Definitions, Part I
A type of machine that can be remotely controlled, partially autonomous, or fully autonomous as it moves or objects in order to carry out tasks.
What is a "robot"?
A robot designed to look and function like a human
What is a humanoid robot?
Around 1495, this person designed a mechanical knight using pulleys and cable, as well as a mechanical cart capable of serving as a programmable controller.
Who is Leonardo da Vinci?
The part of a DC motor that spins
What is a rotor?
The main and largest printed circuit board in a computer
What is a "motherboard?"?
A mechanical machine shaped like a human or animal that works automatically without feedback from sensors or direct control by humans.
What is an automaton?
The floor-cleaning robot
What is a Roomba?
In 1950, this prolific author wrote a collection of robotics short stories called I, Robot.
Who is Isaac Asimov?
A type of sensor that converts changes in light intensity into changes in electric resistance
What is a photoresistor?
The first robot to appear in a movie (starred in the silent movie classic Metropolis)
What was "Maria"?
An electric DC motor that uses sensory feedback from an internal potentiometer to precisely control position and movement.
What is a servomotor?
A fully autonomous car that won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge.
What is Stanley?
The date the "Curiosity" rover, a robotic geological explorer, lands on Mars.
What is 2012?
An ultrasonic range finder
What is a ping sensor?
The coordination and control of multiple robots of similar type, operating at the same time and place.
What is "swarm robotics"?
The moving parts of a robot that allow it to act.
What is an actuator?
Type of humanoid robot emphasizing bipedal mobility over uneven terrain.
What is ASIMO?
In 1997, this computer defeated world chess champion Gary Kasparov.
What was IBM's Deep Blue computer?
The fundamental task for robotic manipulators involves grasping, moving, and then releasing an object.
What is "pick and place"?
Programmed into robots to protect humans from harm by robots
What are the "Three Laws of Robotics?"?
Any device that detects changes in physical properties or energy patterns in the world or the robot and converts those electric, chemical, or mechanical signals usable by a controller to adjust actuator behavior, etc.
What is a sensor?
A two-armed robotic manipulator introduced in 2012 for light manufacturing tasks, featuring rapid reprogramming and safe interactions with humans.
What is Baxter?
The year that Predator UAVs fired missiles for the first time in U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When was 2007?
Indirect communication by altering the environment to signal other agents.
What is stigmergy?
A robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
What is the first "law of robotics"?