Robotics

Warming-up
Task 1 Give your definition of a robot and find examples of robots in a story, film and in real life.

Reading 1
Task 2 Read the text quickly and choose the best title. a. Imaginary robots in film and fiction b. Robots: the fantasy and the facts

A We can thank the world of literature for the words robot and robotics. The word robot was first used by the Czech playwright Karel Capek in his 1921 play, RUR (Rossums Universal Robots). (1) _______________. Asimov used it in a short story in 1941. B Robots often star in films too, for example dangerous machines like Terminator or cute ones like R2D2 in Star Wars. (2) ____________. Industrial robots dont have personalities and they dont think like people. Most real robots are designed to save people from dangerous jobs (3) _____________ or boring, routine work (4) ____________. C A simple robot is made of: A mechanical device (5) ____________ that can react to its environment. Sensors that (6) ___________ give information to the device. Systems or computer programs that (7) ____________ give the device instructions.

Task 3 Read the text again and put the sentences and phrases (a-g) below in the correct places (1-7). a. in factories, laboratories, or warehouses b. In this play machines behave like people. c. like an arm d. can see the environment and e. like handling nuclear or radioactive materials f. The reality is less exciting. g. understand the messages from the sensors and Task 4 Find words in the text that mean: 1. always done in the same way 2. respond to change 3. a piece of equipment designed to do a particular job 4. part of a machine that can sense heat, light, etc.

Reading 2
Task 5 Study this diagram which shows the components of an industrial robot. What do you think the functions of the three components shown are?

Fig. 1 The components of an industrial robot Task 6 Now read this text to check your answers to Task 5. The manipulator This is the bit which actually does the mechanical work, and in this case it is anthropomorphic (i.e. of human-like form), resembling an arm. The power supply For heavy-duty hydraulic or pneumatic machines this will be a compressor. In smaller, lightweight versions which use electrical stepper motors rather than hydraulics or pneumatics, this would be omitted. The computer The controlling computer is fitted with appropriate interfaces. These may include digital inputs, digital outputs, ADCs (analogue-10 to-digital converters), DACs (digital-to-analogue converters), or stepper motor control

ports. These control the various compressors, stepper motors, and solenoids, and receive signals from the manipulator's sensors. Task 7 Read the following text to find the answers to these questions. 1 What is the work volume of a manipulator? 2 What is the work volume of a human? 3 Why is the work volume of a human greater than that of an industrial robot? 4 What are 'degrees of freedom'? Work volume Robots are multifunctional so an important design issue for the manipulator is its 'work volume': the volume of space into which it can be positioned. The greater the work volume, the more extensive the range of tasks it can be programmed to carry out. 5 As a human being, your work volume consists of all the places your hands can reach. Most industrial robots have a much more limited work volume because they are bolted to the floor. Even with the same limitation applied, however, the human body is a very flexible machine with a work 10 volume described-very approximately-by a cylinder about 2.2 m high with a radius of about 1.8 m and a domed top. Degrees of freedom In order to achieve flexibility of motion within a three-dimensional space, a robot manipulator needs to be able to move in at least three dimensions. The technical jargon is that it requires at least three 'degrees of freedom'. Figs. 2 ad show a number of the more common types of robot manipulator mechanisms. Each has the requisite three degrees of freedom, allowing either linear or rotational movement.

Writing and speaking practice

Task 7 Design a robot to do a dangerous or boring job for you. Draw a rough sketch and make notes about how it works. For example: What the robot is for It is to pick up the socks in my bedroom. How it works The sensor smells , the arm