TLE

Robotics

an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering dedicated to the design, construction, use to control robots, sensory feedback, and information processing.

Robot

an electromechanical device which can react in some way to its environment and take autonomous decisions or actions to achieve a specific task.

ASIMO

created at Honda's Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan. Made with the purpose of helping people and serving as their companion. Able to identify faces, respond to gestures, and reply verbally or by nodding/shaking head.

Big Dog

a bio-inspired quadruped robot is being developed as a mule that can traverse difficult terrain. It was used to transport military equipment.

Wheeled Robots

Most popular method of providing mobility to a robot. Using 3 or 4 wheels are the most common, while 4 and 6-wheeled robots have the advantage of using multiple drive motors (one connected to each wheel) which reduces slip.

Tracked Robots

Although tracks do not provide added “force” (torque), they reduce slip and distribute the weight of the robot evenly, making them useful for loose surfaces such as sand and gravel. Tank tracks also add an “aggressive” look to the robot

Legged Robots

Legs are often preferred for robots navigating on uneven terrain. Most amateur robots use 6 legs as fewer legs would require the robot to be in constant motion (dynamic stability).

Aerial Robots

Although Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (AUAVs) are within capabilities, most still use commercial remote-controlled aircraft due to the risks. Aircraft such as the US military Predator were also initially semi-autonomous though in recent years it has flown missions autonomously.

Water Robots

Underwater vehicles can use ballast (compressed air and flooded compartments), thrusters, tail, and fins or even wings to submerge.

Actuator

a device that converts energy, typically electrical, into physical motion. It is the part responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system.

Rotary Actuator

transforms electrical energy into a rotating motion.

Hydraulic Actuator

consists of a cylinder or fluid motor that uses hydraulic pressure to move in a linear, rotatory, or oscillatory motion. consists of a hollow cylindrical tube with a sliding piston.

Pneumatic Actuator

converts energy from vacuum or compressed air at high pressure into linear or rotary motion. considered safer, cheaper, and often more reliable and powerful than other actuators. Commonly used in main engine controls

Electric Actuator

is powered by a motor that converts electrical energy into mechanical torque. One of the cleanest and readily available forms of actuating system as it needs no extra machinery. actuate equipment such as multi-turn valves.

Twisted & Coiled Polymer Actuator

aka supercoiled polymer (SCP) actuator; is a coiled polymer that can be actuated by electric power. The electrical energy transforms into thermal energy due to electrical resistance, which also known as Joule heating, Ohmic heating, and resistive heating.

Thermal Actuator

aka magnetic actuators; can be actuated by applying thermal or magnetic energy. Compact, lightweight, economical, and high power density. Compact, lightweight, economical, and high power density.

Mechanical Actuator

converts one kind of motion, such as rotary motion, into another, such as linear motion. Its operation is based on combinations of structural components, such as gears and rails, or pulleys and chains.

Hybrid Actuator

combination of different types of actuator. A common example is thermo-hydraulic actuators which function by the use of how water along with an electronic system.

Potentiometer

a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider.

Encoder

an electromechanical device that provides an electrical signal that is used for speed and/or position control.

Microcontroller

aka MCU; a small computer on a single integrated circuit designed for embedded applications. make it economical to digitally control even more devices and processes. They are used in different products, devices and appliances. Size, capability, cost, and power consumption are important considerations in choosing one.

Intel 8048

introduced in 1976 and was the first of Intel’s microcontrollers and was used as the processor in the PC keyboard of IBM.

Intel 8051

introduced in 1980 and is one of the most popular and long-lived microcontrollers.

Electrically Erasable Memories

During the 1990s, that advanced microcontrollers with programmable ROM memories such as the flash memory started flooding the market. Current microcontrollers such as ones from Atmel and Microchip use flash memory technology.

8-bit Microcontroller

self-contained system with memory, a processor, and peripherals that can be used as an embedded system.

16-bit Microcontroller

performs greater precision and performance as compared to 8-bit.

32-bit Microcontroller

performs arithmetic and logic operations. Used in automatically controlled devices including implantable medical devices, engine control systems, office machines, appliances.

Embedded Memory Microcontroller

microcontroller unit that has all the functional blocks available on a chip.

External Memory Microcontroller

microcontroller unit that does not have all the functional blocks available on a chip

Reduced Instruction Set Computer

reduces the design of microprocessors for industry standards. It allows each instruction to operate on any register or use any addressing mode and simultaneous access of program and data.

Complex Instruction Set Computer

allows the programmer to use one instruction in place of many simpler instructions.

Harvard Memory Architecture Microcontroller

has a dissimilar memory address space for the program and data

Princeton Memory Architecture Microcontroller

has a common memory address for the program memory and data

Electric Motor

an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. powered by direct current (DC) sources, such as from batteries, motor vehicles or rectifiers, or by alternating current (AC) sources, such as a power grid, inverters or electrical generators.

AC Motor

consists of two basic parts: outside stator with coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and and an inside rotor attached to the output shaft producing a second rotating magnetic field. commonly used for pumps, blowers, conveyors and other industrial machinery.

DC Motor

The most common types rely on the forces produced by magnetic fields. Nearly all types have some internal mechanism, either electromechanical or electronic, to periodically change the direction of current in part of the motor.

Servomotor

is an actuator that allows for precise control of angular or linear position, velocity and acceleration. Consists of a suitable motor and a sensor for position feedback. It also requires a relatively sophisticated controller, often a dedicated module

Stepper Motor

is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. motor's position can then be commanded to move and hold one of these steps without any position sensor for feedback (an open-loop controller), as long as the motor is carefully sized to the application in respect to torque and speed.

Motor Drivers

acts as an interface between the motors and the control circuits. function is to take a low-current control signal that the control circuit works on and then turn it into a higher-current signal that can drive a motor.

Motor Controller

a device or group of devices that serves to govern in some predetermined manner the performance of an electric motor. It can include a manual or automatic means for commands like stopping or starting the motor, and regulating the speed or torque.

Direct Wired Control

The motors and a power source can be connected directly with a switch in order to control its forward/backwards rotation. Such vehicles usually have no intelligence and are considered to be more “remote controlled machines” than “robots”.

Wired Computer Control

connecting the microcontroller to one of your computer’s I/O ports (e.g. a USB port) allows you to control its actions via keyboard, joystick or other peripheral device. Netbooks are often a desirable choice because of their low price, small size and low weight.

Ethernet

Allows robot to directly connect to the router and be controlled via internet, though not practical for mobile robots. A wired and wireless combination is also an option, where there is a transceiver connected physically to the internet and data is then sent wirelessly to the robot.

Infrared

requires "line of sight" in order to function. The receiver must be able to “see” the transmitter at all times in order to receive data.

Radio Frequency

Commercially available Remote Control units use microcontrollers in the transmitter and receiver to send, receive and interpret data using this. requires either a transmitter matched/paired with a receiver, or a transceiver.

Bluetooth

A form of RF following specific protocols for sending and receiving data. Normal range is often limited to about 10m though it does have the advantage of allowing users to control their robot via Bluetooth-enabled devices such as cell-phones, and laptops (custom programming may be required to create an interface).

Sensors

used to estimate a robot's condition and environment. These signals are passed to a controller to enable appropriate behavior. based on the functions of human sensory organs.

Contact Sensor

this type of sensor requires physical contact against other objects to trigger

Distance Sensor

a type of sensor with Fast and accurate measurement, precise positioning and detection of a wide range of materials.

Positioning Sensor

a type of sensor where any device that permits position measurement. It can either be an absolute position sensor or a relative one. They can be linear, angular, or multi-axis.

Rotation Sensor

sensor that measures the turning movement of a wheel for purposes of calculating distance

Environmental Condition Sensor

a type of sensor that describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterize and monitor the quality of the environment.

Sound sensor

a type of sensor that is essentially a microphone that returns a voltage proportional to the ambient noise level. More complex boards can use the data from a microphone for speech recognition.