The Types of Robotics and Intelligent Machines

- Overview

The future of robotics is expected to be exciting, with robots becoming more integrated into daily life. 

Here are some ways robotics are expected to change the future:

• Smarter robots: Advancements in AI and machine learning will make robots more adaptable and smarter.
• Collaborative robots: Robots will work alongside humans in various settings, increasing safety and productivity.
• Humanoid robots: These robots will have human-like physical features and facial expressions, making them well-suited for service jobs that require face-to-face interaction.
• Autonomous delivery robots: These robots will become commonplace.
• Personal assistant robots: These robots will become commonplace.
• AI-driven machines: These machines will become commonplace in various industries.
• Professional service robots: These robots will perform tasks for humans, such as cleaning, delivering, and transporting.
• More efficient industrial operations: The convergence of AI and robotics will lead to more efficient industrial operations.
• Smarter cities: The convergence of AI and robotics will lead to smarter cities.

Please refer to the following for more information:

• Wikipedia: Robotics
• Wikipedia: Robot
• Wikipedia: Robotic Process Automation

- Types of Robots

Mechanical bots come in all shapes and sizes to efficiently carry out the task for which they are designed. From the 0.2 millimeter-long “RoboBee” to the 200 meter-long robotic shipping vessel “Vindskip,” robots are emerging to carry out tasks that humans simply can’t. 

Generally, there are five types of robots:

• Pre-Programmed Robots - Pre-programmed robots operate in a controlled environment where they do simple, monotonous tasks. An example of a pre-programmed robot would be a mechanical arm on an automotive assembly line. The arm serves one function — to weld a door on, to insert a certain part into the engine, etc. — and it's job is to perform that task longer, faster and more efficiently than a human. 
• Humanoid Robots - Humanoid robots are robots that look like and/or mimic human behavior. These robots usually perform human-like activities (like running, jumping and carrying objects), and are sometimes designed to look like us, even having human faces and expressions. Two of the most prominent examples of humanoid robots are Hanson Robotics’ Sophia (in the video above) and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas. 
• Autonomous Robots - Autonomous robots operate independently of human operators. These robots are usually designed to carry out tasks in open environments that do not require human supervision. An example of an autonomous robot would be the Roomba vacuum cleaner, which uses sensors to roam throughout a home freely.  
• Teleoperated Robots - Teleoperated robots are mechanical bots controlled by humans. These robots usually work in extreme geographical conditions, weather, circumstances, etc. Examples of teleoperated robots are the human-controlled submarines used to fix underwater pipe leaks during the BP oil spill or drones used to detect landmines on a battlefield. 
• Augmenting Robots - Augmenting robots either enhance current human capabilities or replace the capabilities a human may have lost. Some examples of augmenting robots are robotic prosthetic limbs or exoskeletons used to lift hefty weights.

- Robot Consistent Characteristics

Robot is a system that contains sensors, control systems, manipulators, power supplies and software all working together to perform a task. Designing, building, programming and testing a robots is a combination of physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, mathematics and computing. In some cases biology, medicine, chemistry might also be involved. 

While the overall world of robotics is expanding, a robot has some consistent characteristics:

• Robots all consist of some sort of mechanical construction. The mechanical aspect of a robot helps it complete tasks in the environment for which it’s designed. For example, the Mars 2020 Rover’s wheels are individually motorized and made of titanium tubing that help it firmly grip the harsh terrain of the red planet.
• Robots need electrical components that control and power the machinery. Essentially, an electric current (a battery, for example) is needed to power a large majority of robots.
• Robots contain at least some level of computer programming. Without a set of code telling it what to do, a robot would just be another piece of simple machinery. Inserting a program into a robot gives it the ability to know when and how to carry out a task.

The robotics industry is still relatively young, but has already made amazing strides. From the deepest depths of our oceans to the highest heights of outer space, robots can be found performing tasks that humans couldn’t dream of achieving.

- Robot Vision

Robot Vision is a technology that allows robots to "see" their surroundings by using cameras and specialized software to interpret visual data, enabling them to recognize objects, navigate spaces, and perform complex actions based on what they see, essentially giving them a perception of their environment similar to human vision; it's a key component in advanced robotics applications like manufacturing automation and autonomous vehicles. 

Key characteristics about robot vision:

• Components: Typically includes cameras (sometimes multiple), lenses, lighting systems, image processing units, and dedicated software to analyze the captured images.
• Function: The software analyzes the visual data to extract information like object shape, size, position, color, and movement, which the robot can then use to make decisions and execute actions.
• Applications: Industrial automation: Inspecting products for defects, picking and placing objects with precision, assembly tasks
• Autonomous vehicles: Navigation, obstacle detection, lane keeping
• Medical robotics: Surgical assistance, tissue analysis
• Service robotics: Object recognition for robotic assistants

In basic terms, robot vision involves using a combination of camera hardware and computer algorithms to enable robots to process visual data from the world. For example, your system might have a 2D camera that detects objects picked up by the robot. A more complex example might be using a 3D stereo camera to guide a robot in attaching wheels to a moving vehicle.

Without robot vision, your robot is essentially blind. For many robotic tasks this is not a problem, but for some applications robot vision is very useful or even essential.

AI provides robots with computer vision that can navigate, sense, and calculate their responses accordingly. Robots learn to perform human tasks through machine learning, which is also part of computer programming and AI.

- Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation (RPA), also known as soft robots, uses smart automation technology to perform repetitive human office tasks, such as extracting information, filling out forms, moving files, etc. 

RPA combines API and user interface (UI) interactions to integrate and execute repetitive tasks between enterprise and productivity applications. By deploying scripts that simulate human processes, RPA tools can perform activities and transactions across unrelated software systems with complete autonomy.

This form of automation uses rules-based software to bulk-perform business process activities, freeing up human resources to prioritize more complex tasks. RPA enables CIOs and other decision-makers to accelerate digital transformation efforts and drive higher return on investment (ROI) for employees. 

RPA can automate a wide range of tasks, including: data entry, transaction processing, report generation, logging into applications and systems, moving files and folders, extracting, copying, and inserting data, filling in forms.

Improve employee morale by freeing up time for more strategic decision-making
Save time by automating repeatable tasks RPA can be used across all industries and functions. For example, SAP uses an RPA tool called Lucy to generate employment offer letters. 

RPA is considered a significant technological evolution because it's:

• Mature, resilient, scalable, and reliable
• Affordable because it doesn't require new IT investment
• Pragmatic because it leverages existing IT assets

- Machine Ethics

The big question is, how do we make sure they’re helping society, rather than harming us? As we continue to develop machines with decision-making abilities that are comparable to those of a human mind, recognizing and addressing these questions are more important than ever. Technology like AI will change society. It’s already becoming part of our lives. We need to work out how to make sure it improves the quality of everyone’s life.

The ethics of AI is the part of the ethics of technology specific to AI systems. It is sometimes divided into a concern with the moral behavior of humans as they design, make, use and treat AI systems, and a concern with the behavior of machines, in machine ethics. It also includes the issue of a possible singularity due to superintelligent AI. 

[More to come ...]