Robotics

• Robots are used in factories to weld metal, spray cars and in bottling and canning. Domestic robots include autonomous lawn mowers and floor sweepers, entertainment and window cleaning. Drones are robots too
• Robots have three characteristics: The ability to sense their surroundings, a degree of movement and they must be programmable
• Robots use sensors and cameras to sense their surroundings, which send data to a microprocessor or computer
• Robots use cogs, pistons and gears to move, contain many electrical components and use end-effectors and actuators
• Robots have a controller to determine the actions needed to carry out a task. Controllers are programmable so robots can be “trained” to do these tasks
• There are some software robots that exist including web crawlers, but they are not true robots
• Independent robots have no direct human control and can totally replace human activity
• Dependant robots have a human interfacing with them, and can supplement, instead of replace, human activity.
• Common Advantages:

  • Robots can work in hazardous conditions
  • Robots can work 24/7 with no breaks
  • Robots are less expensive and more productive in the long run
  • Robots can do repetitive and boring tasks
• Common Disadvantages:

  • Using robots can lead to unemployment
  • Robots can struggle with non-standard tasks
  • Risk of deskilling
  • Expensive to set up
  • Risk of cyberattacks
• Agriculture uses include harvesting, phenotyping, seed planting, fertiliser spraying
• Medical uses involve surgical procedures, patient monitoring, taking blood samples and in prosthesis