There are many types of robots; they are used in many different environments and for many different uses. Although being very diverse in application and form, they all share three basic similarities when it comes to their construction:
White robot woman on blurred background using digital sphere connection hologram 3D rendering
Robots all have some kind of mechanical construction, a frame, form or shape designed to achieve a particular task. For example, a robot designed to travel across heavy dirt or mud might use caterpillar tracks. Origami inspired robots can sense and analyze in extreme environments. The mechanical aspect of the robot is mostly the creator’s solution to completing the assigned task and dealing with the physics of the environment around it. Form follows function.
Robots have electrical components that power and control the machinery. For example, the robot with caterpillar tracks would need some kind of power to move the tracker treads. That power comes in the form of electricity, which will have to travel through a wire and originate from a battery, a basic electrical circuit. Even petrol-powered machines that get their power mainly from petrol still require an electric current to start the combustion process which is why most petrol-powered machines like cars, have batteries. The electrical aspect of robots is used for movement (through motors), sensing (where electrical signals are used to measure things like heat, sound, position, and energy status), and operation (robots need some level of electrical energy supplied to their motors and sensors in order to activate and perform basic operations)
All robots contain some level of computer programming code. A program is how a robot decides when or how to do something. In the caterpillar track example, a robot that needs to move across a muddy road may have the correct mechanical construction and receive the correct amount of power from its battery, but would not be able to go anywhere without a program telling it to move. Programs are the core essence of a robot, it could have excellent mechanical and electrical construction, but if its program is poorly structured, its performance will be very poor (or it may not perform at all). There are three different types of robotic programs: remote control, artificial intelligence, and hybrid. A robot with remote control programming has a preexisting set of commands that it will only perform if and when it receives a signal from a control source, typically a human being with remote control. It is perhaps more appropriate to view devices controlled primarily by human commands as falling in the discipline of automation rather than robotics. Robots that use artificial intelligence interact with their environment on their own without a control source, and can determine reactions to objects and problems they encounter using their preexisting programming. A hybrid is a form of programming that incorporates both AI and RC functions in them.
2. Future development and trends
Various techniques have emerged to develop the science of robotics and robots. One method is evolutionary robotics, in which a number of differing robots are submitted to tests. Those which perform best are used as a model to create a subsequent “generation” of robots. Another method is developmental robotics, which tracks changes and development within a single robot in the areas of problem-solving and other functions. Another new type of robot is just recently introduced which acts both as a smartphone and robot and is named RoboHon.
As robots become more advanced, eventually there may be a standard computer operating system designed mainly for robots. Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source software set of programs being developed at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Technical University of Munich, Germany, among others. ROS provides ways to program a robot’s navigation and limbs regardless of the specific hardware involved. It also provides high-level commands for items like image recognition and even opening doors. When ROS boots up on a robot’s computer, it would obtain data on attributes such as the length and movement of robots’ limbs. It would relay this data to higher-level algorithms. Microsoft is also developing a “Windows for robots” system with its Robotics Developer Studio, which has been available since 2007.
Japan hopes to have full-scale commercialization of service robots by 2025. Much technological research in Japan is led by Japanese government agencies, particularly the Trade Ministry.
Many future applications of robotics seem obvious to people, even though they are well beyond the capabilities of robots available at the time of the prediction. As early as 1982 people were confident that someday robots would: 1. Clean parts by removing molding flash 2. Spray paint automobiles with absolutely no human presence 3. Pack things in boxes—for example, orient and nest chocolate candies in candy boxes 4. Make electrical cable harness 5. Load trucks with boxes—a packing problem 6. Handle soft goods, such as garments and shoes 7. Shear sheep 8. prosthesis 9. Cook fast food and work in other service industries 10. Household robot.
3. Adaptations
The first screen adaptation of an Asimov robot story was the third episode of the British television series Out of This World based on “Little Lost Robot”, first broadcast in 1962. Dramatised by Leo Lehman [de] and starring Maxine Audley as Susan Calvin, this is the only episode of the series known to have survived.
This was followed by a 1964 dramatision of The Caves of Steel for the BBC series Story Parade and then four episodes of the BBC television series Out of the Unknown, based on “Satisfaction Guaranteed” (1966), “Reason (in an episode titled “The Prophet”, 1967), “Liar!” (1969), and The Naked Sun (1969). In these adaptations, Elijah Baley was portrayed by Peter Cushing (The Caves of Steel) and Paul Maxwell (The Naked Sun), R. Daneel Olivaw by John Carson (The Caves of Steel) and David Collings (The Naked Sun), and Susan Calvin by Beatrix Lehmann (“The Prophet”) and Wendy Gifford (“Liar!”). In “Satisfaction Guaranteed”, the character of Susan Calvin was renamed Dr. Inge Jensen and portrayed by Ann Firbank.
El robot embustero (1966), short film directed by Antonio Lara de Gavilán, based on short story “Liar!”
Robots (1988), film directed by Doug Smith and Kim Takal, based on the Robot series
Bicentennial Man (1999), film directed by Chris Columbus, based on novelette “The Bicentennial Man” and on novel The Positronic Man
I, Robot (2004), film directed by Alex Proyas, based on ideas of short stories of the Robot series
The Apple TV adaptation of the Foundation books contains several references to its shared universe with the Robots series. The robot character of Eto Demerzel is an adaptation of the character R. Daneel whose shrouded long-lived history is frequently mentioned. During the course of the show, several characters reference the “Robot Wars” that happened in the past and are apparently part of the Empire’s history. According to showrunner David S. Goyer, the references to aspects such as the “Robot Wars” are planned to be explored in future seasons of the show.
In the late 1970s, Harlan Ellison wrote a screenplay based on Asimov’s book I, Robot for Warner Bros. This film project was ultimately abandoned, but Ellison’s script was later published in book form as I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay (1994).
4. Robot laws
The writer Isaac Asimov told many stories about robots who had the three laws of robotics to keep humans safe from them.
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These were not used in real life when he invented them. However, in today’s world robots are more complicated, and one day real laws may be needed, much like Isaac Asimov’s original three laws.
South Korea was the first country in the world to have laws about robots.
