Outline of robotics

See also: Index of robotics articles

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots. Robotics is related to the sciences of electronics, engineering, mechanics, and software. The word "robot" was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. The term "robotics" was coined by Isaac Asimov in his 1941 science fiction short-story "Liar!"

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to robotics:

Nature of robotics

Main article: Robotics

Robotics can be described as:

• An applied science
• A branch of technology

Branches of robotics

Robotics incorporates aspects of many disciplines including electronics, engineering, mechanics, software and arts. Control of robots relies on many areas of robotics, including:

• Adaptive control – control method used by a controller which must adapt to a controlled system with parameters which vary, or are initially uncertain. For example, as an aircraft flies, its mass will slowly decrease as a result of fuel consumption; a control law is needed that adapts itself to such changing conditions.
• Aerial robotics –
• Anthrobotics – science of developing and studying robots that are either entirely or in some way human-like.
• Artificial intelligence – the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it.
• Autonomous research robotics –
• Bayesian network –
• BEAM robotics –
• Behavior-based robotics –
• Biomimetic – see Bionics.
• Biomorphic robotics –
• Bionics – also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.
• Biorobotics –
• Cognitive robotics –
• Clustering –
• Computational neuroscience –
• Robot control –
• Robotics conventions –
• Data mining Techniques –
• Degrees of freedom –
• Developmental robotics –
• Digital control –
• Digital image processing –
• Dimensionality reduction –
• Distributed robotics –
• Driverless cars –
• Electronic Stability Control –
• Epigenetic robotics –
• Evolutionary computation –
• Evolutionary robotics –
• Extended Kalman filter –
• Flexible Distribution functions –
• Feedback control and Regulation –
• Human–computer interaction –
• Human robot interaction –
• Kinematics – study of motion, as applied to robots. This includes both the design of linkages to perform motion, their power, control and stability; also their planning, such as choosing a sequence of movements to achieve a broader task.
• Laboratory robotics –
• Robot learning –
• Manifold learning –
• Direct manipulation interface –
• Robotic mapping –
• Microrobotics –
• Motion planning –
• Motor control –
• Nanorobotics –
• Artificial neural networks –
• Passive dynamics –
• Reinforcement learning –
• Programming by Demonstration –
• Robot kinematics –
• Robot locomotion –
• Rapid prototyping – automatic construction of physical objects via additive manufacturing from virtual models in computer aided design (CAD) software, transforming them into thin, virtual, horizontal cross-sections and then producing successive layers until the items are complete. As of June 2011, used for making models, prototype parts, and production-quality parts in relatively small numbers.
• Robot programming –
• Sensors –
• Simultaneous localization and mapping –
• Software engineering –
• Speech processing –
• Support vector machines –
• Robotic surgery –
  • Remote surgery –
  • Robot-assisted heart surgery –
• Swarm robotics – involves large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. Their actions may seek to incorporate emergent behavior observed in social insects (swarm intelligence).
• Telepresence –
• Intelligent vehicle technologies –
• Computer vision –
  • Machine vision –

Contributing fields

• Aerospace –
• Biology –
  • Biomechanics –
• Computer science –
  • Artificial Intelligence –
  • Computational linguistics –
  • Cybernetics –
  • Modal logic –
• Engineering –
  • Acoustical engineering –
  • Automotive engineering –
  • Chemical engineering –
  • Control engineering –
  • Electrical engineering –
  • Electronic engineering –
  • Mechanical engineering –
  • Mechatronics engineering –
  • Microelectromechanical engineering –
  • Nanoengineering –
  • Optical engineering –
  • Safety engineering –
  • Software engineering –
  • Telecommunications –
• Fiction – Robotics technology and its implications are major themes in science fiction and have provided inspiration for robotics development and cause for ethical concerns. Robots are portrayed in short stories and novels, in movies, in TV shows, in theatrical productions, in web based media, in computer games, and in comic books. See List of fictional robots and androids.
  • Film – See Robots in film.
  • Literature – fictional autonomous artificial servants have a long history in human culture. Today's most pervasive trope of robots, developing self-awareness and rebelling against their creators, dates only from the early 20th century. See Robots in literature.
  • The Three Laws of Robotics in popular culture
• Military science –
• Psychology –
  • Cognitive science –
  • Behavioral science –
• Philosophy –
  • Ethics –
• Physics –
  • Dynamics –
  • Kinematics –

Additionally, contributing fields include the specific field(s) a particular robot is being designed for. Expertise in surgical procedures and anatomy, for instance would be required for designing robotic surgery applications.

Related fields

• Building automation –
  • Home automation –

Robots

Types of robots

• Aerobot – robot capable of independent flight on other planets.
• Android – humanoid robot. Robot resembling the shape or form of a human.
• Automaton – early self-operating robot, performing exactly the same actions, over and over.
• Autonomous vehicle – vehicle equipped with an autopilot system, which is capable of driving from one point to another without input from a human operator.
• Cruise missile – robot-controlled guided missile that carries an explosive payload.
• Cyborg – also known as a cybernetic organism, a being with both biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) parts.
• Explosive ordnance disposal robot – mobile robot designed to assess whether an object contains explosives; some carry detonators that can be deposited at the object and activated after the robot withdraws.
• Gynoid – humanoid robot designed to look like a human female.
• Hexapod (walker) – A six-legged walking robot, using a simple insect-like locomotion.
• Industrial robot – reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks.
• Insect robot – small robot designed to imitate insect behaviors rather than complex human behaviors.
• Mobile Robot – self-propelled and self-contained robot that is capable of moving over a mechanically unconstrained course.
• Prosthetic robot – programmable manipulator or device replacing a missing human limb.
• Service robots – machines that extend human capabilities.
• Snakebot – robot or robotic component resembling a tentacle or elephant's trunk, where many small actuators are used to allow continuous curved motion of a robot component, with many degrees of freedom. This is usually applied to snake-arm robots, which use this as a flexible manipulator. A rarer application is the snakebot, where the entire robot is mobile and snake-like, so as to gain access through narrow spaces.
• Surgical robot – remote manipulator used for keyhole surgery
• Walking robot – robot capable of locomotion by walking. Owing to the difficulties of balance, two-legged walking robots have so far been rare and most walking robots have used insect-like multilegged walking gaits.

By mode of locomotion

Mobile robots may be classified by:

• The environment in which they travel:
  • Land or home robots. They are most commonly wheeled, but also include legged robots with two or more legs (humanoid, or resembling animals or insects).
  • Aerial robots are usually referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
  • Underwater robots are usually called autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)
  • Polar robots, designed to navigate icy, crevasse filled environments
• The device they use to move, mainly:
  • Legged robot : human-like legs (i.e. an android) or animal-like legs.
  • Wheeled robot.
  • Tracks.

Robot components and design features

• Actuator – motor that translates control signals into mechanical movement. The control signals are usually electrical but may, more rarely, be pneumatic or hydraulic. The power supply may likewise be any of these. It is common for electrical control to be used to modulate a high-power pneumatic or hydraulic motor.
  • Linear actuator – form of motor that generates a linear movement directly.
• Delta robot – tripod linkage, used to construct fast-acting manipulators with a wide range of movement.
• Drive Power – energy source or sources for the robot actuators.
• End-effector – accessory device or tool specifically designed for attachment to the robot wrist or tool mounting plate to enable the robot to perform its intended task. (Examples may include gripper, spot-weld gun, arc-weld gun, spray- paint gun, or any other application tools.)
• Forward chaining – process in which events or received data are considered by an entity to intelligently adapt its behavior.
• Haptic – tactile feedback technology using the operator's sense of touch. Also sometimes applied to robot manipulators with their own touch sensitivity.
• Hexapod (platform) – movable platform using six linear actuators. Often used in flight simulators and fairground rides, they also have applications as a robotic manipulator.

See Stewart platform

• Hydraulics – control of mechanical force and movement, generated by the application of liquid under pressure. c.f. pneumatics.
• Kalman filter – mathematical technique to estimate the value of a sensor measurement, from a series of intermittent and noisy values.
• Klann linkage – simple linkage for walking robots.
• Manipulator – gripper. A robotic 'hand'.
  • Parallel manipulator – articulated robot or manipulator based on a number of kinematic chains, actuators and joints, in parallel. c.f. serial manipulator.
  • Remote manipulator – manipulator under direct human control, often used for work with hazardous materials.
  • Serial manipulator – articulated robot or manipulator with a single series kinematic chain of actuators. c.f. parallel manipulator.
• Muting – deactivation of a presence-sensing safeguarding device during a portion of the robot cycle.
• Pendant – Any portable control device that permits an operator to control the robot from within the restricted envelope (space) of the robot.
• Pneumatics – control of mechanical force and movement, generated by the application of compressed gas. c.f. hydraulics.
• Servo – motor that moves to and maintains a set position under command, rather than continuously moving.
• Servomechanism – automatic device that uses error-sensing negative feedback to correct the performance of a mechanism.
• Single Point of Control – ability to operate the robot such that initiation or robot motion from one source of control is possible only from that source and cannot be overridden from another source.
• Slow Speed Control – mode of robot motion control where the velocity of the robot is limited to allow persons sufficient time either to withdraw the hazardous motion or stop the robot.
• Stepper motor –
• Stewart platform – movable platform using six linear actuators, hence also known as a Hexapod.
• Subsumption architecture – robot architecture that uses a modular, bottom-up design beginning with the least complex behavioral tasks.
• Teach Mode – control state that allows the generation and storage of positional data points effected by moving the robot arm through a path of intended motions.

Specific robots

• Aura (satellite) – robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 2004 which collects atmospheric data from Earth.
• Chandra X-ray Observatory – robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 1999 to collect astronomical data.
• Robonaut – development project conducted by NASA to create humanoid robots capable of using space tools and working in similar environments to suited astronauts.
• Unimate – the first off-the-shelf industrial robot, of 1961.

Real robots by region

Robots from Australia

• GuRoo –
• UWA Telerobot –
• Karl Stefanovic – KarlOS 3.1 (Karlbot Operating System)

Robots from Britain

• Black Knight –
• eSTAR –
• Freddy II –
• George –
• Shadow Hand –
• Silver Swan –
• Talisman UUV –
• Wheelbarrow –

Robots from Canada

• Canadarm2 –
• Dextre –
• ANATROLLER ARI-100 –
• ANATROLLER ARE-100 –
• ANATROLLER ARI-50 –
• ANATROLLER Dusty Duct Destroyer –
• ANAT AMI-100 –

Robots from China

• FemiSapien –
• Meinü robot –
• RoboSapien –
• Robosapien v2 –
• RS Media –
• Xianxingzhe –

Robots from Croatia

• DOK-ING EOD –
• TIOSS –

Robots from France

• Digesting Duck –
• Nabaztag –
• Nao –

Robots from Germany

• Marvin –
• Care-Providing Robot FRIEND –

Robots from Italy

• IsaacRobot –
• Leonardo's robot –

Robots from Japan

• AIBO –
• ASIMO –
• Choromet –
• EMIEW –
• EMIEW 2 –
• Enon –
• Evolta –
• Gakutensoku –
• HAL 5v
• HOAP –
• KHR-1 –
• Omnibot –
• Plen –
• QRIO –
• R.O.B. –
• SCARA –
• Toyota Partner Robot –
• Wakamaru –

Robots from Mexico

• Don Cuco El Guapo –

Robots from the Netherlands

• Adelbrecht –
• Flame –
• Phobot –
• Senster –

Robots from New Zealand

• Trons, The –

Robots from Portugal

• RAPOSA –

Robots from Qatar

• Robot jockey –

Robots from Russia (or former Soviet Union)

• Lunokhod 1 –
• Lunokhod 2 –
• Teletank –

Robots from South Korea

• Albert Hubo –
• EveR-1 –
• HUBO –
• MAHRU –
• Musa –

Robots from Spain

• REEM-B –

Robots from Switzerland

• Alice mobile robot –
• E-puck mobile robot –
• Pocketdelta robot –

Robots from the United States of America

• Albert One –
• Allen –
• ATHLETE –
• Ballbot –
• Beer Launching Fridge –
• Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton –
• BigDog –
• Boe-Bot –
• Coco –
• Cog –
• Crusher –
• Dragon Runner –
• EATR –
• Elektro –
• Entomopter –
• Haile –
• Hardiman –
• HERO –
• Johns Hopkins Beast –
• Kismet –
• Leonardo –
• LOPES –
• LORAX –
• Nomad 200 –
• Nomad rover –
• Opportunity rover –
• Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly –
• Push the Talking Trash Can –
• RB5X –
• Robonaut –
• Shakey the Robot –
• Sojourner –
• Spirit rover –
• Turtle –
• Unimate –
• Zoë –
• Pleo –

Robots from Vietnam

• TOPIO –

International robots

• European Robotic Arm –
• Mars Science Laboratory –

Fictional robots by region

Fictional robots from the United Kingdom

From British literature

• HAL 9000 (Arthur C. Clarke) –

From British radio

• Marvin the Paranoid Android (Douglas Adams) –

From British television

• Kryten (Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, David Ross, Robert Llewellyn) {Red Dwarf} –
• Talkie Toaster – (Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, John Lenahan, David Ross) {Red Dwarf}
• K-9 (Doctor Who) –

Fictional robots from the Czech Republich

From Czech plays

• Daemon – (Karel Čapek) {R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)}
• Helena – (Karel Čapek) {R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)}
• Marius – (Karel Čapek) {R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)}
• Primus – (Karel Čapek) {R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)}
• Radius – (Karel Čapek) {R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)}
• Sulla – (Karel Čapek) {R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)}

Fictional robots from France

From French ballets

• Coppélia – (Arthur Saint-Leon, Léo Delibes) {Coppélia}

From French literature

• Hadaly – (Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam) {The Future Eve}

Fictional robots from Germany

From German film

• Maschinenmensch – (Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou, Brigitte Helm) {Metropolis}

From German literature

• Maschinenmensch – (Thea von Harbou)
• Olimpia – (E. T. A. Hoffmann) {Der Sandmann}

Fictional robots from Japan

From anime

• Combattler V – (Tadao Nagahama, Saburo Yatsude) {Super Electromagnetic Robo Combattler V}
• Daimos – (Tadao Nagahama, Saburo Yatsude) {Brave Leader Daimos}
• Raideen – (Yoshiyuki Tomino, Tadao Nagahama) {Brave Raideen}
• Voltes V – (Tadao Nagahama, Saburo Yatsude) {Super Electromagnetic Machine Voltes V}

From manga

• Astro Boy – (Osamu Tezuka) {Astro Boy}
• Getter Robo – (Go Nagai, Ken Ishikawa) {Getter Robo}
• Grendizer – (Go Nagai) {UFO Robo Grendizer}
• Mazinger Z – (Go Nagai) {Mazinger Z}
• Tetsujin 28 – (Mitsuteru Yokoyama) {Tetsujin 28 - Go!}

Fictional robots from the United States of America

From American comics

• Amazo – (Gardner Fox) {DC Comics}
• Annihilants – (Alex Raymond) {Flash Gordon}

From American film

• C-3PO – (George Lucas, Anthony Daniels) {Star Wars}
• ED-209 – (Paul Verhoeven, Craig Hayes, Phil Tippett) {RoboCop}
• Gort – (Robert Wise, Harry Bates, Edmund H. North, Lock Martin) {The Day the Earth Stood Still}
• R2-D2 – (George Lucas, Kenny Baker, Ben Burtt) {Star Wars}
• Robby the Robot – (Fred M. Wilcox, Robert Kinoshita, Frankie Darro, Marvin Miller) {Forbidden Planet}

From American literature

• Adam Link – (Eando Binder) {I, Robot}
• Gnut – (Harry Bates) {Farewell to the Master}
• Robbie – (Isaac Asimov) {I, Robot}
• The Steam Man of the Prairies – (Edward S. Ellis) {The Steam Man of the Prairies}
• Tik-Tok – (L. Frank Baum) {Ozma of Oz}

From American television

• Bender Bending Rodriguez – (Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, John DiMaggio) {Futurama}
• Cambot – Gypsy , Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo (Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Bill Corbett, Josh Weinstein, Jim Mallon, Patrick Brantseg) {Mystery Science Theater 3000}
• Data – (Gene Roddenberry, Brent Spiner) {Star Trek: The Next Generation}
• Jenny Wakeman – (Rob Rezenti, Janice Kawaye) {My Life as a Teenage Robot}
• Robot B-9 – (Irwin Allen, Robert Kinoshita, Bob May, Dick Tufeld) {Lost in Space}
• Grounder and Scratch – (Phil Hayes, Gary Chalk ) {Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog}
• The Robot (Robin Sparkles) – (Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Cobie Smulders ) {How I Met Your Mother}

History of robotics

Main article: History of robots

Robotics development and development tools

• Arduino – current platform of choice for small-scale robotic experimentation and physical computing.
• CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) – these systems and their data may be integrated into robotic operations.
• Cleanroom – environment that has a low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapors; often used in robot assembly.

Robotics principles

• Artificial intelligence – intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it.
• Degrees of freedom – extent to which a robot can move itself; expressed in terms of Cartesian coordinates (x, y, and z) and angular movements (yaw, pitch, and roll).
• Emergent behaviour – complicated resultant behaviour that emerges from the repeated operation of simple underlying behaviours.
• Envelope (Space), Maximum – volume of space encompassing the maximum designed movements of all robot parts including the end-effector, workpiece, and attachments.
• Humanoid – resembling a human being in form, function, or both.
• Three Laws of Robotics – coined by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov, one of the first serious considerations of the ethics and robopsychological aspects of robotics.
• Tool Center Point (TCP) – origin of the tool coordinate system.
• Uncanny valley – hypothesized point at which humanoid robot behavior and appearance is so close to that of actual humans as to cause revulsion.

Robotics applications

• Combat, robot – hobby or sport event where two or more robots fight in an arena to disable each other. This has developed from a hobby in the 1990s to several TV series worldwide.

Robotics organizations

• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) – organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 in order to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields.

Persons influential in the field of robotics

• Čapek, Karel – Czech author who coined the term 'robot' in his 1921 play, Rossum's Universal Robots.

Robotics in popular culture

• Droid
• List of fictional cyborgs
• List of fictional robots and androids
• List of fictional gynoids and female cyborgs
• Real Robot
• Super Robot
• Robot Hall of Fame
• Waldo – a short story by Robert Heinlein, that gave its name to a popular nickname for remote manipulators.

See also

• Synchro –

External links

• Autonomous Programmable Robot
• Four-leg robot
• Robotics video tutorial