Mobile Robotics: Detailed Explanation

If one may ask you, what is a robot? What do I need to know before I create a robot? What will be your answer?
In this little article. We are going to explain what a mobile robot and its characteristics. I will like my reader to pay attention because in our dispensation, many technologies are manufactured and robotics, this has spanned through robotic cars, robotic cookers, robotic mules and lots more, is one phase that grows faster in the computer world. Let’s explore mobile robot together!

This article is sponsored by Mechanic Assistant

What is a robot?

Robots are machines that are autonomous, exist in the physical world, capable
 of handling complex various kind of actions, sense its environment and have
 potentials of acting according to its specified goal.

Based on the definition, Robots focus on these three areas which are,
Autonomous: The ability to act on its own based on the programmable computations made by humans. For a robot to act, there must be a brain. In the computer world, we call them microprocessor. The microprocessor takes the input from the sensor in order to make decisions and sends it output so that goals might be achieved.

Exist in the physical world: They can’t function in the supernatural only in the physical. This means that they need a body in order to carry out the given input. More, they can travel and can carry its weight. Note: The bigger your robot, the bigger the solved task.
They can sense their environment: Robots almost carry out the five senses in a human. They have cameras, chemical sensors, touch sensors and sensors to calculate the distance of a given object.
Act or Actuator: For a robot to achieve its goal, an actuator is needed which includes wheel, leg, arm etc.

Robots Are Everywhere in our environment. But some of us don't know they exist around us. They are as follows;
Vacuum cleaner
Astroboy
Robotic fish
Medical robots
Car assembly robots

History of Robots

When we are talking of robots, we are also talking about its discipline that comprises of science and engineering. Robotic is the combination of electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering. One must acquire skills in these areas in order to design and build a robot.

The word robot was first mentioned publicly in Czech by a playwright Karel Capek during a play called R.U.R(Rossom Universal Robots) in 1921. The word (Robot) comes from the word robota which means a Forced labor. The first robot in humanoid form was named Eric and was displayed to deliver a speech at the annual model engineers society in London 1928.

As we have shared a brief information on what a robot is and its main feature, we will take a tour in mobile robots.

What is a mobile robot?

A mobile robot is an autonomous or an automatic system that is capable of
 locomotion (move around), sense its environment, exist in the physical 
world but don't have a tendency to be fixed in a particular place and
 capable to achieve the desired goal.

Classification

Mobile robots are classified into two areas.
Based on the environment they exist. Water, land, and air.
Based on their movement in the environment.

Environment	Robot Movement
Water	propeller, swimming, driven
Land	Biped, wheeled, hexapod, tracked.
Air	Drone, unmanned, Aircraft, quadcopter.

There are certain robots that can exist in the different environment. They include wall climbing robots, swinging robots, hopping robots etc.

Why do we need Robots in our environment?

One of the primary reasons why robots were built was to perform dangerous and boring jobs.

Example of some existing Robot
Cybot: It has a certain amount of sensors and measures how high an object can be.
Humanoid robot: Like Asimo and atlas
Cyborg: Operates like an insect.

Robots in Mars

Certain Robots were sent to Mars to explore the surface of Mars
Spirit, Curiosity, and opportunity.
Curiosity was sent on November 2011 to mars and arrived on August 2012. Its purpose was to check the geology of Mars. The robot weighed 900kg. Has small cameras for detecting the type of soil and has monitoring stations to watch the climate. In addition to the characteristics of curiosity, it has an arm that can analyze any object it picks up.

Locomotion of Mobile Robot

Wheeled Robot

Types
Steady wheel
mecanum wheel
Coaster wheel
Spiral wheel

Robot Steering

Types of steering
Differential steering: Two wheels function or drive independently.
Synchronous drive steering: All wheels rotate and move same time.

Legged Robot

Types of legs
Hexapod Robots: Six-legged robot.
Biped: Two-legged robot.
Quadruped: Four-legged robot.

Though there are different kinds of legged robot. Also, there are some differences in the degree of freedom in which the move. one-degree freedom moves one way. Two-degree freedom has both foot and knee. Lastly, three-degree freedom has three joint.

Robot Stability

Stability is a process were the central gravity of a mass is equally distributed in an object. For example, the mass is distributed in the hips or the center of a body. There are two types of stability, namely:
Dynamically stable: Robots that move to balance statistically stable: This kind of robot has enough legs to keep them stable.

Tracked Robots

They run on continuous tracks and are used for the rough environment. An example is an armored car used in the military.

Hybrid Robots

The combination of different type of movement in a robot. Example; A robot that is built to have wheeled and legged locomotive characteristics.

Flying Robots

Air balloon robots: Like Airpenguin, Air ray
Robots with Rotary wings: A quadcopter or a multicopter which is propelled by four rotors.
Airplane robots: Robots that are deployed in areas where there is disaster in order to create a communication channel
Wing flapping: planes that fly like a real bird. An example is a smart bird.

Underwater Robots

They are usually used for navigation. The propeller turns around and pushes the water. This then allows the robot to move faster.

Sensors

A sensor is a device that detects physical properties and responds to it.

Types of sensors

Exteroceptive sensors: These are external sensors that are capable of measuring the amount of light in a room or noise in the environment. Examples are; contact switch, ultrasonic sensors, a photo resistor, laser range finder etc.
Proprioceptive: Are sensors that measure speed etc example is a shaft encoder etc.
While dealing with sensors, we should know that they function in two different categories called the Active and the Passive sensor.
Passive sensors receive while active sensors sends.
While purchasing a sensor, you should consider the cost, robustness, mechanics, speed, redundancy and error rates.

Things to Consider when you want to build your Robot.

Stability: will your robot be stable while walking around the environment?
Will the robot be able to withstand gallops?
Robustness: Do you want it to be simple?
Speed: How do you want your robot to move? Do you want it to be fast or slow?
Weight or size of the robot
Space which the sensors need to be placed.
Movement structure: Do you want a wheeled robot or a legged robot.
Find space to put the brain of the robot (Microprocessor).

Summary

In conclusion, in our modern world, things have been made easier. Manufacturers have designed and programmed processors for certain goal which a robot will carry out. Furthermore, they have packaged these microprocessors with the body of the robot and it's been sold in different shops where robots are sold or you can purchase online. This makes it easier for those who want to have a tiny robot or want to learn a little bit about it.

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This article is sponsored by Mechanic Assistant