Robotics

Robotics is an interdisciplinary field of science and engineering dedicated to the design, construction, and use of robots, programmable machines that complete tasks by replicating or substituting human actions. Robots can offer advantages compared to human labour due to improved performance, and protecting humans from injury or harsh environments that would be unsafe or impossible for humans to operate within. These include in space, underwater, extreme temperatures, or high radiation environments. Robotics incorporates core disciplines such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science.

Robotics is a broad field and robots can take a number of forms each with the objective of creating intelligent machines that assist humans in a variety of ways. While robots most commonly refer to physical, programmable machines, the phrase can also refer to purely software machines. For example, robotic process automation where intelligent software-based machines simulate how humans interact with software to perform repetitive tasks based on a series of user-defined rules. Physical robots can take a range of forms including a robotic arm, a collaborative robot (cobot), a robotic exoskeleton or a humanoid robot. While robotics hardware can take many forms, common characteristics include:

• Mechanical construction—the mechanical, physical form of the robot designed in accordance with its application.
• Electrical components—that control and provide the power needed to move and perform tasks.
• Software program—computer programming and algorithms that determine how the robot behaves.

Robots have different levels of autonomy, ranging from human-controlled bots to fully autonomous bots that can perform tasks and learn to improve without external intervention. Robots can typically perform basic, repetitive tasks with greater efficiency and accuracy than humans, leading to their adoption in industries like manufacturing. These robots are pre-programmed to perform specific functions in a controlled environment, such as a mechanical arm on an automotive assembly line. Robots may also be remotely controlled by humans from a safe distance. These teleoperated robots are commonly used in extreme environments where it would not be possible for humans to perform the same tasks. The introduction of AI and machine learning has led to the development of robots capable of more complex tasks across a range of industries. Autonomous robots operate independently with little to no human operation, carrying out tasks in open environments. They use sensors to perceive the world around them and decision-making structures that respond to feedback from the environment to determine their next action.

Robotics are used across a number of industries including:

• Healthcare
• Domestic & other services
• Entertainment
• Electronics
• Automotive
• Logistics
• Agriculture

The design, construction, and operation of robots involves theory from a range of fields. Below is a list of topics related to robotics theory and fundamentals.

• Actuators
• Manipulation
• Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
• Social Robotics
• Legged Locomotion
• Swarm Robotics
• Control theory
• Swarmalator
• Morphogenetic engineering and self-assembling robots
• Artificial Life (ALife)
• Soft robotics
• Plantoid
• Biomimetics
• Biohybrid or bio-syncretic robots

Robotics are used in a range of applications. Typical examples include performing:

• monotonous or repetitive tasks with greater efficiency and accuracy than humans
• tasks in unsafe environments not suitable for humans
• jobs too physically demanding for humans

Robots have many applications in the military. These include drones for surveillance or strikes, Modular Advanced Armed Robotic Systems (MAARS), tactical combat robots such as DOGO, or bomb disposal robots.

The manufacturing industry has many repetitive tasks ideal for automation with robotics, including welding, assembly, packing, etc.

Robotics have found use in agriculture, increasing efficiency in tasks such as harvesting, seeding, weed control, etc.

Robotics are used in medical procedures and operations due to their potential for increased precision.

Robots can operate in environments that are too dangerous or require too many resources to send human astronauts. The most well-known robot examples in space exploration are likely the series of rovers and landers exploring Mars and gathering data on the planet not currently possible by humans.

Robots can explore parts of the ocean, including the deep ocean, which would be too dangerous for human exploration. Due to the high pressure, submarines can dive to specific depths and further exploration has been performed using robots controlled remotely.