The main asset of the chain drive is its simplicity. It can provide additional traction compared with a cable drive, because the chain is not likely to slip on the sprockets. Another asset is the fact that variable speed andpower can be obtained by using sprockets of various sizes, in conjunction with a shifting mechanism. On the downside, the chain can come off the sprockets. The chain requires lubrication and maintenance, and can be noisy in operation. A common example of a chain drive is found in any bicycle.
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CABLE DRIVE

A cable drive is a method of transferring mechanical energy in a robotic system from an actuator to a manipulator or end effector. This type of drive can also be used in ...

ACTUATOR

An actuator is a device that moves one or more joints and operates the gripper or end effector in a robot arm. Simple actuators consist of electric motors and gears, cable drives, ...

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In a centrally controlled robotic system, the main computer plays the role of a quasi-human operator. In some systems, the individual robots are partially autonomous, containing controllers of their own; this allows the system to keep operating at full capacity for a time, even in the event of a break in one or more of the communication links. This is known as partially centralized control. Another example of partially centralized control is a system in which each robot receives a set of instructions from the controller, stores those instructions, and then carries them out independently of the central controller.

In some robotic systems, the individual units are completely and continuously dependent on the central controller, and cannot function if the communication link is severed. Such a system is said to employ fully centralized control. Compare DISTRIBUTED CONTROL.

See also AUTONOMOUS ROBOT and INSECT ROBOT.

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AUTONOMOUS ROBOT

An autonomous robot is self-contained, housing its own controller, and not depending on a central computer for its commands. It navigates its work environment under its own power, usually by rolling on ...

BALLISTIC CONTROL

Ballistic control is a form of robotic motion control in which the path, or trajectory, of the device is calculated or programmed entirely in advance. Once the path has been determined, no ...

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Cartesian coordinate geometry

The drawing shows a Cartesian coordinate system in two dimensions. The axes are perpendicular to each other. In this case, they are up/down (vertical) and left/right (horizontal). Three-dimensional (3-D) Cartesian systems also exist. In a 3-D system, there are three linear axes, with each axis perpendicular to the other two. The manipulator shown in the illustration could be converted to 3-D Cartesian coordinate geometry by allowing the vertical rod to slide forward and backward (in and out of the page) along a horizontal track.
Compare CYLINDRICAL COORDINATE GEOMETRY, POLAR COORDINATE GEOMETRY, REVOLUTE GEOMETRY, and SPHERICAL COORDINATE GEOMETRY.

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AXIS INVERSION

Axis inversion is a reversal in the orientation of one or more coordinate axes in a robotic system that uses Cartesian coordinate geometry. When robotic motions are programmed using the Cartesian (or ...

ARTICULATED GEOMETRY

Robot arms can move in various different ways. Some can attain only certain discrete, or definite, positions, and cannot stop at any intermediate position. Others can move in smooth, sweeping motions, and ...

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A capacitive proximity sensor uses a radio-frequency (RF) oscillator, a frequency detector, and a metal plate connected into the oscillator circuit, as shown in the diagram. The oscillator is designed so a change in the capacitance of the plate, with respect to the environment, causes the frequency to change. This change is sensed by the frequency detector, which sends a signal to the apparatus that controls the robot. In this way, if the system is properly designed, a robot can avoid bumping into things. In some detectors, the induced capacitance causes the oscillation to stop altogether.

Capacitive proximity sensor

Objects that conduct electricity to some extent, such as house wiring, people, cars, or refrigerators, are sensed more easily by capacitive transducers than are things that do not conduct, such as wooden chairs and doors. Therefore, other kinds of proximity sensors are necessary for a robot to navigate well in a complex environment, such as a household or office.
Compare INDUCTIVE PROXIMITY SENSOR.

See also PROXIMITY SENSING.

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CAPACITIVE PRESSURE SENSOR

A capacitive pressure sensor consists of two metal plates separated by a layer of nonconductive (dielectric) foam. The resulting variable capacitor is connected in parallel with an inductor; the inductance/capacitance (LC) circuit ...

ACOUSTIC PROXIMITY SENSOR

An acoustic proximity sensor can be used by a robot to detect the presence of, and determine the distance to, an object or barrier at close range. It works based on acoustic ...

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The output of the sensor can be converted to digital data using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and then sent to a robot controller. Pressure sensors can be mounted in various places on a mobile robot, such as the front, back, and sides. Then, for example, physical pressure on the sensor in the front of the robot might send a signal to the controller, which tells the machine to move backward.

Capacitive pressure sensor

A capacitive pressure sensor can be fooled by massive conducting or semiconducting objects in its vicinity. If such a mass comes near the transducer, the capacitance changes, even if direct contact is not made. This phenomenon is known as body capacitance.When the effect must be avoided, an elastomer can be used for pressure sensing. For proximity sensing, however, the phenomenon can be useful.

See also CAPACITIVE PROXIMITY SENSOR, ELASTOMER, and PRESSURE SENSING.

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CAPACITIVE PROXIMITY SENSOR

A capacitive proximity sensor takes advantage of the mutual capacitance that occurs between or among objects near each other. A capacitive proximity sensor uses a radio-frequency (RF) oscillator, a frequency detector, and ...

BACK PRESSURE SENSOR

A back pressure sensor is a device that detects, and measures, the amount of torque that a robot motor applies at any given time. The sensor produces a signal, usually a variable ...

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The main asset of the cable drive is its simplicity. The principal limitation is the fact that the cable can slip on the wheels or pulleys, and over time, the cable can degenerate, and ultimately break without warning.Anyone who has been stranded on a highway because of a failed automotive fan belt can attest to the problems this can cause.
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CHAIN DRIVE

A chain drive is a method of transferring mechanical energy in a robotic system from an actuator to a manipulator or end effector. It can also be used in wheel-drive propulsion systems. ...

ACTUATOR

An actuator is a device that moves one or more joints and operates the gripper or end effector in a robot arm. Simple actuators consist of electric motors and gears, cable drives, ...

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The burn-in process can weed out systems with early-failure problems, minimizing real-time failures.

See also QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CONTROL.

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Microsoft’s Hardware Failures

Apart from the Xbox, Microsoft doesn’t have a very good record with making its own hardware. Its biggest failure was the Kin Phone, which first appeared at the same time as the ...

CENTRALIZED CONTROL

In a system containing more than one robot, centralized control refers to oversight of all the individual robots by a single controller.Communication between the controller and the robots is usually done by ...

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Consider a robot on an assembly line that makes cars. The robot’s job is to insert hubcaps in the two right-side wheels. (An identical robot does the same job on the left side.) Suppose that 20 percent of the cars are fitted with gold-colored (G) hubcaps; the rest are fitted with silver-colored (S) ones. The robot should insert hubcaps in the following sequence: SS SS SS SS GG SS SS SS SS GG SS SS…, and so on. Every fifth pair of hubcaps is gold.

Each time a hubcap pair is to be inserted, the computer must make a choice. Thus, the routine is at a branch point for every hubcap pair. Every fifth time the choice must be made, the robot controller chooses gold hubcaps. Otherwise, it chooses silver ones. This sequence is programmed into the controller. The logical process proceeds something like the flowchart in the accompanying figure.

Branching

Suppose a glitch occurs, in which the robot controller or hardware omits or overlooks a single hubcap. This will throw off the robot’s perception of the sequence of cars, so it thinks a new car has arrived with each set of rear wheels. Shortly, the front wheel of a car will get a silver hubcap and the rear wheel of the same car will get a gold one. The next car will get a gold hubcap on the front wheel and a silver one on the rear wheel. The repercussions will be repeated down the line over and over, messing up two out of every five cars, or 40 percent of the automobiles coming off the assembly line.

See also EXPERT SYSTEM.

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AUTONOMOUS ROBOT

An autonomous robot is self-contained, housing its own controller, and not depending on a central computer for its commands. It navigates its work environment under its own power, usually by rolling on ...

ASSEMBLY ROBOT

An assembly robot is any robot that assembles products, such as cars, home appliances, or electronic equipment. Some assembly robots work alone; most are used in automated integrated manufacturing systems (AIMS), doing ...

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Boolean algebra: basic operations

In Boolean algebra, X AND Y is written XY or X*Y. NOT X is written with a line or tilde over the quantity, or as a minus sign followed by the quantity. X OR Y is written X+Y. The first table shows the values of these functions, where 0 indicates “falsity” and 1 indicates “truth.”The statements on either side of the equal sign are logically equivalent. The second table shows several logic equations. These are facts, or theorems. Boolean theorems can be used to analyze complicated logic functions.

Boolean algebra: theorems

See also LOGIC GATE.

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10 Top UK innovations in IT

The UK has been a hotbed of innovation over the years, with its inventions and input helping to create and define the IT industry as we know it. Here’s our list of ...

Merging Microprocs with Memory

Some ideas are crazy enough to work but are ahead of their time. That’s my impression of a radically different microprocessor design from Venray technology, a Texas startup. Maybe someone will acquire ...

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An example of a Bongard problem is shown in the illustration. There are two groups of six boxes. The contents of the boxes on the left all have something in common; those on the right have the same characteristic in common, but to a different degree, or in a different way. To solve the problem, the vision system (or you) must answer three questions:

• What do the contents of the boxes to the left of the heavy, vertical line have in common?
• What do the contents of the boxes to the right of the line have in common?
• What is the difference between the contents of the boxes on opposite sides of the heavy, vertical line?

Bongard problem

In this case, the boxes on the left contain four dots or straight lines each; those on the right contain five dots or straight lines each. The difference between the boxes on the left and those on the right, therefore, is in the number of dots or straight lines they contain.

See also OBJECT RECOGNITION.

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BIN PICKING PROBLEM

A bin picking problem is a challenge presented to a robotic vision system in which the machine must choose a specific object from a group of objects. Basic machine vision systems can ...

CARTESIAN COORDINATE GEOMETRY

Cartesian coordinate geometry is a common method by which a robot manipulator (arm) can move. This term derives from the Cartesian, or rectangular, coordinate system that is used for graphing mathematical functions. ...

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Bladder grippers are useful in handling fragile objects. However, they do not operate fast, and they can function only with objects within a rather narrow range of physical sizes.

See also ROBOT GRIPPER.

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ADHESION GRIPPER

An adhesion gripper is a robot end effector that grasps objects by literally sticking to them. In its most primitive form, this type of gripper consists of a rod, sphere, or other ...

ATTRACTION GRIPPER

An attraction gripper is a robot end effector that grasps objects by means of electrical or magnetic attraction. Generally, magnets are used; either permanent magnets or electromagnets will serve the purpose. Electromagnets ...

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For speech recognition, specialties include vowel sounds, consonant sounds, grammar, syntax, context, and other variables. For example, a context specialty program might determine whether a speaker means to say “weigh” or “way,” or “two,” “too,” or “to.” Another program lets the controller know when a sentence is finished and the next sentence is to begin. Another program can tell the difference between a statement and a question. Using the blackboard as their forum, the specialty circuits “debate” the most likely and logical interpretations of what is heard or seen. A “referee” called a focus specialist mediates.

Blackboard system

For object recognition, specialties might be shape, color, size, texture, height,width, depth, and other visual cues.How does a computer know if an object is a cup on a table, or a water tower a mile away? Is that a bright lamp, or is it the sun? Is that biped thing a robot, a mannequin, or a person? As with speech recognition, the blackboard serves as a debating ground.

See also OBJECT RECOGNITION and SPEECH RECOGNITION.

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ANDROID

An android is a robot that has human form. A typical android has a rotatable head equipped with position sensors. Binocular machine vision allows the android to perceive depth, thereby locating objects ...

BIN PICKING PROBLEM

A bin picking problem is a challenge presented to a robotic vision system in which the machine must choose a specific object from a group of objects. Basic machine vision systems can ...

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