1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Humanoid robots, robots with an anthropomorphic body plan and human-like

senses, are enjoying increasing popularity as research tool. More and more groups

worldwide work on issues like bipedal locomotion, dexterous manipulation, audio-visual

perception, human-robot interaction, adaptive control, and learning, targeted for the

application in humanoid robots.

These efforts are motivated by the vision to create a new kind of tool: robots that

work in close cooperation with humans in the same environment that we designed to suit

our needs. While highly specialized industrial robots are successfully employed in

industrial mass production, these new applications require a different approach: general

purpose humanoid robots. The human body is well suited for acting in our everyday

environments. Stairs, door handles, tools, and so on are designed to be used by humans.

A robot with a human-like body can take advantage of these human-centered designs.

The new applications will require social interaction between humans and robots. If a

robot is able to analyze and synthesize speech, eye movements, mimics, gestures, and

body language, it will be capable of intuitive communication with humans. Most of these

modalities require a human-like body plan. A human-like action repertoire also facilitates

the programming of the robots by demonstration and the learning of new skills by

imitation of humans, because there is a one-to-one mapping of human actions to robot

actions.

Last, but not least, humanoid robots are used as a tool to understand human

intelligence. In the same way biomimetic robots have been built to understand certain

aspects of animal intelligence, humanoid robots can be used to test models of aspects of

human intelligence.

Addressing all of the above areas simultaneously exceeds the current state of the art.

Today's humanoid robots display their capabilities in tasks requiring a limited subset of

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skills. After some brief historical notes, this article will review the state-of the- art in

humanoid robotics and discuss possible future developments.

A robot is a mechanical device that can perform tasks automatically. It may – but

need not – be humanoid in appearance. Some robots require some degree of guidance,

which may be done using a remote control, or with a computer interface. A robot is

usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a program or circuitry. Robots

can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or remotely controlled and range from humanoids

such as ASIMO and TOPIO to Nano- robots, 'swarm' robots, and industrial robots. By

mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating movements, a robot may convey a sense

of intelligence or thought of its own. The branch of technology that deals with robots is

called robotics. [1]

Machinery was initially used for repetitive functions, such as lifting water and

grinding grain. With technological advances more complex machines were developed,

such as those invented by Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century AD, and the automata of

Al-Jazari in the 12th century AD. They were not widely adopted as human labour,

particularly slave labour, was still inexpensive compared to the capital-intensive

machines.

As mechanical techniques developed through the Industrial age, more practical

applications were proposed by Nikola Tesla, who in 1898 designed a radio-controlled

boat[2]

. Electronics evolved into the driving force of development with the advent of the

first electronic autonomous robots created by William Grey Walter in Bristol, England in

1948. The first digital and programmable robot was invented by George Devol in 1954

and was named the Unimate. It was sold to General Motors in 1961 where it was used to

lift pieces of hot metal from die casting machines at the Inland

3

Fisher Guide Plant in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey. [2]

Robots have replaced humans in the assistance of performing those repetitive and

dangerous tasks which humans prefer not to do, or are unable to do due to size

limitations, or even those such as in outer space or at the bottom of the sea where humans

could not survive the extreme environments.

Some people have developed an awareness of potential problems associated with

autonomous robots and how they may affect society. Fear of robot behaviour, such as the

Frankenstein complex, drive current practice in establishing what autonomy a robot

should and should not have.

1.2 OVERVIEW

The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but

the latter are usually referred to as bots There is no consensus on which machines qualify

as robots but there is general agreement among experts, and the public, that robots tend to

do some or all of the following: move around, operate a mechanical limb, sense and

manipulate their environment, and exhibit intelligent behavior — especially behavior

which mimics humans or other animals.

There is no one definition of robot which satisfies everyone and many people

have their own. For example Joseph Engelberger, a pioneer in industrial robotics, once

remarked: "I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one." According to the

encyclopedia Britannica a robot is "any automatically operated machine that replaces

human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform

functions in a humanlike manner." Merriam-Webster describes a robot as a "machine that

looks like a human being and performs various complex acts (as walking or talking) of a

human being", or a "device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive

tasks", or a "mechanism guided by automatic controls".

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1.3 ORGANIZATION OF REPORT

This seminar report is divided into 5 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the robotic

systems and humanoid robot. A section on overview has been elaborated with various

definitions of robots by various Scientists and engineers in this chapter. Chapter 2 is

devoted to the literature survey and concept of humanoid robot from the engineer’s point

of view. The detail history of robots is discussed in this chapter. Chapter 3 is concern

with future trends in robotic system. The robo tele-surgery system and robonauts are the

examples of future developments which are discussed in this chapter. Chapter 4 discusses

the applications of the Humanoid Robots and robotic systems in various fields. Chapter 5

concentrates on the prospects from Humanoid Robots. The advantages and

Disadvantages are also discussed including the conclusion and future scope of Humanoid

Robots as well as Robotic systems.

5

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE SURVEY

2.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANOID ROBOTS

While there is no single correct definition of "robot", a typical robot will have

several, or possibly all, of the following characteristics.

It is an electric machine which has some ability to interact with physical objects

and to be given electronic programming to do a specific task or to do a whole range of

tasks or actions. It may also have some ability to perceive and absorb data on physical

objects, or on its local physical environment, or to process data, or to respond to various

stimuli. This is in contrast to a simple mechanical device such as a gear or a hydraulic

press or any other item which has no processing ability and which does tasks through

purely mechanical processes and motion. [3]

2.2 MENTAL AGENCY

For robotic engineers, the physical appearance of a machine is less important than

the way its actions are controlled. The more the control system seems to have agency of

its own, the more likely the machine is to be called a robot. An important feature of

agency is the ability to make choices. Higher-level cognitive functions, though, are not

necessary, as shown by ant robots. [3]

1) A clockwork car is never considered a robot.

2) A mechanical device able to perform some preset motions but with no ability to

adapt (an automaton) [4] is rarely considered a robot.

3) A remotely operated vehicle is sometimes considered a robot (or tele-robot).

6

4) A car with an onboard computer, like Bigtrak, which could drive in a

programmable sequence, might be called a robot.

5) A self-controlled car which could sense its environment and make driving

decisions based on this information, such as the 1990s driverless cars of Ernst

Dickmanns or the entries in the DARPA Grand Challenge, would quite likely be

called a robot.

6) A sentient car, like the fictional KITT, which can make decisions, navigate freely

and converse fluently with a human, is usually considered a robot. [5]

2.3 PHYSICAL AGENCY

However, for many laymen, if a machine appears able to control its arms or limbs,

and especially if it appears anthropomorphic or zoomorphic (e.g. ASIMO or Aibo), it

would be called a robot. [3]

1) A player piano is rarely characterized as a robot.

2) A CNC milling machine is very occasionally characterized as a robot.

3) A factory automation arm is almost always characterized as an industrial robot.

4) An autonomous wheeled or tracked device, such as a self-guided rover or self-

guided vehicle, is almost always characterized as a mobile robot or service robot.

5) A zoomorphic mechanical toy, like Roboraptor, is usually characterized as a

robot.

6) A mechanical humanoid, like ASIMO, is almost always characterized as a robot,

usually as a service robot.

Even for a 3-axis CNC milling machine using the same control system as a robot

arm, it is the arm which is almost always called a robot, while the CNC machine is

usually just a machine. Having eyes can also make a difference in whether a machine is

called a robot, since humans instinctively connect eyes with sentience. However, simply

being anthropomorphic is not a sufficient criterion for something to be called a robot. A

robot must do something; an inanimate object shaped like ASIMO would not be

considered a robot. [6]

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2.4 HISTORY OF ROBOTICS

The idea of automata originates in the mythologies of many cultures around the

world. Engineers and inventors from ancient civilizations, including Ancient China,

Ancient Greece, and Ptolemaic Egypt, attempted to build self-operating machines, some

resembling animals and humans. Early descriptions of automata include the artificial

doves of Archytas, the artificial birds of Mozi and Lu Ban, a "speaking" automaton by

Hero of Alexandria, a washstand automaton by Philo of Byzantium, and a human

automaton described in the Lie-Zi. [4][5] Following table 2.4 Shows the detail history and

timeline of robot and automata development.

Table 2.4 Timeline of robot and automata development[7]

Date Significance Robot name Inventor

1st

century

AD and

earlier

Descriptions of over a hundred

machines and automata, including a fire

engine, wind organ, coin-operated

machine, and steam-powered aeliopile,

in Pneumatica and Automata by Heron

---------- Ctesibius, Philo,

Heron, and others

1206 Early programmable automata Robot band Al-Jazari

c. 1495 Designs for a humanoid robot Mechanical

knight Leonardo da Vinci

1738 Mechanical duck that was able to eat,

flap its wings, and excrete

Digesting

Duck Jacques de Vaucanson

19th

century

Japanese mechanical toys that served

tea, fired arrows, and painted

Karakuri

toys Hisashige Tanaka

(c. 1860) Remotely (mechanical) steered

clockwork fire ship

(Coastal

fireship)

Unknown/Giovanni

Luppis

Early

1870s

Remotely controlled torpedos by John

Eric

sson (pneumatic), John Louis Lay

(electric wire guided), and Victor von

Scheliha (electric wire guided)[15]

(torpedo)

John Ericsson, John

Louis Lay, Victor von

Scheliha

1898 Tesla demonstrates the first radio

controlled (wireless) vessel (torpedo) (torpedo) Nikola Tesla

1921 First fictional automata called "robots"

appear in the play R.U.R.

Rossum's

Universal

Robots

Karel Čapek

8

1928

Humanoid robot, based on a suit of

armor with electrical actuators,

exhibited at the annual exhibition of the

Model Engineers Society in London

Eric W. H. Richards

1930s

Remotely controlled humanoid robot

exhibited at the 1939 and 1940 World's

Fairs

Elektro

Westinghouse Electric

Corporation

1948 Simple robots exhibiting biological

behaviors

Elsie and

Elmer William Grey Walter

1956

First commercial robot, from the

Unimation company founded by

George Devol and Joseph Engelberger,

based on Devol's patents

Unimate George Devol

1961 First installed industrial robot Unimate George Devol

1963 First palletizing robot Palletizer Fuji Yusoki Kogyo

1973 First robot with six electromechanically

drived axes Famulus KUKA Robotics

1976 Programmable universal manipulation

arm, a Unimation product PUMA Victor Scheinman

The concept of human-like automatons is nothing new. Already in the second

century B.C., Hero of Alexander constructed statues that could be animated by water, air

and steam pressure. In 1495 Leonardo da Vinci designed and possibly built a mechanical

device that looked like an armored knight. It was designed to sit up, wave its arms, and

move its head via an exible neck while opening and closing its jaw. By the eighteenth

century, elaborate mechanical dolls were able to write short phrases, play musical

instruments, and perform other simple, life-like acts. [8]

In 1921 the word robot was coined by Karel Capek in its theatre play: R.U.R.

(Rossum's Universal Robots). The mechanical servant in the play had a humanoid

appearance. The first humanoid robot to appear in the movies was Maria in the film

Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1926). Westinghouse Electric Corporation exhibited at the 1939

and 1940 World's Fairs the tall motor man Elektro. Humanoid in appearance, it could

drive on wheels in the feet, play recorded speech, smoke cigarettes, blow up balloons,

and move its head and arms. Elektro was controlled by 48 electrical relays and could

respond to voice commands.

9

Humanoid robots were not only part of the western culture. In 1952, Ozamu

Tezuka created Astroboy, the first and one of the world's most popular Japanese sci-

robots. In 1973 the construction of a human-like robot was started at the Waseda

University in Tokyo. Wabot-1 was the first full-scale anthropomorphic robot able to walk

on two legs. It could also communicate with a person in Japanese and was able to grip

and transport objects with touch-sensitive hands. The group of Ichiro Kato also

developed Wabot-2, which could read music and play an electronic organ. It was

demonstrated at the Expo 1985 in Tsukuba, Japan. Wabot-2 was equipped with a

hierarchical system of 80 microprocessors. Its wire-driven arms and legs had 50 degrees

of freedom. [9]

Many researchers have also been inspired by the movie Star Wars (George Lucas,

1977) which featured the humanoid robot C3-PO and by the TV series Star Trek - The

Next Generation (Gene Roddenberry, 1987) [3] which featured the humanoid Data.

In 1986 Honda began a robot research program with the goal that a robot "should

coexist and cooperate with human beings, by doing what a person cannot do and by

cultivating a new dimension in mobility to ultimately benefit society."After ten years of

research, Honda introduced in 1996 P2 to the public, the first self-contained full-body

humanoid. It was able to walk not only on at oors, but could also climb stairs. It was

followed in 1997 by P3 and ASIMO.

In the U.S. Manny, a full-scale android body was completed by the Pacific

Northwest National Laboratory in 1989. [3] Manny had 42 degrees of freedom, but no

intelligence or autonomous mobility. Rodney Brooks and his team at MIT started in

1993to construct the humanoid upper-body Cog. It was designed and built to emulate

human thought processes and experience the world as a human.

Another milestone was the Sony Dream Robot, unveiled by Sony in the year

2000. The small humanoid robot, which was later called Qrio, was able to recognize

faces, could express emotion through speech and body language, and could walk on at as

well as on irregular surfaces.

10

More recent examples of humanoid robot appearances in the movies include

David from A.I. (Steven Spielberg, 2001), and NS-5 from I, robot (Alex Proyas, 2004)

[10].

11

CHAPTER 3

CURRENT TRENDS IN ROBOTICS

Leaving Science Fiction aside, the expectations concerning intelligent robotic

technology development over the next decade or so are quite modest. Some practical

application domains where intelligent robotic technology is most likely to be used are:

1) Robotic Tele Surgery.

2) Robonauts.

3.1 ROBOTIC TELE-SURGERY

Medical robotics is an active area of research on the application of computers and

robotic technology to surgery, in planning and execution of surgical operations and in

training of surgeons. Fig. 4.1 shows the basic concept of Robotic Tele-Surgery.

Fig.3.1 Robotic Tele-surgery [11].

The complete tele-surgical workstation will incorporate two robotic manipulators

with dexterous manipulation and tactile sensing capabilities, master devices with force

and tactile feedback, and improved imaging and 3D display systems, all controlled

through computers.

Robotic Tele Surgery is a promising application of robotics to medicine, aiming

to enhance the dexterity and sensation of regular and minimally invasive surgery through

12

using millimeter-scale robotic manipulators under control of the surgeon. The first

generation of surgical robots is already being installed in a number of operating rooms

around the world. These aren't true autonomous robots that can perform surgical tasks on

their own, but they are lending a mechanical helping hand to surgeons. Robotics is being

introduced to medicine because they allow for unprecedented control and precision of

surgical instruments in minimally invasive procedures. These machines still require a

human surgeon to operate them and input instructions. Remote control and voice

activation are the methods by which these surgical robots are controlled.

The main advantage of this technique is the reduced trauma to healthy tissue,

which is a leading cause for patients' postoperative pain and long hospital stay. The

hospital stay and rest periods, and therefore the procedure costs, can be significantly

reduced with MIS, but MIS procedures are more demanding on the surgeon, requiring

more difficult surgical techniques.

Telesurgical tasks require high dexterity and fidelity during manipulation since

most of the manipulation is delicate. Therefore, the design requirements for the

teleportation controllers are significantly different from classical teleportation

applications. An important component of the teleoperator design is the quantization of the

human operator sensitivity and performance. This is necessary for providing the

specifications of the controller as well as measures to evaluate designs. It is also

important to have a control design methodology which systematically includes these

control design [12].

Here are three surgical robots that have been recently developed:

1) da Vinci Surgical System

2) ZEUS Robotic Surgical System

3) AESOP Robotic System

4) da Vinci system consists of two primary components.

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3.2 ADVANTAGES OF ROBOTIC SURGERY

In today's operating rooms, you'll find two or three surgeons, an anesthesiologist

and several nurses, all needed for even the simplest of surgeries. Most surgeries require

nearly a dozen people in the room. As with all automation, surgical robots will

eventually eliminate the need for some of those personnel. Taking a glimpse into the

future, surgery may require only one surgeon, an anesthesiologist and one or two

nurses. In this nearly empty operating room, the doctor will sit at a computer console,

either in or outside the operating room, using the surgical robot to accomplish what it

once took a crowd of people to perform [12].

The use of a computer console to perform operations from a distance opens up the

idea of tele-surgery, which would involve a doctor performing delicate surgery miles

away from the patient. If the doctor doesn't have to stand over the patient to perform

the surgery, and can remotely control the robotic arms at a computer station a few feet

from the patient, the next step would be performing surgery from locations that are

even farther away. If it were possible to use the computer console to move the robotic

arms in real-time, then it would be possible for a doctor in California to operate on a

patient in New York. A major obstacle in tele-surgery has been the time delay between

the doctors moving his or her hands to the robotic arms responding to those

movements. Currently, the doctor must be in the room with the patient for robotic

systems to react instantly to the doctor's hand movements [12].

Having fewer personnel in the operating room and allowing doctors the ability to

operate on a patient long-distance could lower the cost of health care. In addition to

cost efficiency, robotic surgery has several other advantages over conventional

surgery, including enhanced precision and reduced trauma to the patient.

Robotics also decreases the fatigue that doctors experience during surgeries that

can last several hours. Surgeons can become exhausted during those long surgeries,

and can experience hand tremors as a result. Even the steadiest of human hands cannot

match those of a surgical robot. The da Vinci system has been programmed to

compensate for tremors, so if the doctor's handshakes the computer ignores it and

14

keeps the mechanical arm steady [12].

3.3 ROBONAUTS

One of the most interesting things about space travel is the drama. Human beings

place themselves into amazing vehicles and travel into a completely hostile environment

that is almost beyond imagination, and then describe their experiences for us in words

and pictures. Landing on the moon would not have been quite the same without the

astronauts providing us with words to go along with grainy black and white pictures of

the lunar landscape [9].

However, the problem with human space exploration is that the human body is

too fragile for the harsh conditions of space. We have learned that space travel can take

its toll on astronauts. Temperatures in space can swing from 248 degrees Fahrenheit (120

degrees Celsius) to -148 F (-100 C). There also isn't the Earth's atmosphere to shield us

from the sun's radiation. In order to survive, astronauts must wear bulky space suits that

cost about $12 million each. Space suits are not practical for an emergency situation [9].

NASA has recognized the frailty of our bodies and is preparing a new breed of

astronauts to perform some of the more difficult tasks in space. These new space

explorers won't need space suits or oxygen to survive outside of spacecraft. These

Astronauts are called Robonauts which will assist humans in future space applications

[7].

The individual parts of a Robonaut are:

1. Head

2. Torso

3. Legs

4. Arms

5. Hands

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3.3.1 Head

Two small color video cameras are mounted in the headpiece that delivers stereo

vision to the astronaut operating the Robonaut. Stereo lithography was used to make an

epoxy-resin helmet to cover and protect the headpiece. The neck is jointed to allow the

head to turn side to side and up and down. [9]

3.3.2 Torso

The torso provides a central unit for connecting the peripheral arm, head and leg

attachments. It also houses the control system, which is described in the next section. [9]

3.3.3 Leg

The one part of the Robonauts design that deviates from the humanoid look is that

it has only one leg. The leg's only function is to provide support when the hands are

unable to. [9]

3.3.4 Arms

Just like its human counterparts, the Robonaut will have two arms that can move

in many directions and have a greater range than our own arms. The arms will be

equipped with more than 150 sensors each and will be densely packed with joints. Space-

rated motors, harmonic drives and fail-safe brakes will be integrated into each arm.[9]

3.3.5 Hands

Perhaps the most impressive parts of the Robonaut are its hands. Its hands are the

closest to the size and ability of human hands inside a space suit. The jointed hand may

even exceed the movements of a suited human hand. Fourteen brushless motors to power

each hand are inside the eight-inch-long forearm. The hand has four fingers and an

opposable thumb. The hand was designed with five digits so that it would be compatible

with tools designed for humans.

The primary purpose of Robonaut is to do what humans can't -- make a quick

escape from a spacecraft to an environment with no oxygen. It can depart the spacecraft

16

in the fraction of the time that a human astronaut can. In an emergency situation, when

timing is crucial to survival, the Robonaut could save lives of future space voyagers.

Robonaut won't be limited to use in space. It could also be used to go into hazardous

locations on Earth in place of humans, like volcanoes and nuclear plants.

Robonaut will be powered by PowerPC processors, which has been used in other

space applications. The processors will run the VxWorks real-time operating system.

NASA says that this combination offers flexible computing and could support varied

development activities. The system's software is written in C and C++. Control Shell

software is used to aid the development process and provides a graphical development

environment, which enhances researchers understanding of the system and code. [9]

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CHAPTER 4

APPLICATION DOMAINS

Because the capabilities of humanoid robots are rather limited, there are few real-

world applications for them so far. The most visible use of humanoid robots is

technology demonstration.

4.1 TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION

Famous humanoid robots like the Honda Asimo or the Toyota Partner Robots do

not accomplish any useful work. They are, however, presented to the media and

demonstrate their capabilities like walking, running, climbing stairs, playing musical

instruments or conducting orchestras on stage and during exhibitions. Such a showcase of

corporate technology attracts public attention and strengthens the brand of the car

manufacturers. Hence, the huge development costs of these advanced humanoids might

be covered from the marketing budgets. [11]

4.2 SPACE MISSIONS

Another area where money is not much of an issue is missions to space. Since

human life support in space is costly and space missions are dangerous, there is a need to

complement or replace humans in space by human-like robots. The two prominent

projects in this area are the NASA Robonaut and DLR's Justin . Both use a humanoid

torso mounted on a wheeled base. The humanoid appearance of the robots is justified,

because they can keep using space-certified tools which have been designed for humans

and because the humanoid body makes teleoperation by humans easier. [11]

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4.3 MANUFACTURING

While in industrial mass production robot arms are used which are not

anthropomorphic at all, the Japanese company Yaskawa sees a market for human-like

dual-arm robots in manufacturing.

It recently announced the Motoman-SDA10 robot which consists of two 7DOF

arms on a torso that has an additional rotational joint. Each arm has a payload of 10kg.

Yaskawa aims to directly replace humans on production lines. The robot is able to hold a

part with one arm while using a tool with the other arm. It can also pass a part from one

arm to the other without setting it down. Sales target for the SDA10 is 3000 units/year

[11].

4.4 HOUSEHOLD

An obvious domain for the use of humanoid robots is the household. Some

humanoid projects explicitly address this domain. They include the Armar series of

robots developed in Karlsruhe, Twenty-One developed at Waseda University, and the

personal robot PR1 developed in Stanford. While these robots demonstrate impressive

isolated skills needed in a household environment, they are far from autonomous

operation in an unmodified household [12].

4.5 ROBOT COMPETITIONS

A currently more viable application for humanoid robots is robot competitions.

RoboCup and FIRA, for example, feature competitions for humanoid soccer robots.

These robots are fully autonomous and play together as a team. When they fall, they get

up by themselves and continue playing. The participating research groups either construct

their own robots or they use commercial humanoid robot kits available, e.g., from

Robotis and Kondo. RoboCup also selected the Aldebaran Nao humanoid robot as

successor of the Sony Aibo in the Standard Platform League. Another popular

competition for humanoid robots is Robo-One, where teleoperated robots engage in

martial arts. There are also competitions for robots in humanpopulated environments like

19

the AAAI mobile robot competition, where the robots are supposed to attend a

conference, and RoboCup at home where the robots are supposed to do useful work in a

home environment. Because they provide a standardized test bed, such robot

competitions serve as benchmark for AI and robotics [11].

4.6 AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY [13]

In automotive industry the Robots are used for:

1. Welding of various parts

2. Robustness and precision of the assembly of pieces

3. Manipulate very heavy loads

4.7 ASSEMBLY [13]

Another strong partners is the assembly of manufactured products

1. Execute repetitive sequence of movement, boring, demotivating and dangerous tasks at

constant performance.

2. Use the optimal sequence of operations.

3. Can monitor the quality assembly line with adapted enhance sensor technologies

4.8 SPATIAL EXPLORATION [13]

Spatial probes sent for many years to explore and discover our universe

1. Telemanipulator used to collect samples of soil

2. The famous Canadian spatial manipulator Canada arm mounted on American

spaceships and the new space station remote manipulator system (SSRMS) that is used to

assemble the international space station.

3. Mars Rover in 1998 explored the neighbor planet while being teleguided from the

Earth.

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4. Provided an incredible amount of new information about this unknown environment.

4.9 CUSTOMER SERVICE [13]

1. Automatic banking

2. Automatic Refueling station.

21

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

5.1 PROSPECTS

After four decades of research on humanoid robots impressive results have been

obtained, but the real-world capabilities of humanoids are still limited. This should not

discourage further research. In fact, research on cognitive robots, including humanoids, is

gaining momentum. More and more research groups worldwide are targeting this

application. A good part of the difficulties humanoid robots face comes from perception.

Here, more advanced methods are developed every year to cope with the ambiguities of

sensory signals. The continuous improvements of computer vision and speech

recognition systems will make it easier to use humanoid robots in unmodified

environments. Advances are also to be expected from the mechanical side. Multiple

research groups develop muscle like actuators with controllable stiffness. Such compliant

actuation will significantly contribute to the safe operation of robots in the close vicinity

of humans. Compliance also leads to control schemes that support the dynamics of the

body instead of imposing inefficient trajectories on it. Insights from biophysics and

neuroscience also give ideas for robust control strategies, which degrade gracefully in

case of disturbances or component failure. In general, research on humanoid robots

strengthens the respect for the biological model, the human. Much remains to be learned

from it in areas like perception, mechanics, and control. I am convinced that it will be

possible to understand many of nature's inventions which account for its astonishing

performance. Two remaining issues could hinder the widespread application of humanoid

robots: costs and system complexity. Here, the toy industry played a pioneer role with the

introduction of simple, inexpensive humanoid robots. The low costs needed for the toy

market are possible because of the high volumes. Children are growing up now with

robotic companions. As personal robots mature, they will meet prepared users [9].

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5.2 ADVANTAGES OF HUMANOID ROBOTS

Robots...

Are tough.

Are strong.

Cannot be exhausted.

Have no emotions.

Do not complain.

5.3 DISADVANTAGES OF HUMANOID ROBOTS

Robots...

Are not well developed yet.

Have no emotion.

5.4 CONCLUSION

Robots are going to play a very significant part in our daily life. Like computers

in the 21th

century Robots are going to be common house hold items in future. With the

development of computers, semiconductor technology Robotics will grow in leaps and

bounds. They will find applications in almost all areas and become universal. There are

expected times when Robots will over power mankind in future. The ethnicity of

providing intelligence to robots is questioned but future is the answer to this question. It

is for us to wait and see whether the creators or the creation will rule the world.

5.5 FUTURE SCOPE

1) 2015-2020 - every South Korean household will have a robot and many

European, The Ministry of Information and Communication (South Korea), 2007.

[10]

2) 2018 - robots will routinely carry out surgery, South Korea government 2007. [9]

23

3) 2022 - intelligent robots that sense their environment, make decisions, and learn

are used in 30% of households and organizations – TechCast. [10]

4) 2030 - robots capable of performing at human level at most manual jobs Marshall

Brain.

5) 2034 - robots (home automation systems) performing most household tasks,

Helen Greiner, Chairman of iRobot. [10]

6) 2050 - robot "brains" based on computers that execute 100 trillion instructions per

second will start rivaling human intelligence. [9]

5.5.1 Military robots

1) 2015 - one third of US fighting strength will be composed of robots - US

Department of Defense, 2006. [5]

2) 2035 - first completely autonomous robot soldiers in operation - US Department

of Defense, 2006 [5]

5.5.2 Developments related to robotics from the Japan NISTEP 2030 report

1) 2013-2014 — agricultural robots (AgRobots). [8]

2) 2013-2017 — robots that care for the elderly. [12]

3) 2017 — medical robots performing low-invasive surgery. [12]

4) 2017-2019 — household robots with full use. [4]

5) 2019-2021 — Nano-robots. [10]

24

REFERENCES

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Int. J. of Humanoid Robotics‖, PHI Publication, 1:157{173, 2004.

[2] T. McGeer., ―Passive dynamic walking. International Journal of Robotics Research‖,

I- Tech Publication, 9(2):68{82, 1990.

[3] S. Collins, A. Ruina, R. Tedrake, and M. Wisse. ―Eficient bipedal robots based on

passive-dynamic walkers‖. PHI Publication, pages 1082 to 1085, 2005.

[4] R. Playter, M. Buehler, and M. Raibert. ―SPIE Unmanned Systems Technology‖.

VIII, 2006.

[5] J. Rebula, F. Canas, J. Pratt, and A. Goswami., ―Learning capture points for

humanoid push recovery‖. 2007.

[6] B. Verrelst, R. Van Ham, B. Vanderborght, F. Daerden, and D. Lefeber., ―Pneumatic

biped Lucy actuated with pleated pneu- matic artificial muscles and Autonomous

Robots‖, 18:201{213, 2005.

[7] T. Minato and Y. Yoshikawa., ―A child robot with biomimetic body for cognitive

developmental robotics‖. 2007.

[8] S. Nishio, H. Ishiguro, and N. Hagita. ―Teleoperated android of an existing person‖. I-

Tech Publications. 2007.

[9] R.O. Ambrose, R.T. Savely, and S.M. Goza. ―Mobile manipulation using NASA's

Robonaut. 2004.

25

[10] ―WASEDA University Sugano Laboratory‖, visited April 2015.

http://twendyone.com.

[11] Yaskawa Electric Corp. Motoman-SDA10, visited april 2015.

http://www.yaskawa.co.jp/en/newsrelease/2007/02.htm.

[12] T. Asfour, K. Regenstein, and P. Azad, ―An integrated humanoid platform for

sensory-motor control‖. ARMAR-III, 2006.

[13] S. Calinon and A. Billard. ―Incremental learning of gestures by imitation in a

humanoid robot‖. 2007.