Computers π» | Robotics | 6.2 Flashcards
Define robotics
Robotics is a branch of computer science that
incorporates the design, construction and
operation of robots
Define robot
A mechanical device that can carry out tasks normally done by humans
Give examples of areas where robots are used.
- Industry
- Transport
- Agriculture
- Medicine
- Domestic
- Entertainment
List some examples of factory robots / functions
- Welding parts together
- Spray-painting panels on a car
- Fitting windscreens to cars
- Cutting out metal partst to a high precision
- Bottling and labeling plants
- Warehouses (automatic location of items)
List some examples of domestic robots
- Autonomous floor sweepers
- Autonomous lawn mower
- Ironing robots
- Pool cleaner
- Automatic window cleaner
- Entertainment (βfriendβ robots)
List some examples of how robotics can be used in drones
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are drones that are either remotely controlled or totally autonomous using embedded systems
- Can be used in reconnaisance
- Can be used to make parcel deliveries
What are the characteristics of a robot?
- Ability to sense their surroundings
- Have a degree of movement
- Programmable
How do robots have an ability to sense their surroundings?
Via sensors, which determine the physical environment and sends data to microprocessors
How do robots use mechanical structures to have a degree of movement?
They can make use of motors, wheels, cogs, pistons, gears, etc., to carry out fuctions such as turning, twisting, moving backwards/forwards, gripping, lifting
Define autonomous
Able to operate independently without any human input
Define controller
A microprocessor that is in control of a process
What makes a robot programmable?
The controller - which determines the action to be taken to perform acertain task, and is also programmable
Do all robots have AI?
No. Many do repetitive tasks
What are the two types of physical robots?
Independent and Dependent
Describe an independent robot
- Has no direct human control
- Can replace the human activity completely
Describe a dependent robot
- Has a human directly interacting with the robot
- Can supplement rather than totally replace the human activity
What are the two ways that a robot is programmed in industrial applications?
- Wth a sequence of instructions allowing it to carry out the tasks
- A human operator either guiding a robot arm, each movement stores; or a workerβs movements stored and replicated by a robot
What are the advantages of robots in industry?
- Capable of working in conditions hazardous for humans
- Work 24/7 without need to stop
- Less expensive in the long run
- More productive than humans
- More consistent
- Better suited to boring repetitive tasks than humans
- Less costs in heating and lighting
What are the disadvantages of robots in industry?
- Robots may find it difficult to do non-standard tasks
- Leads to higher unemployment
- Risk of deskilling when robots take over certain taks
- Factories can be moved anywhere in the world where operation costs are lower, leading to unemployment and explotation
- Expensive to buy and set up
What are robots used for in transport?
To create automated vehicles
What are the advantages of autonomous vehicles?
- Safer since human error is removed; fewer accidents
- Better for environments due to higher efficiency
- Reduced traffic congestion
- Increased lane capacity
- Reduced travel times
- Stress-free parking
What are the disadvantages of autonomous vehicles?
- Very expensive due to high tech requirements
- Fear of hacking into the control system
- Security and safety issues; fear of glitches
- The need to maintain the system well, keeping sensors clean
- Driver and passenger reluctance
- Unemployment if there are less taxis
- Many philosophical moral dilemnas
What is the system autonomous trains make use of?
LiDaR
Define LiDaR
A contraction of light detection and ranging; the use of lasers to build up a 3D image of surroundings
What are the advantages of autonomous trains?
- Improves train puncutality
- Reduced running costs
- Improved safety
- Minimised energy consumption
- Increased frequency of trains
- Easier to change train scheduling
What are the disadvantages of autonomous trains?
- Ever-present fear of hacking into control system
- System doesnt work well with very busy services
- High capital and operational costs
- Ensuring good passenger behavioris acceptable in busy times
- Passenger relucatance
- No drivers; need for CCTV
What are some features that autonomous airplanes may have?
- Sensors to detect turbulence to ensure smooth flight
- Increase in self-testing of all circuits and systems
- Sensors to automatically detect depressurisation in cabin
- Use of GPS for navigation and speed calculations
- Use of actuators to control wings, throttle, flaps
What are the advantages of pilotless airplanes?
- Improves passenger comfort
- Reduced running costs
- Improved safety
- Improves aerodynamics at front; no cockpit
What are the disadvantages of pilotless airplanes?
- Inability to handle terrorism
- Emergency situations tough to handle
- Hacking into system fear
- Passenger reluctance
- Software glitches
List five areas where robotics could play a big role in agriculture?
- Harvesting/picking of vegetables and fruit
- Weed control
- Phenotyping - plant growth and health
- Seed-planting and fertiliser distribution
- Autonomous labour-saving devices
How can robots be beneficial in harvesting and picking?
- More accurate
- Faster at harvesting
- Only pick crops that are ripe
How can robots be beneficial in weed control?
- Distinguishing between weeds and crops using AI
- Use of GPS allows them to stay on course
- More accurate
Define phenotyping
The process of observing the physical characteristics of a plant to assess its health and growth
What are the benefits of phenotyping?
- Sensors that create 3D images help with monitoring plant health and growth
- Machine learning allows it to recognise issues with leaves
- More accurate and faster than manual
What are the benefits of seed-planting drones?
- Drones provide and aerial image of a farm, sending a birdβs eye view to the farmer
- Allows seed-planting to be done more efficiently
- More efficient fertiliser-spreading
- Drones can add silver iodide crystals to a cloud forcing it to give up rainwater
List some of the devices that can be used in automated agriculture.
- Grass mowers/cutters
- Weeding, pruning, and harvesting robots
- Seeding robots
- Fertiliser spraying
List examples in medicine where robots are used.
- Surgical procedures
- Monitoring patients
- Disinfecting rooms
- Taking blood samples
- Target theraphy
- Prosthetic limbs
What are the benefits of using robots in surgical procedures?
- Safer
- Quicker
- Less costly
What are the benefits of the use of robots in blood sampling?
- Less painful as the robot is better at determining a good vein
- Safer to doctors and nurses if the patient has an infectious disease
- Doctors and nurses can be freed up to do more skilled work
How are robots used in target therapy?
Microbots use microscopic mechanical components to localise a drug or other therapy to target a specific site causing less damage to surrounding tissue
List some examples of domestic robots
- Autonomous vacuum cleaners
- Autonomous grass cutters
- Personal assisstants
What are the benefits of auto vacuum cleaners and autonomous grass cutters?
- Use of proximity sensors and cameras to avoid bumping into obstacles
- Automatic
- User can program the device
What are personal assistants?
Tobots controlled by a microprocessor the uses cloud connectivity and understands voice controls, and uses an HD camera to navigate a room and recognise faces
What are two areas where robots are used in entertainment?
- Entertainment parks and areas
- Film and TV industry
How are robots used in theme parks?
Robots may dress as cartoon characters to interact with visitors and entertain them
How are robots used in music festivals?
- Robotic methods control lighting
- Visual effects
- Animation
How are robots used in filming?
- To control cameras and keep them steady
- Humanoid robots to perform stunts
- Producing special effects with precision
Define AI
Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behaviours by computers
Describe the main characteristics of AI
- The collection of data and the rules for using the data
- The ability to reason
- The ability to learn and adapt
What are the two types of AI?
(in our syllabus because thats all we should care about)
- Expert system
- Machine learning
Define expert system
A form of AI that has been developed to mimic human knowledge and experiences
What are the advantages of an expert system?
- High expertise
- High accuracy
- Consistent results
- Ability to store vast amount of ideas and facts
- Tracable logical solutions
- Can have multiple expertise
- Fast response times
- Unbiased
What are the disadvantages of expert systems?
- Users need considerabl training for proper usage
- High maintainence and setup costs
- Can give βcoldβ responses
- Only as good as the information in the systems
- Users may assume they are infallible
What are the parts of an expert system?
- User interface
- Inference engine
- Knowledge base
- Rules base
What is a User interface in an expert system?
Method by which the expert system interacts with a user
How does a user interface usually work in an expert system?
- Through dialogue boxes, command prompts, other input methods
- Questions usually only have yes/no answers
Define inference engine
A kind of search engine used in an expert system which examines the knowledge base for information that matches the queries
How does an inference engine work in an expert system?
- Examining the knowledge base for information which matches the queries
- Gathers information from the user allowing each question asked to be based on the previous answers
Define inference rules
Rules used by the inference engine and in expert systems to draw conclusions using IF statements
Define knowledge base
A repository of facts which is a collection of objects and attributes
A knowledge base consists of β¦ and their β¦
objects and their attributes
What is a rules base?
A set of inference rules used by the inference engine to draw conclusions, following logical thinking
Define object
An item stored in the knowledge base
Define attribute
Something that deffines the objects stored in a knowledge base
From where is information gathered for an expert system?
From human experts or from written sources, used to populate the knowledge base
What things have to be set up before an expert system is released?
- Populating knowledge base
- Creating rules base
- Setting up inference engine
- Developing UI
- Testing system fully
Define machine learning
A sub-set of AI in which algorithms are trained and learn from past experiences and examples
What is the difference between AI and Machine Learning?
- AI represents simulated human intellingence im machines
- Machine learning is the practice of getting machiens to make decisions without being programmed to do so
