As born in science fiction novels, people are full of fantasies about robots. Perhaps it is precisely because of the vague definition of robots that it gives people ample room for imagination and creation. Operational robot: can be automatically controlled, can be programmed repeatedly, is multi-functional, has several degrees of freedom, can be fixed or movable, and is used in automation systems. Program-controlled robot: Controls the mechanical movements of the robot in sequence according to the pre-required order and conditions. Teaching reproducible robot: Through guidance or other methods, the robot is taught its movements first, the work program is input, and the robot automatically repeats the operation. CNC robot: It is not necessary to make the robot move. The robot is taught through numerical values, language, etc., and the robot performs operations based on the taught information. Sensory controlled robots: Use information obtained from sensors to control the robot's movements. Adaptive control robot: The robot can adapt to changes in the environment and control its own actions. Learning-controlled robot: The robot can "understand" the work experience, has a certain learning function, and uses the "learned" experience at work. Intelligent robot: A person who uses artificial intelligence to determine his or her actions. Based on the application environment, our country's robot experts divide robots into two major categories, namely industrial robots and special robots. The so-called industrial robots are multi-joint manipulators or multi-degree-of-freedom robots oriented to the industrial field. Special robots are various advanced robots other than industrial robots that are used in non-manufacturing industries and serve humans, including: service robots, underwater robots, entertainment robots, military robots, agricultural robots, robotic machines, etc. Among special robots, some branches are developing rapidly and have a tendency to form independent systems, such as service robots, underwater robots, military robots, micro-operation robots, etc. At present, international roboticists divide robots into two categories based on their application environment: industrial robots in manufacturing environments and service and humanoid robots in non-manufacturing environments. This is consistent with our country's classification. Aerial robots are also called drones. In recent years, among the military robot family, drones have been the field with the most active scientific research activities, the greatest technological progress, the largest investment in research and procurement funds, and the richest practical experience. For more than 80 years, the development of drones in the world has basically been driven by the United States. The United States ranks first in the world in terms of technical level and types and quantities of drones. Robot Variety Chapter "Eugene" Drones Throughout the history of the development of drones, it can be said that modern warfare is the driving force for the development of drones. And drones have an increasing impact on modern warfare. During World War I and World War II, although drones appeared and were used, they did not play a significant role due to their low technological level. During the Korean War, the United States used unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and attack aircraft, but in limited numbers. In the subsequent Vietnam War and Middle East war, drones have become an indispensable weapon system. In the Gulf War, the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War, drones became the main type of reconnaissance aircraft. The French "Kestrel" UAV suffered heavy losses during the Vietnam War, with 2,500 aircraft shot down and more than 5,000 pilots killed. Public opinion in the United States was in an uproar. For this reason, the U.S. Air Force uses drones more frequently. For example, the "Buffalo Hunter" drone has performed more than 2,500 missions over North Vietnam, taking photos at ultra-low altitudes, with a damage rate of only 4%. The AQM-34Q 147 Firebee UAV has flown more than 500 times, conducting electronic eavesdropping, radio jamming, throwing metal chaff and opening channels for manned aircraft. High-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft
During the Battle of the Bekaa Valley in 1982, the Israeli army discovered it through aerial reconnaissance. Syria has concentrated a large number of troops in the Bekaa Valley. On June 9, the Israeli army dispatched the US-made E-2C "Hawkeye" early warning aircraft to monitor the Syrian army. At the same time, it dispatched more than 70 sorties of "Scout" and "Dog" unmanned aerial vehicles every day to target the Syrian army's air defense positions and The airport conducts repeated reconnaissance and transmits the captured images to early warning aircraft and ground command. In this way, the Israeli army accurately identified the location of the Syrian army's radar, and then launched "Wolf" anti-radar missiles, destroying many of the Syrian army's radars, missiles and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, forcing the Syrian army's radars not to turn on. The conditions were created for the Israeli military's manned aircraft to attack targets.
Phantom Drones When the Gulf War broke out in 1991, the first problem the US military faced was to find Iraq's hidden Scud missile launchers in the vast sea of ??sand. If a manned reconnaissance aircraft is used, it will have to fly back and forth over the desert and be exposed to the anti-aircraft firepower of the Iraqi army for a long time, which is extremely dangerous. For this reason, drones have become the main force of the US military’s aerial reconnaissance. During the entire Gulf War, the "Pioneer" drone was the most used type of drone by the US military. The US military deployed 6 Pioneer drone companies in the Gulf region, with a total of 522 sorties dispatched, and the flight time Up to 1640 hours. At that time, no matter day or night, there was always a Pioneer drone flying over the bay every day.
In order to destroy the strong defenses built by the Iraqi army along the coast, the USS Missouri battleship sailed to the offshore area at night on February 4. The Pioneer drone took off from its deck and took pictures with an infrared reconnaissance device. Images of ground targets are acquired and transmitted to the command center. A few minutes later, the 406mm naval gun on the battleship began to bombard the target, and at the same time, the drone continued to calibrate the naval gun. Afterwards, the battleship USS Wisconsin took over from the USS Missouri, and continued the bombardment for three days, completely destroying the Iraqi army's artillery positions, radar network, and command and communication hub. During the Gulf War, Pioneer UAVs took off from two battleships alone in 151 sorties and flew more than 530 hours, completing tasks such as target search, battlefield warning, maritime interception, and naval artillery support.
Launching the Brevel UAV
In the Gulf War, the Pioneer UAV became the pioneer of the U.S. Army. It conducted aerial reconnaissance for the 7th Army of the Army, photographed a large number of images of Iraqi tanks, command centers, and missile launch sites, and transmitted them to helicopter units. Then the US military dispatched "Apache" attack helicopters to attack the targets. , artillery units can also be called for fire support when necessary. The survivability of the Pioneer aircraft is very strong. Among the 319 flights, only one was hit, and 4 to 5 crashed due to electromagnetic interference. In addition to the US military, Britain, France, and Canada have also dispatched drones. For example, the French "Fawn" division is equipped with a "Marte" drone platoon. When the French army went deep into Iraq to fight, they first sent drones to detect the enemy's situation. Based on what they detected, the French army avoided the Iraqi army's tanks and artillery positions. During the 1995 Bosnian War, due to the urgent need of troops, the "Predator" drone was quickly transported to the front line. The "Predator" played an important role in NATO air strikes on the supply lines, ammunition depots, and command centers of the Serb forces. It first conducts reconnaissance, guides manned aircraft to attack after discovering the target, and then evaluates the results of the battle. It also provides UN peacekeeping forces with the movement of military vehicles on major roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina to determine whether the parties are complying with the peace agreement. The US military therefore calls the Predator a "low-altitude satellite on the battlefield." In fact, satellites can only provide instantaneous images of the battlefield, while drones can hover over the battlefield for a long time, thus providing continuous real-time images of the battlefield. Drones are also much cheaper than using satellites. On March 24, 1999, NATO, led by the United States, began indiscriminate bombing of Yugoslavia under the guise of "maintaining human rights", and the "Kosovo War" broke out that shocked the world. During the 78 days of bombing, NATO forces dispatched 32,000 aircraft, deployed more than 40 ships, and dropped 13,000 tons of bombs, causing unprecedented havoc in Europe since World War II. The mountainous and forested terrain of Yugoslavia and the climatic conditions of rainy days have greatly affected the reconnaissance effect of NATO reconnaissance satellites and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The Serbian army's anti-aircraft firepower is very fierce, and manned reconnaissance aircraft do not dare to fly low, causing NATO to The Air Force cannot identify and attack targets below the clouds. In order to reduce casualties, NATO uses drones extensively. The Kosovo War was the war in which the largest number of drones were used and the role of drones was greatest among local wars in the world. Although UAVs fly slowly and fly at low altitudes, they are small in size, have small radar and infrared characteristics, are well concealed, and are not easy to be hit. They are suitable for medium and low-altitude reconnaissance and can clearly see satellites and manned reconnaissance aircraft. Invisible target.
During the Kosovo War, the governments of the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom dispatched more than 200 drones of 6 different types, including: the U.S. Air Force’s “Predator” and the Army’s “Hunter” (Hunter) and the Navy's "Pioneer"; Germany's CL-289; France's "Crecerelles" and "Hunter", as well as the British "Phoenix" and other UAVs. UAVs mainly completed the following tasks during the Kosovo War: medium and low-altitude reconnaissance and battlefield surveillance, electronic jamming, battle results assessment, target positioning, meteorological data collection, leaflet distribution and pilot rescue, etc. The Kosovo War not only greatly improved the status of drones in war, but also attracted the attention of governments of various countries to drones. The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee requires that within 10 years, the military should prepare a sufficient number of unmanned systems so that one-third of low-altitude attack aircraft are drones; within 15 years, one-third of ground combat vehicles should be unmanned aerial vehicles. human system. This is not about using unmanned systems to replace pilots and manned aircraft, but to use them to supplement the capabilities of manned aircraft so that pilots are used as little as possible on high-risk missions. The development of drones will surely promote the development of modern warfare theory and unmanned warfare systems.
Robot Police
The so-called ground military robots refer to robot systems used on the ground. They can not only help police remove bombs and complete security tasks in important areas in peacetime, but also in wartime. They can also perform various tasks such as mine clearance, reconnaissance and attack on behalf of soldiers. Today, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Japan and other countries have developed various types of ground military robots.
British "Trolley" Robot
In Western countries, terrorist activities have always been a headache for the authorities. Due to national conflicts, the United Kingdom was severely threatened by explosives, so it successfully developed an explosive disposal robot as early as the 1960s. More than 800 units of the crawler-type "Trolley" and "Super Trolley" explosive disposal robots developed in the UK have been sold to military and police agencies in more than 50 countries. Recently, the United Kingdom has optimized the trolley robot and developed two remote-controlled electric explosive disposal robots, Marmot and Bison. The British Royal Engineers use them to detect and deal with explosives in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. The marmot weighs 35 kilograms and has two cameras mounted on its mast. The bison weighs 210 kilograms and can carry a load of 100 kilograms. Both use radio control systems, with a remote control distance of about 1 km.
"Marmot" and "Bison" explosive ordnance disposal robots
In addition to the bombs planted by terrorists, unexploded bombs of various types are scattered everywhere in many war-torn countries in the world. Ammunition. For example, Kuwait after the Gulf War was like an ammunition depot that could explode at any time. In the area of ??more than 10,000 square kilometers on the Iraq-Kuwait border, there are 250,000 landmines, 850,000 artillery shells manufactured by 16 countries, and 25 million minelaying bombs and submunition bullets dropped by multinational forces, of which at least 20% are not explode. And to this day, unexploded bombs and landmines from World War I and World War II still exist in many countries. Therefore, the demand for explosive ordnance disposal robots is huge.
There are wheeled and crawler robots for removing explosives. They are generally small in size and have flexible steering, making them easy to work in narrow places. Operators can use radio or Fiber optic cables control its activity. The robot vehicle is generally equipped with multiple color CCD cameras to observe explosives; a multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator can use its claws or clamps to unscrew the fuse or detonator of the explosive and transport the explosive away ; The vehicle is also equipped with a shotgun, which can destroy the timing device and detonation device of explosives after aiming with a laser pointer; some robots are also equipped with high-pressure water cannons that can cut explosives.
Germany's explosive disposal robot
In France, the air force, army and police department have all purchased the TRS200 medium-sized explosive disposal robot developed by Cybernetics. The RM35 robot developed by DM Company was also selected by the Paris Airport Authority. The German peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina is equipped with Telerob’s MV4 series robots.
The PXJ-2 robot developed by my country's Shenyang Automation Institute has also joined the ranks of the public security forces.
The Andros series of robots from the American company Remotec are welcomed by military and police departments in various countries. The White House and the Capitol Police Department have purchased such robots. Before the South African presidential election, the police purchased four AndrosVIA robots, which performed more than 100 tasks during the election process. The Andros robot can be used for the disposal of small random explosives. It is the only robot used on U.S. Air Force passenger aircraft and buses. After the Gulf War, the U.S. Navy also used this robot to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance at air bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The U.S. Air Force also sent five Andros robots to Kosovo to clean up explosives and sub-shells. Every active EOD team and aviation rescue center in the Air Force is equipped with an Andros VI.
The explosive disposal robot developed in our country
The explosive disposal robot can not only dispose of bombs, but also use its reconnaissance sensors to monitor the activities of criminals. Surveillance personnel can observe criminals day and night from a distance, listen to their conversations, and have a clear understanding of the situation without exposing themselves.
In early 1993, the Waco Manor Mission Case occurred in the United States. In order to understand the activities of the Puritans, the FBI used two types of robots. One is Remotec's AndrosVA and Andros MarkVIA robots, and the other is the STV robot developed by RST. STV is a 6-wheel remote control vehicle that uses radio and optical cable communications. The vehicle has a stand that can be raised to 4.5 meters, which is equipped with a color stereo camera, day sight, low-light night vision sight, binaural audio detector, chemical detector, satellite positioning system, and target tracking Forward looking infrared sensor, etc. The car requires only one operator and has a remote control distance of 10 kilometers. In this operation, the police dispatched three STVs. The operators remotely controlled the robot to stop 548 meters away from the manor, raised the bracket on the vehicle, and used cameras and infrared detectors to peer into the windows. The FBI The officials gathered around the fluorescent screen to observe the images sent back by the sensors, and could clearly see the activities in the room.
Robot command
In fact, it is not that people do not want to give a complete definition of robots. Since the birth of robots, people have been constantly trying to explain what a robot is. However, with the rapid development of robotics technology and the advent of the information age, the content covered by robots is becoming more and more abundant, and the definition of robots is also constantly enriched and innovated.
In 1886, French writer Lil Adam named the human-looking machine "Android" in his novel "The Eve of the Future". It consists of 4 parts:
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1. Life system (balance, walking, vocalization, body swing, feeling, expression, regulating movement, etc.);
2. Modeling solution (metal covering that allows joints to move freely, A kind of armor);
3. Artificial muscles (the above-mentioned armor has various forms of the body such as flesh, veins, gender, etc.);
4. Artificial skin (containing skin color, mechanics, contours, hair, vision, teeth, claws, etc.).
In 1920, Czech writer Karel Capek published the science fiction script "Rosam's Universal Robot". In the script, Capek wrote the Czech word "Robota" as "Robot", and "Robota" means slave. The play foretells the tragic impact of the development of robots on human society, which has attracted widespread attention and is regarded as the origin of the word robot. In the play, robots work silently according to the orders of their masters, without feelings and emotions, and perform heavy labor in a dull manner. Later, Rossam's company succeeded in making robots have emotions, which led to a rapid increase in the application sectors of robots. Robots have become indispensable in factories and household chores. The robots found that humans were very selfish and unfair, and finally rebelled. The robots had excellent physical and intellectual abilities, so they destroyed humans.
But the robots didn't know how to make themselves and thought they would soon become extinct, so they started looking for human survivors, but to no avail. In the end, a pair of male and female robots with better perception than other robots fell in love. At this time, robots evolved into humans, and the world came back to life.
What Capek raised was the issue of robot safety, perception and self-reproduction. The advancement of science and technology is likely to cause problems that humans do not want. Although the science fiction world is just an imagination, human society will likely face this reality.
In order to prevent robots from harming humans, science fiction writer Asimov proposed the "Three Principles of Robotics" in 1940:
1. Robots should not harm humans;
2. Robots should obey human orders, except those that violate the first article;
3. Robots should be able to protect themselves, except those that conflict with the first article.
This is the ethical program given to robots. The robotics academic community has always regarded these three principles as guidelines for robot development.
At the first robotics academic conference held in Japan in 1967, two representative definitions were proposed. The first is what Masahiro Mori and Shuhei Ada put forward: "A robot is a flexible machine with seven characteristics: mobility, individuality, intelligence, versatility, semi-mechanical and semi-human nature, automation, and slaveness." Starting from this definition, Masahiro Mori proposed using 10 characteristics to express the characteristics of robots, including automation, intelligence, individuality, semi-mechanical and semi-human, operability, versatility, information, flexibility, limitedness, and mobility. image. The other one proposed by Kato Ichiro is that a machine with the following three conditions is called a robot:
1. An individual with three elements such as brain, hands, and feet;
2. Contact sensors (receiving distant information with eyes and ears) and contact sensors;
3. Sensors with balance sense and intrinsic sense.
Ceremonial Robot
This definition emphasizes that the robot should be human-like, that is, it relies on its hands to operate, its feet to move, and its brain to complete the unified command function. Non-contact sensors and contact sensors are equivalent to human facial features, allowing robots to recognize the external environment, while balance sense and intrinsic sense are indispensable sensors for robots to perceive their own status. What is described here is not an industrial robot but an autonomous robot.
The definition of robots is diverse, and the reason is that it has a certain degree of ambiguity. Animals generally have the above elements, so while robots are understood as human-like machines, robots can also be understood in a broad sense as animal-like machines.
In 1988, Espio of France defined robots as: "Robotics refers to the design of a pre-planned operating system based on sensor information, and the use of this system as the research object."
In 1987, the International Organization for Standardization defined industrial robots: "An industrial robot is a programmable operating machine with automatic control of operation and movement functions that can complete various tasks."
The definition of robots by Chinese scientists is: "A robot is an automated machine. The difference is that this machine has some intelligent abilities similar to humans or living things, such as perception, planning, action and collaboration. , is an automated machine with high flexibility." In the process of researching and developing robots operating in unknown and uncertain environments, people gradually realize that the essence of robotics technology is the combination of perception, decision-making, action and interaction technology. As people's understanding of the intelligent nature of robot technology deepens, robot technology has begun to penetrate into various fields of human activities. Combining the application characteristics of these fields, people have developed a variety of special robots and various intelligent machines with sensing, decision-making, action and interaction capabilities, such as mobile robots, micro-robots, underwater robots, medical robots, military robots, Aerial space robots, entertainment robots, etc. The adaptability to different tasks and special environments is also an important difference between robots and general automation equipment.
The appearance of these robots has been far away from the shape of the original humanoid robots and industrial robots. They are more in line with the special requirements of various application fields. Their functions and intelligence have also been greatly enhanced, thus opening up more new possibilities for robotics technology. Broad space for development.
Song Jian, President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out: "The progress and application of robotics is the most convincing achievement of automatic control in the 20th century, and it is automation in the highest sense of the contemporary world." Robot technology integrates the development results of multiple disciplines and represents the development frontier of high technology. Its continuous expansion in the application fields of human life is causing the international community to re-understand the role and influence of robotic technology.
Based on the application environment, robot experts in our country divide robots into two major categories, namely industrial robots and special robots. The so-called industrial robots are multi-joint manipulators or multi-degree-of-freedom robots oriented to the industrial field. Special robots are various advanced robots other than industrial robots that are used in non-manufacturing industries and serve humans, including: service robots, underwater robots, entertainment robots, military robots, agricultural robots, robotic machines, etc. Among special robots, some branches are developing rapidly and have a tendency to form independent systems, such as service robots, underwater robots, military robots, micro-operation robots, etc. At present, international roboticists divide robots into two categories based on their application environment: industrial robots in manufacturing environments and service and humanoid robots in non-manufacturing environments. This is consistent with our country's classification.
Ancient robot
The emergence of the word robot and the advent 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 3,000 years. Humans hope to create a human-like machine that can complete various tasks in place of humans.
Robot Carriage
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Yanshi, a skilled craftsman in my country, developed a singing and dancing actor, which was the earliest recorded robot in my country.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, Lu Ban, a famous carpenter in my country, was also an inventor in machinery. According to the "Mo Jing", he once made a wooden bird that could fly in the air for "three days." , embodies the wisdom and wisdom of our country’s working people.
In the 2nd century BC, the ancient Greeks of Alexander's time invented the most primitive robot-the automaton. It is a moving statue powered by water, air and steam pressure. It can open doors on its own and sing with the help of steam.
In the Han Dynasty 1800 years ago, the great scientist Zhang Heng not only invented the seismometer, but also invented the gili drum cart. Every time the drum cart travels one mile, the wooden man on the car beats the drum once, and every ten miles the bell strikes.
During the Three Kingdoms period of the Later Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, successfully created the "Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse" and used it to transport military supplies and support frontline wars.
In 1662, Japan's Takeda Omi used clock technology to invent an automatic machine doll and performed it at Dotonbori in Osaka.
In 1738, the talented French technician Jack de Vaxon invented a robotic duck that could quack, swim and drink, and also eat and excrete. Waxon's original intention was to mechanize biological functions for medical analysis.
Writing Robot
Among the automatic dolls at that time, the most outstanding ones were the Swiss watchmaker Jack Dauros and his son Leigh-Louis Dauros. In 1773, they successively launched automatic writing dolls, automatic playing dolls, etc. The automatic dolls they created were made using the principles of gears and clockwork. Some of them draw with brushes and colors, and some hold goose feathers dipped in ink to write. Their structures are ingenious and their costumes are gorgeous. They were very popular in Europe. Due to the technical limitations of the time, these dolls were actually giant toys one meter tall. The earliest robot preserved today is a girl doll in the Nusatier Historical Museum in Switzerland. It was made two hundred years ago. The ten fingers of its two hands can press the keys of the organ to play music. It is still played regularly today. For visitors to enjoy, it shows the wisdom of ancient people.
In the mid-19th century, automatic dolls were divided into two schools, namely the science fiction school and the mechanical production school, and each found its own place in literature, art and modern technology. In 1831, Goethe published "Faust" and created the artificial human being "Homicide"; in 1870, Hoffmann published the work "Coppelia" with an automatic doll as the protagonist; in 1883, Collodi's "Puppet" "Adventures" came out; "The Eve of the Future" came out in 1886. In terms of mechanical manufacturing, Moore built the "Steam Man" in 1893. The "Steam Man" relied on steam to drive its legs to move around in a circle.
After entering the 20th century, the research and development of robots has received more attention and support. Some practical robots have come out one after another. In 1927, Wentzley, an engineer from the American Westinghouse Company, built the first robot. "Telegraph Box" and exhibited at the World's Fair in New York. It is an electric robot equipped with a radio transmitter that can answer some questions, but the robot cannot move. In 1959, the first industrial robot (programmable, circular coordinate) was born in the United States, ushering in a new era of robot development