Introduction to Robotics

Narendiran Anandan
Serkan Ergun
Course Information
• About the course. Date Topics
07.10.2024 Introduction
• Course materials and information will be
14.10.2024 Sensors
on Moodle.
21.10.2024 Actuators
• Written Exam (1 hour 30 mins) 28.10.2024 Intro to EE
• Exam dates until June 2025 -> 04.11.2024 Robot Operation
campus.aau.at 11.11.2024 Coordinate Transformation
18.11.2024 Dynamics & Control
• Additional exams may be provided if
25.11.2024 Measurements, Algorithms
needed (September –December 2025)
02.12.2024 Intro to HRI
09.12.2024 Exam Prep
13.01.2025 Intro to AI
20.01.2025 Lab Visits
27.01.2025 1st Exam
Course Outline
• General Introduction
• History
• Robotics overview and applications.
• Technical, economic impact, and ethics.
• Typical constructions
• Involved engineering fields
• Sensors and actuators
• Coordinate transformation and kinematics
• Path planning
• Dynamics and control
• Introduction to Human-robot interaction
• Artificial Intelligence
• Lab Visits (in January)
What is a Robot?
• Automated (Smart) Machines.

• One of its first uses came from Czech writer

Karel Čapek, who used the word in his play,
“Rossum's Universal Robots”, in 1920.

• Isaac Asimov is generally given the credit for

being the first person to use the term in the
1940s. Karel Čapek Isaac Asimov
Asimov’s Laws
Asimov's Laws of robotics:

1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm.

2.A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such
orders would conflict with the First Law.

3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Law.
Robots in Fiction and Popular Media
Robots in Reality
Robot Definition
robot, a machine controlled by a computer that is used to
perform jobs automatically. – Cambridge Dictionary

robot, any automatically operated machine that replaces

human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in
appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner. By
extension, robotics is the engineering discipline dealing with
the design, construction, and operation of robots. – Britannica
Modern Industrial Robots
Applications - Exploration
Application – Autonomous driving
Applications
• Manufacturing
• Welding, Assembly, Metal forming, Paint Dispensing,
Part Transfer, Packaging
• Logistics
• Safety, Inspection and Health monitoring of
Machines
• Agriculture
• Healthcare
• Entertainment
• Military
Evolution of Robotics Research

Garcia et al, "The evolution of robotics research," in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, March 2007
Deep Learning in Robotics
Myths and Facts about robotics.

• Robots are intended to eliminate jobs: MYTH

• Manufacturing and logistics must adopt robots to survive: FACT
• Autonomous robots are still too slow: FACT
• Robots are too expensive: MYTH
• Robots are difficult to use: FACT

By Shahin Farshchi, IEEE Spectrum 2014

Economic Impact of robotics – 4th Industrial Revolution
Economic Impact of robotics
• Contrary to popular fears about job losses, the World Economic Forum predicts
that automation will result in a net increase of 58 million jobs.

• About two-thirds of the jobs transformed by automation will become higher-

skilled, while the other third will be lower-skilled.
Economic Impact of robotics – Impact of Automation
• In 1979, there were about 299,000 people working as accountants,
bookkeepers, or auditors.

• Intuit launched its financial software in 1983; Microsoft Excel debuted in 1985.

• That means anyone can do their own financial statements and their own taxes,
right? Of course not!

• In 1989, just a few years after the introduction of Excel, accounting was one of
the fastest-growing industries in the US, with 524,000 people employed.
Economic Impact of robotics – ATM Machines
• In 1970, there were about 250,000
bank tellers.

• The first automatic teller machine had

been recently introduced.

• By 2019, there were about 400,000

ATMs installed in the U.S.—and the
number of bank tellers had doubled.

• ATMs also made it cheaper to open a

new bank branch, and the number of
bank branches increased by about 40
percent.
Emerging Technologies– Concerns in the past
Involved Scientific and Engineering Fields
• Mechanical Engineering
• Range, Load, Durability, Ability, Fluid Dynamics
• Design Engineering
• Visual aspects of the robot
• Electrical Engineering
• Power, Sensing, Actuation, Electronics
• Computer Science
• AI, Algorithms, Programming, Data Acquisition and Processing
• Mathematics
• Control system
• Material Science
• Skin, Sensors, Actuators
Important Terminologies
• Workpiece

• End Effector

• Payload

• Degrees of Freedom

• Joints

• Links

• Object/Body
Degrees of Freedom
The robot shown below has a fixed base and How many degrees of freedom
four hinge joints does the robot shown below
. have?
How many DoF of motion does the end
effector have?
How many DoF does the robot have?
Important Terminologies
• Coordinate Systems

• Position

• Orientation (R, P, W)

• Horizontal Reach

• Vertical Reach

• Work Envelope

• Kinematics
Types of Joints
Structural Configuration of Industrial Robots - Cartesian

Needs large volume top operate.

Has rigid structure and provides accurate positioning of end effector.
Maintenance is difficult because linear motion is generally obtained by transforming
rotary motion.
Cartesian Robot

• Also called as Linear Robots or Gantry

Robots

• They move in straight lines on 3-axis.

• Simple and easy to program.

• Have a higher payload carrying capacity

Structural Configuration of Industrial Robots - Cylindrical
The arm has one revolute joint
and two linear joints.

A cylindrical robot might have

difficulties touching the floor
near its base.

Successfully used when task

requires reaching into small
openings or working on
cylindrical surfaces.

Source: Introduction to Robotics, S K Saha

Structural Configuration of Industrial Robots – Spherical/Polar
Large work volume

Can reach all around

Short Vertical Reach

Source: Introduction to Robotics, S K Saha

Structural Configuration of Industrial Robots – Articulated

Source: Introduction to Robotics, S K Saha

Articulated Arm Robot
Structure Closely resembles human arm.

Can generally achieve its position and

orientation in multiple ways.

Electrically/Hydraulically actuated.

5-6 degrees of freedom.

Needs Calibration.
End Effectors - Gripper
• Grippers are end effectors used for holding/grasping an object.

• Used to pick an object and move it to a different position and orientation within
the workspace.

• Applications: - Pick and Place, Machine Loading, Sorting and Arranging, Material
Handling etc.

• Types: - Mechanical, Pneumatic, Magnetic, Adhesive, Hooks and Scoops,

Expandable Bladder Type
End Effector- Grippers

Electric
Gripper

Pneumatic Gripper Adhesive Gripper Magnetic Gripper

End Effector - Grippers

Suction Gripper Hook

Scoop
End Effector – Jamming of Granular Material
End Effector - Tools

Welding Torch Drill Paint Sprayer

SCARA - Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm
Small Size

High Speed

High Precision

4 Degrees of Freedom

Applications:
Assembly
Pick and Place
PCB Soldering
Laser Engraving
Delta Robots
• Delta Robots possess three arms connected to a single
base, which is mounted above the workspace.

• The use of parallelograms in the arms maintains the

orientation of the end effector.

• All movement comes from the extremely light robot arms,

allowing for low inertia for incredibly fast operating speeds
and accelerations.

• Used in applications requiring high speed and high

acceleration.
Delta Robot
Wheeled Robot
• Wheeled robots are robots that navigate
around the ground using motorized
wheels to propel themselves.

• They are easier to design, build, and

program for movement in flat, not-so-
rugged terrain.

• Robots can have any number of wheels,

but three wheels are sufficient for static
and dynamic balance.
Wheeled Robot – Number of Wheels

One Wheeled Robot (Murata Girl):

These robots are highly unstable and

require extreme engineering and
design techniques.

Two Wheeled Robots (nbot):

Harder to balance than other types because

they must keep moving to maintain upright.

Usually, the center of gravity of these robots is

kept below the wheel axle and the wheels are
attached parallel to each other.

A tilt sensor is used to determine tilt angle and

wheel encoders which keep track of the
position of the platform of the robot.
Wheeled Robot – Number of Wheels
• They are statically and dynamically
stable.

• The wheels are normally arranged in a

triangular manner.

• Types:
• Differentially Steered.
• Single turning wheel.

Three Wheeled Robot • The center of gravity has to lay inside the
triangle formed by the wheels.
Wheeled Robot – Number of wheels
Four • Most popular and highly stable.
Wheeled
Robot • Types:
• Ackerman Steering
• Differential Drive
• Tank like steering
Types of Wheels

Omnidirectional Mecanum wheels

Cylindrical Wheel wheel with rollers
Omni Directional Wheels

(e) (f)

?
Mecanum Wheels
Perseverance Rover
Length 3 meters

Width 2.7 meters

Height 2.2 meters

Weight 1025 Kg
Perseverance Rover
• Mastcam-Z: An advanced camera system to help study
surface minerals
• MEDA: A Spanish-built sensor suite to measure
temperature, wind speed and direction, pressure,
humidity and dust
• MOXIE: Experiment to demonstrate how astronauts might
produce oxygen from Martian CO2 for breathing and fuel
• PIXL: Has an X-ray spectrometer to identify chemical
elements and a camera that takes close-up images of rock
and soil textures
• RIMFAX: A Norwegian-built ground-penetrating radar that
will map geology beneath the surface at centimetre scales
• SHERLOC: Will use spectrometers, a laser and camera to
hunt for organics and minerals that were altered by water
• SuperCam: Will examine rock and soil with a camera, laser
and spectrometers to look for organic compound
Aerial Robots

Rotary wing Robots

Air Balloon Robots Flapping Wing Robots
Fixed Wing Robots
Aerial Robot Components.
• Frame – This is the X or + shaped arms and body of the drone that holds all the parts
and pieces together.
• Motors – These are the mechanisms that provide power to spin the propellers.
• ESC (Electronic Speed Control) – These connect the battery with the motors, sending
signals to each drone motor to dictate propeller speed.
• Flight Control Computer – This is the brains, or the computer of the drone, turning
electrical signals from the controller into actionable information by sending signals to
the ESCs.
• Telecommunication system.
• Navigational Sensors.
• Propellers – These are the spinning plastic blades attached at the end of each arm to
achieve lift and direct the motion of the drone.
• Battery – It may be charged in place or in a separate charger, depending on the drone
model.
• Gimbal – The gimbal is stabilization platform. For mounting sensors/instruments.
Aquatic Robots

Robotic Boats Submarine Robots Underwater Crawler

Bio Inspired Robots

Festo elephant trunk

Review Questions