# Intro: What are robots? ###### tags: `CS233` `robotics` `presentation` --- ## Robots Search on the web for [robotshop top 10 robots of the past 10 years](https://www.robotshop.com/community/blog/show/the-top-10-robots-of-the-past-10-years) or follow the above link. Think about and discuss the following questions: 1. What is it that makes something a "robot"? 2. What are the distinct abilities that robots need? --- Are the following "robots"? 1. The Deep Blue chess-playing system 2. An electronic thermostat 3. A GPS navigation system 4. Roomba 5. ChatGPT 6. Alexa / Siri --- A robot is: - "physically situated", in the real world - an "agent", sensing its environment and being able to act to change that environment - "intelligent", i.e. takes actions that maximize its chance of success --- ### Robot components Q: What are the essential components of a robot? Think about the robots we discussed earlier. --- 1. Effectors (appendages for movement, manipulation) 2. Perception (Sensing + algorithms) 3. Control (brains) 4. Communication 5. Power --- Q: Why are robots used? Think about each of the following robots, and what kind of job they are performing (and why we might prefer them over of a human) - Mars rover - Industrial robots - Snake bot - photo-bot drone - military drones --- ### Reasons for robot use - Dull, Dirty, Dangerous, Distant - Replace humans - Allow humans to project themselves - Assist humans - Amusement --- ## AI areas - Knowledge representation - Natural language processing - Learning - Planning / problem solving - Inference - Search - Vision --- ### Historical developments - Industrial + WW2: Robots as tools - Space exploration: Robots as agents --- ### Control Theory - Control: determining appropriate acceleration/deceleration of moving parts - Open loop: No in-flight corrections - Closed loop: corrections based on feedback