4. Classification of Robots, definition of the principal technicalities, Robots´ features and advantages and disadvantages of them

Classification of Robots.

The quality, the flexibility and the level of movement freedom of robots depend of the power of their software, how developed their mechanic parts are and the capacity of the sensors or detectors, so it is not weird that, in such a great world of possibilities, there are many kinds of robots. (*We are not going to include application classification in this paragraph, but in the “Real applications of future prospects” paragraph*)

The first kind of robots that we can do is about their capacity to act and think, a general classification. It means how intelligent they are and how they can apply it to their operation:

• Manual control robots: they are devices controlled by somebody, so many machines can be exampled: drills, remote control cars, cars, etc. This sort of robots is the most confusing because not everybody agrees with it; these people think manual control robots are simple machines.
• Play-back robots or fixed sequence robots: they are robots who follows a determined succession of orders or commands not changeable. This sort of robots are called “opened loop control” robots, which means that these machines receive stimulus from the environment but they do not change their behaviour, they continue doing the same.
• Variable sequence robots: they follow a succession of orders or commands and they continue doing them unless a human change the sequence to make the robot have a different behaviour.
• Numeric control robots: these robots are controlled by a program which is saved into a hardware device (a CD, a pen-drive, hard drive, etc) and humans can select or change the program they want the robot to follow.
• Intelligent robots and Artificial Intelligence robots: the most complex and developed sort of robots. They are robots with a “closed loop control” and it means that they are able to receive stimulus from the environment to process the information and then give an answer according to their program.

In this group Artificial Intelligence robots are included; these are robots whose have been programmed trying to make them intelligent, we mean they are able to have a intelligent behaviour.

Now, another possible classification is the programming systems´ ones, the level of the programming language employed. The key for the application of to a great variety of works is the development of the high level programming languages. Despite we can use many programming languages to program a robot, the most advanced ones belong to investigation laboratories. The programming systems classification is the next one:

• Guided systems robots: the user guide the robot in its activity throw the movements that he makes. The robot obey the human orders while this one is giving them to it.
• Level-robot programming systems: the user has to write a computer programming when he indicates movements and sensors actuation.
• Level-work programming systems robots: robots operations are specified by the user by the actions that this one do with things that are being manipulated by the robot at the same time.

Finally, the last classification we can do of robots is about their mechanic parts, their architecture. The architecture of a robots is the general configuration that they have, which can be anyone depending of their work capacities. The final classification is the next one:

• Several-joints robots/ poly-articular robots: they have got many different shapes and configurations and their principal characteristic is that they are sedentary, although they sometimes can be guided in short displacements. In this group robots with a limited number of degrees of freedom are included; they work a limited area and are used to manipulate objects. Some examples are industry´s robotic arms, and Cartesian robots ( machines that work classifying, packing, selecting or build many similar things serially ).
• Mobile robots: they can move on their own by using wheels. They take information from the environment using sensors or are guided by a remote control. In industry, they are used to transport materials and things inside the factory; they can follow electromagnetic lines drawn on the floor to go away, they can detect obstacles.

• Animal configuration robots: they are robots which employ mechanic parts, that are similar to animals´ ones, to their displacements. Animal robots, although they can be stative, usually have got the capacity to move and many of them have been made for spacial exploration on the ground and in seas´ and volcanoes´ exploration.
• Humanoid robot/ androids: this kind of robots are made trying to imitate humans´ way to move, their behaviour and intelligence. The extremely complexity of human body makes difficult the construction of enough developed androids, so all humanoid robots are just investigation experiments not really useful.
• Hybrids robots: these are robots that share characteristics of two or more sorts of the other ones. They are designed to determined purposes such as industry’s´ specific products, educational uses or military uses.
• Nano-bots: microscopic robots not enough developed yet. They are used in some medical treatments and experiments for future possibilities.
• Cyborgs: cybernetic organism. An alive being who has been included electromechanical parts. They are not really accepted as a kind of robot because they could be understood just as an application.
• Automation at home systems: the science that develops indoors cybernetic and robotic systems to participate in everyday house´s day by helping their dwellers.

Robots´ features.

The idea of what a robot is.

It is true that the meaning of “robot” is not enough clear because it is a really big group of machines with similar characteristics. However, robots makers and users have determined some possible definitions according to their experience.

A robot has to be a machine or a mechanical device which works on its own following the instructions given by a human or its computer program and usually imitates animals or humans behaviour, so its operation looks intelligent or it really is. Then, a robot is often a physical machine, not a software, because a robot that only exists on a computer support is called “bot”.

Now, the official meaning of “robot” is given by the Robots Industries Association (RIA) and they say: “A robot is a programmable and multi-function handler, which is designed to move cargoes, tools, pieces or special devices, following programmed ways.”. This is the meaning of “robot” applied principally to industries´ robots. In addition, RIA´s robots share some features as they are handler machines, because they are capable to use tools and external from them objects; they can be related to the environment around them and can decide their actions in many different ways according the environment´s conditions; and they can be re-programmed to change their original functions. We can intuit one more feature, as they are machines made to replace humans in repeating jobs.

Although many machines as appliances like washer machines, dishes washer, etc they are not robots -despite we have included them in our classification- at all, because their operation does not share features of robots like possibility of displacement, or application to intelligence works.

“Programmable automatons”.

Programmable automatons are not really robots, as people may think. A programmable automaton is every electronic machine used in industry or other places to control processes and they can be controlled by anyone without electronics or computing knowledge. For example, devices like washer machine or dishes washer are programmable automatons because they work following instructions given by someone who has selected a working program before.

They are used to reduce the complexity that writing a new computer program for every action would suppose and make easier relationships between humans and electronic devices. For example, the automatic emergency stopping systems of some vehicles are programmable automatons.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Robots.

Advantages.

Robots´ main advantage is the possibility to replace humans in certain jobs, like repeating, dangerous or precision jobs.

In first place, robots are better at working than humans in works which need a great level of precision -they are nowadays better-, where humans can get tired or anything that could decrease their efficiency and success. But robots cannot, so they always do their work perfectly and this is the cause because of every industries use them in mass production making cars, medicines or appliances.

These machines can be useful in surgery too; there are some projects, like the Indiana´s University one, a robot that will be employed in precision surgical operations where it is necessary to do quick movements and act in the right way. On the other hand, some nano bots have been used in certain diseases´ treatments.

Robotics is an useful discipline to replace humans in dangerous places, such as chemistry products´ plants, construction, nuclear accidents ( for example, Japan latest earthquake one) and space exploration.

We can conclude saying that robots´ advantages are their lack of humans features ( feelings; to get bored; to be physically tired; or to be too much fragile to dangerous works) and their higher efficiency.

Disadvantages.

As many people know, the Robotics´ sector gives much employment ( investigation, selling, etc.), however, it removes more jobs, in industries, overcoat. As we have just explained, robots replaces humans because they are more efficient and profitable for companies.

Another disadvantage is the possibility of robots to become leaders of the world by their continuous increase of their capacities (not real yet) . Although the reader cannot believe this, the advances done in artificial intelligence have allowed the creation of new robots whose will be able to replicate themselves. The most complicated part of their construction would be their mechanic parts.

Most knowledgeable terms about the topic “Robotics”.

Those are the most useful terms about Robotics because the can solve many doubts about it real meaning and will help the reader to understand better the rest of the project:

• Robot: R.I.A. says that a robot is a programmable and multi-function handler, which is designed to move cargoes, tools, pieces or special devices, following programmed ways.

• Robotics: set of disciplines as mathematics, mechanics, electronics, computing, programming, engineering and artificial intelligence study responsible of robots designing and production.
• Programmable automaton: every electronic machine used in industry or other places to control processes and can be controlled by anyone without electronics or computing knowledge.
• R.I.A.: Robotics Industry Association, a very important North-American company founded in 1974 which helps engineers, managers, etc, to the robots designing and production.
• Artificial Intelligence: the great computers´ expert John McCarthy said: “Artificial Intelligence is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, computer programs overcoat“ .
• Intelligent system: it is a computer program with features and behaviours similar to humans´ ones, so they could be applied to people´s life. They receive information from outside and process and save it in their memory to learn for future times and follow a determined goal. Animals, humans, etc, are complete biological intelligent systems whose are more developed than artificial ones because they have got a better capacity to get adapted to the environment.
• Automaton: every mechanism which imitates animate beings´ actions.
• Bot: programmable computing system which works automatically doing some works on the computer support only. It is important to know that “bot” is a functional system without any physical utility which can be, for example an edition program of a web page, a server´s helper, etc.