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Robotics is the science of building, designing, and creating artificial life forms.  During the 20th century, robotics was very popular within popular culture in the United States.  It was theorized early on that robots would soon be in every home and that they would perform many tasks currently performed by humans.  It has proved much more difficult to replicate the complexities of the human brain than early pioneers had thought it would be.
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Recent (as of 2007) robotics efforts have largely been focused on toys: the [[Sony Aibo]], Wowee's [[Robosapien]], [[Roboraptor]], and [[Robosapien V2]], and the as-yet un-released [http://ugobe.com/ Pleo].  Robots are also used to great effect in industrial manufacturing plants for automated tasks.
The term '''robotics''' refers to the science of designing, building, and using [[robot | robots]] for a set of tasks.  A relatively young field, Robotics draws from many fields of engineering, incluiding [[mechanical engineering]], [[electrical engineering]], [[computer science]], and [[mathematics]].


Robots have been featured in literature and movies. The most significant works were written by Asimov, who coined the [[Three Laws]]. Asimov's work has been referenced in the movies [[Bicentennial Man]], [[Artificial Intelligence]], and [[I, Robot]]. While many other movies have featured robots, these movies make specific reference to the [[Three Laws]].
The most popular applications of robotics is in manufacturing. While Industrial robots were first marketed in 1960, it has only been recently that consumer robotic products have appeared on the market. Among the most popular are the Sony's Aibo, Wowee's Robosapien, Roboraptor, and Robosapien V2, and the as-yet un-released Pleo. Robots are also used to great effect in industrial manufacturing plants for automated tasks.


It is theorized by some [[futurists]] (such as [http://kurzweilai.net/ Ray Kurzweil]) that individual computers will surprass the computational capabilities of a single human brain by 2020 or 2025. Robotics as a science is thus likely to become more popular in the coming years.
"Robotic surgery" is a man-in-the-loop application, where the robotic controllers smooth out tremor in human hands, and then scale human-scale motions to actions in microsurgery.  Another man-in-the-loop application involves [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]s (UAV) and [[precision-guided munition]]s (PGM). Psychologically interesting human stress can come from a PGM with television guidance, where the operator has the sense of "crashing and burning" into the target. All of these are [[telepresence]] applications.


[[Category: CZ Live]]
==History==
 
Unusually, the driving force for much development in robotics may be due the efforts of [[science fiction]] authors.  Authors such as [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov]] essentially defined the popular perception of a robot, and their works may have been the inspiration for the current genereation of roboticists.  Recently, robots have appeared in mainstream movies such as ''[[I, Robot]]'', ''[[Bicentennial Man]]'', and ''[[Artificial Intelligence]]''.
 
==Programming==
 
There are a lot of different languages to program in robotics. To avoid having to learn a lot of different programming languages, an initiative has been taken to provide universal platforms, like [[Urbi]] or [[Microsoft Robotics Suite]]. A move has also been taken toward [[open source]] platforms so that they are more widely used and hobbyists can program at will without having to pay.[[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]]

Latest revision as of 06:00, 13 October 2024

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The term robotics refers to the science of designing, building, and using robots for a set of tasks. A relatively young field, Robotics draws from many fields of engineering, incluiding mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and mathematics.

The most popular applications of robotics is in manufacturing. While Industrial robots were first marketed in 1960, it has only been recently that consumer robotic products have appeared on the market. Among the most popular are the Sony's Aibo, Wowee's Robosapien, Roboraptor, and Robosapien V2, and the as-yet un-released Pleo. Robots are also used to great effect in industrial manufacturing plants for automated tasks.

"Robotic surgery" is a man-in-the-loop application, where the robotic controllers smooth out tremor in human hands, and then scale human-scale motions to actions in microsurgery. Another man-in-the-loop application involves unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and precision-guided munitions (PGM). Psychologically interesting human stress can come from a PGM with television guidance, where the operator has the sense of "crashing and burning" into the target. All of these are telepresence applications.

History

Unusually, the driving force for much development in robotics may be due the efforts of science fiction authors. Authors such as Asimov essentially defined the popular perception of a robot, and their works may have been the inspiration for the current genereation of roboticists. Recently, robots have appeared in mainstream movies such as I, Robot, Bicentennial Man, and Artificial Intelligence.

Programming

There are a lot of different languages to program in robotics. To avoid having to learn a lot of different programming languages, an initiative has been taken to provide universal platforms, like Urbi or Microsoft Robotics Suite. A move has also been taken toward open source platforms so that they are more widely used and hobbyists can program at will without having to pay.