Tampilkan postingan dengan label Robotics. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Robotics. Tampilkan semua postingan

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Salvius gives a thumbs up to students at Tech Foundry

Students from the Tech Foundry worked to build a pair of robotic hands for Salvius at this weekends workshop. While working, students learned that the length of each digit in a finger follows the pattern of a Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence occurs quite commonly in nature, however the significance of this pattern in the human hand is that it allow the fingers to curl into a fist shape which is why human hands are good at using a wide variety of tools. In addition, it was shown that the sum of the length of the distal, intermediate and proximal phalanges in the little finger equal the length of those in the thumb. This creates symmetry between these two fingers and improves the hand's ability to pick up small objects. By design, each finger has four degrees of freedom, except for the thumb which has five due to the added complexity of its saddle joint. Normally each finger has an additional three degrees of freedom, two for extension and flexion and one for abduction and adduction.

Salvius has been built using readily available materials and the design for the hands is no exception. Pens donated from +Western New England University were repurposed to construct the structural components of each finger. The hands are designed to compliantly grip objects by changing shape to match a surface instead of requiring each finger digit to be positioned individually. As a result, the hands use fewer servos and less processing power to control.

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Cyber Security for Humanoid Robots


The issue of security has become a hot topic when looking at the future of robotics. The present concern is that robots who could learn to interact with humans would inevitably need to store data about the daily lives of those individuals that the robot knows. A robot designed to assist people would need to be able to learn to navigate through their house and it would need to know where different items are kept. A robot like this would be perfect for someone with a physical disability, however it makes them vulnerable to a variety of new cyber crimes. Proper encryption could hep to protect owner's personal information but there is still risks. Gaining access to the information stored by one of these hypothetical robots could be accomplished with no greater difficulty than with which other cyber-crimes are committed. At the moment there little cause for concern. as Nicolas Rigaud of Aldebaran Robotics makes clear "[The market for robots in consumer households] doesn't exist yet".

Another issue that I want to bring up is with copyrights. What happens in the event that a robot reads a book to someone, or sees a photo. Basically the robot would be storing copyrighted content. We have no way for robots to determine what content is something important to remember, and what is intellectual property. However, this may be one area where this will end up being allowed, since there is no threat of a robot filing a patent or trying to make money off of someone else's intellectual property.

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Extraordinary Humanoid Robots

These are a few of my favorite robots (ones other than Salvius).

ECCERobot - Embodied Cognition in a Compliantly Engineered Robot

Follow Gunther Cox's board ECCERobot on Pinterest.
The robot's creators looked at the stiff way that other robot moved and decided that a robot that moved more naturally would have a better chance to interact easily with humans. Holland believes that complex calculations are less than necessary when it comes to controlling the robot's movements. The passive compliant design of ECCERobot allows it to absorb impacts and makes interaction with humans safe. The robot's artificial muscles can also be used to store energy which can then be released for fast movements.

Joules

The robot named Joules, holds a remarkably touching conversation with his creators before being shipped off the the University of West England.


Robonaut

Launched to the space station aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission, Robonaut was the first humanoid robot in space. Robonaut was designed to with the goal to one day help spacewalkers make repairs or additions to the station or perform scientific work.


ATLAS

DARPA has developed several impressive humanoid robots such as ATLAS and Petman. Atlas is based on Boston Dynamics' earlier PETMAN humanoid robot, and has four hydraulically-actuated limbs. Constructed of aircraft-grade aluminum and titanium, it stands approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighs 330 pounds (150 kg). Atlas is equipped with two vision systems – a laser rangefinder and stereo cameras, both controlled by an onboard computer – and has hands with fine motor skill capabilities. Its limbs possess a total of 28 degrees of freedom. Atlas can navigate rough terrain and climb independently using its arms and legs.

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A History of Robotics: Iron Eagle

1533

Johannes Muller von Konigsberg was a German mathematician, astronomer, author, and inventor who also went frequently by a Latin pseudonym when he published his works, calling himself Regiomontanus. This extraordinary inventor was responsible for several astounding feats of engineering such as a mechanical eagle made out of wood and iron. Konigsberg also created a and mechanical fly, which like the eagle, also possessed flight capabilities.
In a book published in 1708 titled The mathematical and philosophical works of the Right Reverend John Wilkins, author John Wilkins describes the anatomical works of Regiomontanus in regards to their principals of flight. It was said by Wilkins, that the wooden eagle of Regiomontanus flew from the city of Koenigsberg to meet the emperor, saluted him, and returned. Regiomontanus also built an iron fly of which it is said it flew out of Regiomontanus's hands at a feast, taking a round of the room before returning to him.

Previous chapter: Myth and Legend
Next chapter: Coming soon!

Photo: Jupiter enthroned, with the symbols of Pisces and Sagittarius at his feet (woodcut by Johannes Regiomontanus, 1512)

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A History of Robotics: Analytical Engine

1820

The explosion of automation during the 1820's led to the rapid growth of the weaving industry. From this wave of innovation also came inspiration for the mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage who composed the idea of programmable machines. Babbage conceived, what he called an Analytical Engine with which he sought to perform multiple mathematical operations. Similar to his previously unfinished Difference Engine, the Analytical Engine would provide a quick way for a machine to execute what was essentially a program by reading punch cards. Babbage began work on the Analytical Engine in 1833 but he never finished. His work however, left Ada Lovelace deemed as the worlds first programmer as she produced numerous punch cards to be operated on the device.

Photo of the Analytical Engine from the Science Museum London

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A History of Robotics: Hero of Alexandria

60 AD

Hero of Alexandria was an innovator in the field of automata but that's not all. It is highly likely that Hero was the inventor of the first programmable robot. The robot had three wheels and carried a group of other automatons onto a stage to preform. The robot's movement was controlled by a string wrapped around an axial with a series of pegs. The pegs were used to reverse the direction of the string so that the cart could drive itself in different "pre-programmed" directions.

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Robotic Hands with Hot Glue

This was a great project posted by Mohamed Hazem on how to create a robotic hand out of hot glue. I his video he refers to hot glue as wax but its basically the same thing. The hands he shows how to build are fairly robust despite their method of construction. I have built hands in a similar way using some bike chain rather than ink tubes but the concept is remarkably similar. What I like about the pen tubes is that you could give this project bonus points for recycling. You could use any flexible material in substitute of the ink tubes.

Tools and Parts
For parts you will need some bundle straps, a thread reel, fishing line, 5 ink tubes, 5 servo motors, and an Arduino. You will also want to have a hot glue gun and some scissors available.

Step 1
On a piece of paper, mark the distance between each of your fingers and assign each of them a reference number so you can determine which finger is which later on. Copy each number onto the corresponding strap.

Step 2
Fold the strap at the marked points and press firmly down to ensure that it is a tight fold. It helps to use something solid such as a block of wood to press with. Repeat this process for the rest of the straps. Cut the ink tubes and position them about 0.7 mm away from the straps using the hot glue. This distance allows the fingers to bend freely.

Step 3
Wrap each of the sections with thread to add shape and volume to the fingers. This will also work to reinforce the structure of each of the digits.

Step 4
Sew an elastic fabric band into the loops of thread and then wrap a bit more thread over the part you have just sewn to cover it up. Repeat this process for each digit of the finger. Try to taper the finger by making the width of each digit slightly less that the previous.

IMPORTANT: Before warping up the last digit of the finger (the finger tip) add a small drop of hot glue and tie a piece of fishing line to it. Then feed the fishing line down through the opening of the ink tube.

The fishing line is what gets attached to each servo to move the finger. Repeat the above steps for each finger until you have a whole handful!

The video gives some additional tips for controlling the movement of the finger. For instance, if you position another tube on the opposite side of the first one you can apply force to open the hand as well as just closing it. I like the idea of having that opening force as an option because it is closer to how the human hand applies force.

This type of hand uses a method called complaint grip which is where each of the fingers flex together, rather than having each finger individually controlled. This mean that when this type of hand holds something it will naturally conform to the shape of whatever it is holding. If the digits of each finger were individually controlled you would need more servos to control them and more processing power to determine what the position of each finger is. This makes complaint grip a good solution for creating robotic hands.

Enjoy!



In addition to this great video, I also have a post showing a pair of robotic hands that I designed. My design is different from the one described in this tutorial and it might be worth checking them out if you are interested in building your own.

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A History of Robotics: Tea Serving Karakuri

1800 to 1900

The Karakuri ningyo are automata made in Japan between the 17th and the 19th century. The word karakuri translates from Japanese to "mechanisms" or "trick" and ningyo meaning person and shape. The Karakuri were intended to provide entertainment. They could gesture and conduct a variety of actions depending on what a particular Karakuri was designed for.

Many kinds of Karakuri have been created but there are a few types which are more common.

Butai karakuri
Butai karakuri were used in theatrical performances. Performances would typically last no more than ten minuted due to the limitation of how much each automaton could preform for between winding. A karakuri would typically be powered by a wound spring made of whalebone which was coupled to a set of cams and levers to control the movements of its head and limbs.

Dashi karakuri
Dashi karakuri were used in religious festivals. They where animated puppets which usually could be seen reenacting traditional stories or myths and legends.

Zashiki karakuri
Zashiki karakuri were the most common type of karakuri. They often used in homes, preforming a limited range of short "parlor tricks". Serving tea was a common feat for these small automatons. Although impractical for anything other than entertainment,  A tea-serving karakuri would start moving forward when a cup of tea was placed on the plate it held in its hands. The karakuri would then move a fixed distance in a straight line before bowing its head to signal that the tea was for drinking. While the device traveled its feet moved as if walking although it was actually propelled by a wheeled base. The karakuri would stop when the tea cup was removed and when the guest placed the cup back on the tray the robot would raise its head, turn around and returns to the spot that it had come from.

The Karakuri ningyo also had a significant amount of influence on the Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku theatre. The first Karakuri show was presented in 1662 at Osaka's Dotonbori by a clock maker named Takeda Omi. Omi took advantage of the theaters location near the river, making several of his karakuri water-powered.

Photo provided by the British Art Museum

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A History of Robotics: Yan Shi the Artificer

1023 BC

The Lie Zi text is an ancient philosophical volume of stories which is believed by Chinese and Western scholars to have been composed sometime in the 4th century BC. The text contains numerous stories, one of which featuring an astounding account of what may be an ancient engineering marvel, much older than the text itself. The text describes a sort of engineer, an 'artificer' named Yan Shi. Sometime around 1023 to 957 BC, Yan Shi presented a marvelous invention before the fifth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, King Mu. Yen Shi had created a life-sized automaton which was able to move and preform several impressive functions. The automation could move in a like-like manner and could sing.
The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time... As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously colored white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial... The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted. - (Liezi)
This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Previous chapter: Da Vincis Mechanical Knight
Next chapter: Not published yet. 

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A History of Robotics: Myth and Legend

The ideas behind creating robots are hardly modern in origin. The idea of creating artificial people is rooted deep inside ancient mythology and folklore.

Within the pages of the Iliad are stories of Hephaestus, the deformed god of metalwork, who built mechanical servants to do his bidding. Hephaestus to the Greeks was named Vulcan to the Romans, both tell stories about how the god constructed mechanical entities such as golden talking handmaidens and three-legged tables that could move at their own accord. Greek mythology also tells of a figure named Pygmalion who created a statue of Galatea. The statue came to life and Pygmalion fell in love with it. The story of Cadmus tells of a prince who sowed dragon teeth in the soil which sprouted into soldiers. And yet another Greek tail describes Talos, a man made of bronze who defended Crete from invaders and pirates.

Written in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a giant named Mistcalf who was made out of clay in order to assist the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor. Rasmus B. Anderson, a former professor of Scandinavian languages at the university of Wisconsin has provided a detailed translation of the myth of Thor and Hrungner as described in the Younger Edda.
They regarded it very important who should gain the victory, and they feared the worst from Thor if Hrungner should be defeated, for he was the strongest among them. Thereupon the giants made at Grjottungard a man of clay, who was nine rasts tall and three rasts broad under the arms, but being unable to find a heart large enough to be suitable for him, they took the heart from a mare, but even this fluttered and trembled when Thor came. Hrungner had, as is well known, a heart of stone, sharp and three-sided; just as the rune has since been risted that is called Hrungner’s heart. Even his head was of stone. His shield was of stone, and was broad and thick, and he was holding this shield before him as he stood at Grjottungard waiting for Thor. His weapon was a flint-stone, which he swung over his shoulders, and altogether he presented a most formidable aspect. On one side of him stood the giant of clay, who was named Mokkerkalfe.
Jewish folklore tells of the Golem which is a clay creature brought to life by Kabbalistic magic. The most famous story is the Golem of Prauge in which the rabbi constructs the Golem out of clay retrieved from the banks of the Vltava river. Similar to Talos of Greek mythology, the Golem was a protector. However, the Golem was said to have turned on its creators in some versions of the stories.

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.

Previous chapter: Da Vinci's Mechanical Knight
Next chapter: Iron Eagle

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A History of Robotics: Da Vinci's Mechanical Knight

1495

Sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebook were rediscovered in 1957 by Carlo Pedretti. These sketches showed detailed plans for a mechanical knight that the renaissance man had planned. The knight which would have been designed sometime around 1495 demonstrated how a machine based on of the anatomical structure of a human being could be built. It is likely that the knight had been designed to move with fluidity in combat. Leonardo Da Vinci had conducted a wide study into human anatomy. The robot knight reflected Da Vinci's knowledge, including proportional distances between joints and using pulleys and cables in the place of muscles. A close examination of the ration of the distance of the knight's limbs it is clear that the knight obeys the Canon of Proportions as described in the Vitruvian Man. The robot knight was capable of standing, sitting, raising its visor and independently maneuvering each of its arms, neck and jaw.

After the rediscovery of the sketches in 1957, further studies were carried out in 1996 by Mark Rosheim in an attempt to learn more about the knight. Information suggests that Da Vinci displayed his "robot" at a celebration hosted by Ludovico Sforza at the court of Milan. There have been several attempts to recreate the robot knight and each has successfully demonstrated that Da Vinci's plans are accurate and the knight works as he had planned. Mark Rosheim went on to construct a complete replica of the knight in 2002, based completely off of the original sketches which he had studied.

In addition to the knight, there is limited evidence, lacking any eyewitness records, which suggests that a mechanical lion was also constructed. G. P. Lomazzo suggests that a Da Vinci constructed a mechanical lion to be presented as a gift to the King of France by Giuliano de’ Medici in Lyon, on July 12th, 1515. This gift may have been a gesture for entertainment or diplomatic purposes. The lion may have been able to walk and present flowers at the end of a performance. Along with inconclusive evidence for the lion's existence it is also extremely unclear how the device would have been designed.
However, in 2009, a mechanical lion was created by a french museum, the Château du Clos Lucé and Parc. Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last three years of his life at the Château, he died May 2, 1519.
A video of the lion can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/xNWE2AdfNuo

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.

Previous chapter: Vaucanson's Duck
Next chapter: Myth and Legend

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A History of Robotics: Vaucanson’s Duck

1737

Historians know that history is not an exploratory study of the past. History is a way of looking at evidence and using it to determine what events took place and why they occurred in the manner that they did. History is not always recorded correctly and many times the most important events are not even recorded at all. History can only be recorded to the preciseness of the technology of the era in which it exists. The accuracy of recorded information is highly evident when exploring stories dating from times of pure oral tradition all the way to the modern era.

Jacques de Vaucanson created several noteworthy automata in Grenoble, France 1738. His first automaton was a flute player that could play twelve songs. Shortly after creating the flute player Vaucanson constructed others which had abilities such as one which played a flute and another a tambourine or drum. In 1739 Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical duck which was presented before King Louis XV. Vaucanson's had a vision he called "moving anatomy", which was his idea of modeling human or animal anatomy with mechanics. The duck moved, quacked, flapped it's wings and even ate and digested food. The food that the duck ate was chemically digested and then excreted, modeling the digestive functionality of a real duck.

It became discovered however, that the duck was a complete fraud. It had been designed with a mechanical chamber which produced predigested pellets to provide the appearance that it had consumed and digested the material it was given. Although the duck was not a real demonstration of what Vaucanson sought to create, it does not decrease the significance of his ideas. The duck itself was an engineering marvel with over over 400 parts were in each of the wings alone and carefully weighted parts to ensure that it moved just like a real duck.

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Previous chapter: Water Clocks
Next chapter: Da Vinci's Knight

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A History of Robotics: Water Clocks

322 B.C.

How do we define a robots? There has always been some debate over what makes a real robot. The main disagreement is over control. Is a robot that is controlled remotely by human intelligence really a robot or is it just a remote-controlled vehicle? Does a robot have to be autonomous, meaning that it can operate on its own without a human controlling it. The most popular definition stating that “a robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice, a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or remotely controlled.” Although this is a very general definition it perfect for describing the diverse selection of robots that have been created.

Circa 322 B.C. the Greek philosopher Aristotle writes...

“If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.”
In his book Politics, Aristotle speculated that automatons could someday be used to achieve human equality by replacing slaves. Of course, over twenty three centuries later iRobot's Roomba vacuum cleaning robot is the perfect incarnation of Aristotle's statement. Its highly unlikely that what Aristotle was envisioning was in fact modern robotic automation. However, the ancient Greeks were fascinated by automata of all kinds, often employing them in theatrical performances.
There is only one condition in which we can imagine managers not needing subordinates, and masters not needing slaves. This condition would be that each instrument could do its own work, at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation, like the statues of Daedalus or the tripods made by Hephaestus, of which Homer relates that "Of their own motion they entered the conclave of Gods on Olympus", as if a shuttle should weave of itself, and a plectrum should do its own harp playing. (Aristotle, Politics, book 1, part 4)
Later on, the Greek physicist and inventor Ctesibus of Alexandria began designing clepsydra, a kind of device which is also known as a water clock. Ctesibus created his water clocks with movable figures on them, powered by the clock's movement. This was sometime around 200 B.C. and water clocks signified a dramatic breakthrough for timepieces. Until that point, the Greeks used hourglasses that had to be turned over after all the sand had finished running through. The work of Ctesibius and his invention made it possible to measure time as a result of the force of water flowing through an opening at a constant rate.

Later in 1092, the Chinese engineer Su Song created several hydro-mechanical clocks. One astronomical clock tower implemented a clepsydra tank, water wheel, escapement mechanism, and used a chain drive to power an armillary sphere and 113 striking clock jacks to sound the hours and to display informative plaques.

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Previous chapter: The Pigeon
Next chapter: Vaucanson' Duck

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A History of Robotics: The Pigeon

350 B.C

Humankind has had a long history of creating objects that resemble our own likeness and the likeness of other organisms. The first humans drew depictions of themselves in caves and modern archaeologists discover artifacts from all over the world that depict the human likeness. It is no mystery that the human race is intrigued by the mysteries of life, the real question should be why? Why is humanity so intent on understanding the universe. The answer is in the question: because we have that ability to ask why. There are primordial questions like “Where did we come from?”, “Why are we here?”, “What is our purpose?” that drive us. Humans have the ability to ask a question about anything in the universe and then to find out the answer. These inquiries been asked for as long as humans have had the capacity to wonder about the universe. It is questions like these that drive us to create objects that are based on ourselves.

Sometime in the years between 425 B.C and 350 B.C the Greek mathematician, Archytas of Tarentum built a mechanical bird dubbed "the Pigeon". The Pigeon that was propelled by steam and it could fly a distance of 200 meters. Although the steam-powered bird could not take off again once it landed, it still serves as one of history's earliest studies in the field of flight and robotics.

~~~

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Next chapter: Water Clocks

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Sensors Compared to Human Senses

Sight: A 1.3 MP Logitech Webcam C110 serves as Salvius’s eye. The robot also uses a PIR (passive infrared) to detect body heat.

Hearing: Salvius detects audio using a piezoelectric mic element. The microphone is standard but an amplifier has been constructed for the robot that clarifies and focuses the sound waves detected by the mic element. This is similar to how the human ear works to amplify sound waves. The only limiting factor for the robot is the quality of the mic element.

Touch: Many touch sensors have been embedded throughout the robots design in order to detect when parts of the robot come in contact with other objects.

Smell: At this time Salvus has no method of detecting smell but in future plans will have a gas detecting sensor. Commercially available sensors can be used to detect a range of gasses such as the Alcohol Gas Sensor, Methane CNG Gas Sensor, Hydrogen Gas Sensor, Carbon Monoxide Sensor 

Taste: Taste is a sense that is closely related to the ability to detect and differentiate smells. However to represent a sense of taste a pH sensors could be used to detect acidity of materials dissolved in water.

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Robotic Heros and Inspiration for Salvius

I have loved robots for as long as I can remember. There is a common theme with most robot stories that I really enjoy. The theme involves a human creation that is physically and mentally superior to a human in many ways that simply wants to understand something like emotion. I think somehow I connect to the idea of a machine trying to be alive. It is the essentially the story of Pinocchio accept that in reality the robot does not get to wish to be alive. It is this struggle by a machine to understand life that I really enjoy and that has always been my inspiration for robotics.

Today I just wanted to share some of my favorite robots to explain how they have influenced my robotics projects.

"Johnny" 5
From the 1986 film Short Circuit this robot which was originally dubbed SAINT Number 5. The acronym stands for Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transport. The robot was designed in the film for the purpose of carrying nuclear weapons into deadly war zones. After a malfunction Number 5 escapes from the military installation where the robots are being stored and wittily eludes military capture even after the other four robots are sent out to retrieve it. Johnny 5 reprograms the other robots to act out a scent from the three stooges to the dismay of the war mongering military troop.

The Iron Giant
This film is about a giant metal-eating robot that crash lands on earth. The robot is about a hundred feet tall and has the ability reassemble himself if he gets damaged. The giant befriends a small boy and slowly learns lessons from the child. The robot unfortunately is seen as a threat by the military and a nuclear missile is launched towards the giants present location which turns out to be the middle of a populated town. Taking a lesson that he learned from the boy; "You are who you choose to be", the giant chooses to be a hero and flies into the missile in order to save the town.

'Robot'
The movie Lost in Space features a robot simply named Robot by the young Robotic technission Will Robinson. The robot tragically gets left behind on the Proteus, a huge ship infested with a species of heat seeking carnivorousness spiders. The robot stays to blast the spiders away from the door of the ship while the crew flees to safety. Will remotely downloads the robots consciousness and Robot makes a reappearance later in the film.

Sonny
Sonny is the main robot character in the movie I, Robot. The film is based off of the writing of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. The story is based around the idea that three laws that are programmed into robots can provide a perfect circle of protectance from AI. Sonny was built by a scientist with the ability to break the three laws. This gives sonny the somewhat unique ability to ignore direct orders and to directly harm a human being.

T-800
The T-800 model terminator was the featured character of film Terminator 2. This film takes place when a T-800 is reprogrammed and sent back in time to save the life of the future savior of the human race. The terminator has to fight off a T-1000; a stronger and more advanced model of robot. In the end the terminator  prevails on destroying the T-1000 and manages to gather up remnants of the original terminator which were used to create the supercomputer Sky Net which took over the world in the future. The terminator destroys these parts but he knows that he has to be destroyed as well. Terminators cannot self-terminate and so John Conner has to lower the terminator into a pit of molten metal. As he descends the terminator gives John a thumbs up. That is the part where I cry.

PR2
The PR2 is a real life robot developed by Willow Garage. The robot uses ROS an open source operating system for robots. The photo above shows a PR2 plugging itself into a wall outlet for charging.

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Where does the word robot come from?

The Origin of Robot

The word "robot" (from robota, Czech for "work") made its public debut on this date in 1921, when it premiered on stage in Karel Capek's play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). The play told of a world in which humans relaxed and enjoyed life while robots - imitation humans - happily did whatever labor needed to be done. Not unexpectedly, the robots eventually rebelled and took over the world. The term "robot" achieved its own world domination in 1923, when the play was translated into English; it quickly overran its competition, precursors "android" and "automaton."
Apparently from Czech robotnik (worker) or robota (work).

The term 'robot' was first used by Czech writer Karel Capek in a 1921 play called "Rossum's Universal Robots", and caught on internationally.

Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov is credited with coining the related term robotics in 1941.


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_does_the_word_'robot'_come_from#ixzz1tHOqR75N


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Remote H-Bridge motor control

The assortment of wires cascading over the robots arms as I work in this H-bridge.
I have been trying to solve a control issue over the past few days involving controlling the robot's left arm which uses a 12 volt windshield wiper motor. The motor does not receive enough power from the small, temporary RF controller I am using to test the connections to all the motors. I want to have the robot ready for a full mobile demonstration before this June but at this point I will be cutting a few corners to get it to work. Then again the whole point of this robot is to be able to do what you can with whatever is available.

Anyway, today I am figuring out how to set up some sort of control that will allow me to control the 12 volt motor with a very low voltage controller. I am using two relays and I plan on setting up some sort of an H-bridge setup so that the motor's polarity can be reversed. Unfortunately this has turned out to be more difficult than I had originally thought it was going to be. The controller I am using is designed to control one motor with forward and reverse polarities. I need to use the controller to close each relay based on polarity so I will probably also need a few diodes as well (big ones to handle the voltage). Next the relays will have to close one at a time to switch between two sets of wires that will be wires to opposite sides of the battery so that when the opposite relay goes on the motor will reverse.

This all seemed simple enough to me at first but then I realized that I needed the power to the motor to be able to be turned off as well so that the arm could stop moving! I still want to try to stick with only two relays so I will post an update in a few days when I figure out how exactly I am going to do this.

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Ethernet Shield Power Drain [SOLVED]

I have found that the Arduino Ethernet Shield has an issue where there is a power drop once it is plugged into the main Arduino unit. The voltage drop is due to the fact that power is fed from the Arduino to the Ethernet Shield through the cascading pins that the two devices share. To solve this problem I have switched out the battery pack that I was using with a larger 12 volt one that seems to have enough power to keep the Arduino and the Ethernet Shield both working. Hopefully this will be enough for now to power everything because the Arduino is also connected to a motor controller and a relay shield. The motor controller and the relay shield both have options for adding an external power source so perhaps I will need to power them separately from the Ethernet shield and the Arduino.


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Robot signed by Dean Kamen

These are some pictures from when I was visited the Connecticut Science Center a few weekends ago and they had a display set up with a FRC robot that went to the championships in 2001. Usually I don't write articles about anything unless it has just a slight relation to Salvius but I have decided to make an exception because I thought it was cool that the robot was signed by Dean Kamin who founded the FIRST robotics competition and invented the Segway.
Signed: Dean Kamen


The sign in front of the robot reads:
"Duncan"
Old Lyme High School's Techno Ticks
This 2001 Championship Division Finalist won a place in FIRST Robotics Competition history by racking up points in the game Diabolical Dynamics. Vying against other remote-controlled robots, Duncan's alliance bested other teams by landing more large and small balls in their opponent's 7-foot high goal, shooting over a randomly tilting bridge that bisected the rectangular playing field.

The Techno Ticks have been bringing FIRST glory back to Old Lyme ever since winning the 1999 New England Regional Rookie Award.
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