when they communicate with other people. The Humanoid robots look like humans. So, it is easy to interact with them as they look like a human. These robots can help the autistic students by teaching social cues, educational lessons. The success is quite good in this field.
Science has made it possible to learn something from a distance place. Technology has already made it possible and will only continue to make it better. Now, teachers can teach a class even not at present in the class. In that case, a telepresence robot does the job. That robot acts like a human and is controlled by the person himself from a distance place. So, students find it interesting and interactive to interact with the person through the robot.
6. Home Maintenance
Robots are now being made available for personal uses. You can have these robots to help you with household chores. Though these robots are not invented fully like this yet, I believe that soon it will be made possible. Some example of home maintaining robots:
- Home robots are used to look after pet animals even if you are not at home.
- Home robots monitor you every day It knows when you take bath, meal, and other things. It makes them ready for you before you need.
- If you are not in a home. No tension, the robot is there for you look after your home. It alerts you if there is any disturbance observed near your home.
- Robots can help with laundry, do preparatory work for cooking meals, clean kitchen and toilets.
- Many robots can pick up different things like toys, clothes, newspapers. It can help you by doing that.
- Some robots can assemble furniture and help you with moving heavy objects.
- Now, many robots can answer your phone call and are capable of continuing formal conversation.
There are many things that robot can do for home maintenance. But yet, that kind of robots are not that available or if available, they cost much.
7. Doing Dangerous Jobs
Some robots are relieving human by replacing them from dangerous jobs. There are many examples where robots are becoming essential.
- An important example is robotic welding. Manual welding is dangerous for human body. It produces a lot of noise and intense hit. Robots are doing a great job in this section.
- Oil companies inspect their pipelines by pipe-inspecting robots. It is a dangerous task for human as the pipe may full of toxic gas which can cause death to a human.
- Robots are being used to arm and disarm bombs which were an extremely life killing jobs for a human.
- In nuclear plants, a lot of nuke wastes are being produced every day. The wastes produce nuclear radiation which is harmful to So, now robots are being used as nuke cleaner.
- Robots are now working as a firefighter.
- Waste from sewers is harmful to human body. So, robots are being used a sewer scraper.
There are many dangerous jobs for human in which robots have replaced humans.
8. As a servant
Robotic engineers are working hard to make the robot as your servant. So that it can help you almost in all matters. Now-a-days:
- Cooker robots are there to make your meals as like as you want.
- Laundry robots are there to make ready your used clothes.
- Surveillance robots look after your home when you are away from home.
- Some robots can look after your pets too.
- Many robots can fetch things for you whatever you want.
9. Robot as friend
Now, a robot is not only a machine who works for you. Artificial intelligent robots are so smart that they can act as friends. As engineers are always working to make artificial intelligence better, robots are more acting like a human. Some robots monitor you. They which you like or how you like that or which you don’t like. They can do things according to your choice. These make those robots friend.
As an example, Boomer which was a bomb disposal robot was given a military funeral which was being completed with 21-gun salutes. Because the robot had a personality of its own and it saved its human friends’ life on many occasions. So, its comrades felt that they owed him a military send off.
Robots are used as explorers. Many spaceships are operated by robots. It is sometimes a very dangerous job for a human. Robots do this for us. Recently, NASA sent a robot named “curiosity” to explore the Mars. It is not possible for a human.
In many western countries, it often happens that people are choosing robots as their life partner. From this, it can surely be said that present robots can make good friends as human.
10. Crime Fighting
Robots are not only used for general purposes but also working to keep peace in the society. They are working as a crime fighter. Some examples:
- Silicon Valley-based Knightscope manufactures some robots that patrol areas. Shopping malls, residences are kept secured by these security robots.
- The K1 which is a checker robot that can scan passers-by whether they are carrying weapons or not.
- The K7 robots can traverse rugged terrain, dirt, and sand on its wheels. So, they can patrol areas which are dangerous for human.
- Robots are now used to arm and disarm bombs which are a dangerous task for a human.
- In future robot may be work as a soldier. If that happens, a lot of life will be saved.
- Some aircrafts are known as drones which are operated by humans from a distance place. They are nothing but robots operated by humans.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ROBOTICS AND COMPUTATIONAL FLUID
- Advantages of robotics: • Increased efficiency. • Higher quality. • Improved working environment. • Increased profitability. • Longer working hours. • They are more precise and consistent than human workers. • Robots also allow for increased production and profit margin because they can complete tasks faster. • Robots have the ability to work around the clock since they do not require vacations, sick days, or breaks. • They also make fewer mistakes than humans. • Saving companies time etc.
- Advantages of computational fluid dynamic: • Development cost reduction: ▫ Using physical experiments and tests to get essential engineering data for design can be expensive. CFD simulations are relatively inexpensive, and costs are likely to decrease as computers become more powerful. • Quick assessment of design variations: ▫ CFD simulations can be executed in a short period of time. ▫ Engineering data can be introduced early in the design process
- Advantages of computational fluid dynamic: • Enables the designer to simulate different conditions: ▫ Many flow and heat transfer processes cannot be easily tested. ▫ CFD provides the ability to theoretically simulate any physical condition. ▫ CFD allows great control over the physical process, and provides the ability to isolate specific phenomena for study.etc.
Disadvantage of Robots
- Disadvantages of robotics: • Capital cost. • Expertise. • Limitations. • Needs a supply of power , the people can lose jobs in the factories , they need the maintenance to keep them running , it costs a lot of money to make or buy the robot , the software and the equipment that you need to use with the robot. . • The robot can take the place of many humans in the factories So , the people have to find new jobs or be retrained , they can take the place of the humans in several situations , if the robot begin to replace the humans in every field , They will lead to unemployment
- Disadvantages of robotics: • Cost much money in the maintenance & repair, the programs need to be updated to suit the changing requirements, the machines need to be made smarter. • In case of the breakdown, the cost of repair may be very high. • The procedures to restore lost code or data may be time-consuming & costly. • The robots can store large amounts of data but the storage, access; retrieval is not as effective as the human brain
- Disadvantages of computational fluid dynamic: • Not all models are very reliable. We still cannot simulate many phenomenons. • To compute very large simulations you would need large computers and getting access to them could be difficult. • Very expensive. If you need to try your ideas you might need permission/funding/new material etc. • Depending on the experiment it could take anything from a few hours to even a few weeks to set an experiment up. • Possibility of error from unknown sources. You could get errors from sensors/external sources and so on. This could make the experiment not reproducible.etc
