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Professional and Personal Service Robots

Article · January 2016

DOI: 10.4018/IJRAT.2016010104

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 International Journal of Robotics Applications and Technologies
Volume 4 • Issue 1 • January-June 2016

Professional and Personal Service Robots

Teresa Zielinska, Warsaw University of Technology FPAE, Warsaw, Poland

ABSTRACT

The short history of service robots with its precursors is presented. The definitions of service robot
are discussed with some statistical data. The history of service robots summarizes the ancient period
with robot precursors, the middle ages and the period of industrial revolution. The representative
examples of different kinds of service robots built in the XX c. and XXI c. are given. The article is
concluded focusing on the future trends.

Keywords
Industrial Revolution, Middle Ages, Robot Precursors, Robots, Service Robots

BACKGROUND - WHAT IS A SERVICE ROBOT

Till year 2012 the term service robots had no strict officially accepted definition, they represented
very different structures, abilities and considered many different application.
By the end of 90s the International Service Robot Association (ISRA) issued following working
definition of service robots: “Machines that sense, think, and act to benefit or extend human capabilities
and to increase human productivity” (Pransky, 1996).
International Federation of Robotics (IFR) gave following provisional definition: “A service robot
is a robot which operates semi- or fully autonomously to perform services useful to the well-being
of humans and equipment, excluding manufacturing operations”.
And it continued with explanation:

With this definition, manipulating industrial robots could also be regarded as service robots, provided
they are installed in non-manufacturing operations. Service robots may or may not be equipped with
an arm structure as is the industrial robot. Often, but not always, the service robots are mobile. In
some cases, service robots consist of a mobile platform on which one or several arms are attached
and controlled in the same mode as the arms of the industrial robot.

In 1999 International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe for the first time included service robots in statistical reports. The fast development of this
class of robots caused, that in 2008 IFR decided to split their World Robotics Yearbook containing
robot statistics into two volumes, with one dedicated only to the service robots.
Effort on terminology unification was started in 1995 by the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE) and IFR, it resulted in novel ISO-Standard 8373 definition which
had become effective in year 2012, it states:

DOI: 10.4018/IJRAT.2016010104

Copyright © 2016, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

63
International Journal of Robotics Applications and Technologies
Volume 4 • Issue 1 • January-June 2016

A robot is an actuated mechanism programmable in two or more axes with a degree of autonomy,
moving within its environment, to perform intended tasks. Autonomy in this context means the ability
to perform intended tasks based on current state and sensing, without human intervention.

A service robot is a robot that performs useful tasks for humans or equipment excluding industrial
automation application. Note: The classification of a robot into industrial robot or service robot is
done according to its intended application.
A personal service robot or a service robot for personal use is a service robot used for a non-
commercial task, usually by lay persons. Examples are domestic servant robot, automated wheelchair,
personal mobility assist robot, and pet exercising robot.
A professional service robot or a service robot for professional use is a service robot used
for a commercial task, usually operated by a properly trained operator. Examples are cleaning robot
for public places, delivery robot in offices or hospitals, fire-fighting robot, rehabilitation robot and
surgery robot in hospitals. In this context an operator is a person designated to start, monitor and stop
the intended operation of a robot or a robot system.”
The above classification considers the user type (professional versus personal) as classification
criterion, another possible robots categorisation takes into account the type of acting environment
(Zielinski, 2010):

• Industrial robots are operating in a fully structured environment. For example, in the work cell
all devices are strictly cooperating, so it is sufficient that the robot control is position based, and
therefore not many external sensors are needed;
• Personal service robots are operating in a quasi-structural environment, created by man for its
own purposes. It means that the surrounding is not exactly adjusted to the needs of the performed
job (e.g., regular home, waiting hall, office, restaurant);
• Field robots work for the group of anonymous recipients in the natural environment which is
fully unstructured - for example: the forest, sky space, see bottom, ruins, mountains. Field robots
represent the category of professional service robots.

In general, the actions of service robots are determined by the information gathered by external
sensors.
With the fast development of various robots and widening its application areas still it is valid
the observation stated by Joseph Engelberger - the “father” of robotics: “I can’t define a robot, but I
know one when I see one.”
Joseph Engelberger predicted that the service robots one day become the largest class of robot
applications, outnumbering the industrial uses by several times, this is becoming the fact.
The idea of helping the human in heavy or repetitive work by artificial means is observed since
the beginning of humanity. Thus, tools and machines were conceived, built and used as intermediate
solutions with increasing performances over the time.
Taking into account the type of performed task the following four categories of service robots
can be listed (Zielinski, 2010):

• Professional service providers (acting on the ground, in the offices, in hospitals);

• Domestic service robots (helping in personal works, operating in the house, robots for
entertainment and education);
• Security robots (working for defence, safety and rescue);
• Space robots (working on space and doing planets exploration).

64
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