With the ringing of the New Year bell in 21, people have stepped into the 21st century with solid steps. Standing at the threshold of the turn of the century, looking back on the past and looking forward to the future, we are full of emotions and thoughts ...
In the 2th century, mankind has made brilliant achievements, from the establishment of quantum theory and relativity, the application of atomic energy, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, to the rapid development of information technology and the drawing of the draft of human genome work, the world's science and technology has undergone profound changes. Major breakthroughs have been made in information technology, biotechnology, new material technology, advanced manufacturing technology, marine technology and aerospace technology, which have greatly improved social productivity.
As one of the greatest inventions of the 2th century, robot technology has made great progress after 4 years of development since it came out in the early 196s. After the birth-growth-maturity period, industrial robots have become an indispensable core equipment in the manufacturing industry. There are about 75, industrial robots in the world fighting side by side with workers and friends on various fronts. As a rising star of the robot family, special robots have a great potential to catch up with others because of their wide uses. Humanoid robots, agricultural robots, service robots, underwater robots, medical robots, military robots, entertainment robots and other special robots with various uses have appeared one after another, and they are moving towards practicality at a rapid speed.
people often ask why robots should be developed. We say that the emergence and rapid development of robots is the necessity of social and economic development, in order to improve the production level of society and the quality of human life, and let robots do jobs for people that people can't do and can't do well. In real life, some jobs will do harm to human body, such as painting and carrying heavy objects. Some jobs require high quality and it is difficult for people to be competent for a long time, such as automobile welding and precision assembly. Some workers can't be there, such as volcanic exploration, deep-sea exploration, space exploration, etc. Some jobs are not suitable for people to do, such as some harsh environment, some boring repetitive work, etc. These are all places where robots can show their talents. The service robot can also treat diseases, care for health, and clean security for you. Underwater robots can help salvage sunken ships and lay cables; Engineering robots can go up into the mountains and dig holes to build roads; Agricultural robots can cultivate, sow, fertilize and kill insects; Military robots can take the lead, clear mines and dispose of bombs ...
There are many puzzles about robots in society now, and some people think that robots can do anything. These friends know robots from movies, TV shows and novels. In their eyes, robots are omnipotent machines. When they see the real robots, they will think that the current robots are too ordinary to be called robots. Some people think that robots are people, and they must be shaped like people. How can they be called robots if they are not like people? However, most robots in reality are not like people, which makes many robot lovers disappointed. Others think that when robots are employed, workers will be laid off, and they regard robots as competitors invisibly. They didn't expect robots to do many beneficial things for people, promote the development of industries and create more employment opportunities for human beings.
definition of robot
in the scientific and technological field, scientists will give a clear definition of every scientific and technological term, but it has been several decades since robots came out, and the definition of robots is still different, and there is no unified opinion. One of the reasons is that robots are still developing, and new models and new functions are constantly emerging. The fundamental reason is that robot involves the concept of human and becomes a philosophical question that is difficult to answer. Just as the word robot was first born in science fiction, people are full of illusions about robots. Perhaps it is precisely because of the vague definition of robot that people are given full imagination and creative space.
Robot Command
It's not that people don't want to give a complete definition to robots. Since the birth of robots, people have been trying to explain what robots are. However, with the rapid development of robot technology and the arrival of the information age, the content covered by robots is getting richer and richer, and the definition of robots is constantly enriched and innovated.
In p>1886, the French writer Lill Adam named the machine that looks like a human being "android" in his novel Future Eve. It consists of four parts:
1. Life system (balance, walking, vocalization, body swing, feeling, expression, regulating movement, etc.);
2, modeling degradation (metal covering with free movement of joints, a kind of armor);
3, artificial muscle (there are various forms of body such as body, vein and sex on the above armor);
4, artificial skin (including skin color, mechanism, outline, hair, vision, teeth, claws, etc.).
In p>192, the Czech writer Karel Capec published the sci-fi script "Universal Robot of Rosam". In the script, Capec wrote the Czech word "Robota" as "Robota", which means slave. The drama foretells the tragic impact of the development of robots on human society, which has aroused widespread concern and is regarded as the origin of the word robot. In the play, the robot works silently according to its master's orders, without feeling or affection, and does heavy work in a dull way. Later, Rosam Company succeeded, which made robots have feelings, leading to a rapid increase in the application departments of robots. Robots have become an indispensable member in factories and housework. The robot found that human beings were very selfish and unfair, and finally rebelled. The robot's physical fitness and intelligence were excellent, thus destroying human beings.
But robots don't know how to make themselves, thinking that they will be extinct soon, so they start looking for human survivors, but there is no result. Finally, a pair of male and female robots with superior perceptual ability fell in love with each other. At this time, robots evolved into humans, and the world came back to life.
Capec raised the safety, perception and self-reproduction of robots. The progress of science and technology is likely to cause problems that human beings do not want to appear. Although the science fiction world is just an imagination, human society will probably face this reality.
In order to prevent robots from harming human beings, science fiction writer Asimov put forward the "Three Principles of Robots" in 194:
1. Robots should not harm human beings;
2. Robots should obey human orders, except those that violate the first one;
3. Robots should be able to protect themselves, except those that conflict with Article 1.
this is an ethical program given to robots. The robot academia has always regarded these three principles as the guidelines for robot development.
at the first academic conference on robotics held in Japan in 1967, two representative definitions were put forward. First, Mori Zhenghong and Zhou Ping of Hetian put forward: "Robot is a flexible machine with seven characteristics, such as mobility, individuality, intelligence, universality, semi-mechanical, semi-human, automation and slavery". Starting from this definition, Mori Zhenghong put forward ten characteristics to represent the image of the robot, such as automaticity, intelligence, individuality, semi-machinery, semi-humanity, operability, universality, informality, flexibility, finiteness and mobility. The other is that Ichiro Kato put forward that a machine with the following three conditions is called a robot:
1, an individual with three elements: brain, hands and feet;
2, with non-contact sensors (eyes and ears to receive remote information) and contact sensors;
3, a sensor with balance sense and inherent sense.
Etiquette robot
This definition emphasizes that the robot should be humanoid, that is, it works by hand, moves by foot, and the brain performs unified command. Non-contact sensors and contact sensors are equivalent to human's five senses, which enable the robot to identify the external environment, while the sense of balance and inherent sense are indispensable sensors for the robot to perceive its own state. What is described here is not an industrial robot but an autonomous robot.
the definition of robot is varied, and the reason is that it has certain fuzziness. Animals generally have these elements, so when we understand robots as humanoid machines, we can also broadly understand robots as animal-like machines.
in p>1988, Espiau defined robot as: "Robotics refers to designing an operating system that can be pre-planned according to sensor information, and taking the usage of this system as the research object".
In p>1987, the International Organization for Standardization defined the industrial robot: "Industrial robot is a programmable manipulator with automatic control of operation and movement, which can complete various operations."
Chinese scientists define a robot as: "A robot is an automated machine, but the difference is that it has some intelligent abilities similar to those of humans or creatures, such as perception, planning, action and coordination, and it is an automated machine with high flexibility". In the process of researching and developing robots working in unknown and uncertain environments, people gradually realize that the essence of robot technology is the combination of perception, decision-making, action and interaction technology. With the deepening of people's understanding of the intelligent nature of robot technology, robot technology began to penetrate into all fields of human activities. Combined with the application characteristics of these fields, people have developed a variety of special robots and intelligent machines with the ability of perception, decision-making, action and interaction, such as mobile robots, micro-robots, underwater robots, medical robots, military robots, air space robots, entertainment robots and so on. Adaptability to different tasks and special environments is also an important difference between robots and general automation equipment. These robots have been far away from the original humanoid robots and industrial robots in appearance, which are more in line with the special requirements of various application fields, and their functions and intelligence are greatly enhanced, thus opening up a broader development space for robotics.
Song Jian, president of China Academy of Engineering, pointed out: "The progress and application of robotics is the most convincing achievement of automatic control in the 2th century, and it is the automation in the highest sense in the contemporary era". Robotics technology synthesizes the development achievements of many disciplines and represents the frontier of high-tech development. Its continuous expansion in the application field of human life is causing a new understanding of the role and influence of robotics in the world.
classification of robots
There is no uniform standard on how to classify robots internationally, some are classified according to load weight, some according to control mode, some according to degree of freedom, some according to structure and some according to application fields. The general classification methods are shown in the table:
Classification name
Brief explanation
Operational robots
can be automatically controlled, repeatedly programmed, multi-functional, have several degrees of freedom, can be fixed or moved, and are used in related automation systems.
programmable robots
control the mechanical actions of the robots in turn according to the pre-required order and conditions.
teaching the reproducible robot
by guiding or other means, the robot is first taught to act and input the working program, and then the robot automatically repeats the operation.
CNC robot
It is not necessary to make the robot move. It is taught by numerical values, languages, etc. The robot works according to the information after teaching.
sensory control robot
uses the information obtained by sensors to control the action of the robot.
Adaptive control robot
Robots can adapt to changes in the environment and control their own actions.
Learning control robot
Robots can "experience" work experience, have certain learning functions, and apply the "learned" experience to work.
intelligent robots
robots whose actions are determined by artificial intelligence.
According to the application environment, Chinese robotics experts divide robots into two categories, namely industrial robots and special robots. The so-called industrial robot is a multi-joint manipulator or multi-degree-of-freedom robot facing the industrial field. And special robots are all kinds of advanced robots except industrial robots, which are used in non-manufacturing industries and serve human beings, including service robots, underwater robots, entertainment robots, military robots, agricultural robots, robotic machines and so on. Among the special robots, some branches are developing rapidly and tend to be independent systems, such as service robots, underwater robots, military robots and micromanipulators. At present, international robotics scholars divide robots into two categories from the application environment: industrial robots in manufacturing environment and service and humanoid robots in non-manufacturing environment, which is consistent with the classification in China.
Ancient robots
The appearance of the word robot and the appearance of the world's first industrial robot are both in recent decades. However, people's fantasy and pursuit of robots has a history of more than 3 years. Man hopes to make a machine like man, so as to do all kinds of work instead of man.
robot carriage
during the western Zhou dynasty, Yanshi, a skilled craftsman in China, developed a performer who could sing and dance well, which was the earliest recorded robot in China.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, Lu Ban, a famous carpenter in China, was also an inventor in machinery. According to the Book of Mohism, he once made a wooden bird, which could fly in the air for "three days", reflecting the wisdom of our working people.
in the 2nd century BC, the ancient Greeks in Alexandria invented the most primitive robot-automaton. It is a moving statue powered by water, air and steam pressure. It can open the door by itself and sing with the help of steam.
in the Han dynasty p>18 years ago, Zhang Heng, a great scientist, not only invented the seismograph, but also invented the drum car in the meter. The drum car in the meter is one mile per line, and the wooden man in the car beats the drum, and the bell strikes ten miles per line.
during the post-Han three kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu, successfully created the "wooden ox and flowing horse" and used it to transport military provisions to support the war ahead.
In p>1662, Takeda Kone invented the automatic robot doll by using clock technology, and performed it in Dotonbori, Osaka.
In p>1738, a talented French technician, Jack Day-Waxon, invented a robot duck, which quacked, swam and drank water, and ate and excreted. Watson's original intention is to mechanize the function of living things and make medical analysis.
Writing robot
Among the automatic dolls at that time, the most outstanding ones were Swiss watchmaker Jack Dorothy and his son Leigh Louis Dorothy. In 1773, they successively introduced automatic writing dolls and automatic playing dolls. The automatic dolls they created were made by using the principle of gear and clockwork. Some of them draw with brushes and colors, and some write with goose feathers dipped in ink. They are ingenious in structure and gorgeous in clothing, and they are all the rage in Europe. Due to the limitation of technical conditions at that time, these dolls were actually giant toys with a height of one meter. The earliest robot that has been preserved now is the girl doll in the Museum of History in Nusattir, Switzerland. It was made 2 years ago. Ten fingers of two hands can press the keys of the organ to play music, and now it is played regularly for visitors to enjoy, showing the wisdom of ancient people.
In the mid-19th century, automatic dolls were divided into two schools, namely, science fiction school and mechanical production school, and each found its own position in literature, art and modern technology. In 1831, Goethe published Faust, which shaped the artificial man "Hermon Cruz"; In 187, Hoffman published the work "Gabriella" featuring automatic dolls; Collodi's Pinocchio in 1883