Chapter Two
The Review of the Related Literature
Introduction
Micro-robotics is a field that stresses mobility from being able to fit in tight spaces to being able to navigate varying terrain. Scientists and engineers are often trying to make smaller and more mobile robots as seen in the 3cm long RoACH robot (Hoover, 2008), and the DASH (Birkmeyer, 2009) and iSprawl (Kim, 2006) robots which can reach speeds of up to 15 body lengths a second. A common method to make robots smaller is to reduce the amount of actuators a robot has to both reduce the size of the robot and the weight but this has a negative effect on the robots mobility. The smaller robots become the less mobility they come to have and so in an effort to make robots more
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This project also deals with the use of inertial appendages in under actuated miniature robots. An inertial appendage in the form of a tail was added to a robot to study the effects a tail would have on dynamic steering. Tails can contribute to steering through either a shift in the robots center of mass or through the transfer of angular momentum. The goal of this study is to provide a model of a legged robot that successfully uses an inertial tail for faster and sharper turns. Other factors that can affect the robots movement are also studied such as changing the tail’s inertia, the friction between the robot and the surface, and motor input voltage. There are also two types of tails that will be tested and compared, a symmetric tail with weights on either side, and an asymmetric tail with half the length and a weight only on one side. The symmetric tail separates the effect of changing the robots center of mass as the system is still balanced but the asymmetric tail changes the robots center of mass which may prove either detrimental or beneficial to the robots mobility.
History of Inertial Appendages The idea of inertial appendages first stemmed from a proposal in 1969 by a paleontologist who said that theropod dinosaurs had tails which acted as dynamic stabilizers during rapid or irregular movements. (Libby, 2012) This led to the discovery that other animals such as lizards and cats have been known to use their tails to self-right their bodies in free fall.
After the experiment had been conducted, the investigator concluded that the original hypothesis did not fit the outcome of the testing of the Beetle Robot. While it was hypothesized that the device would move and react in the same
Accompanied by fossil experts Fred Mullison and Bob Masek, the author discovered a fish with a wrist, and another with a part of a fin, and part of a limb. They worked to relate the structure of the fin/wrist joint with its function for the fish. Titaalik had shoulder, elbow, and wrist shapes composed of the same bones as the upper arm, forearm, and wrist in humans. With pectoral muscle scars and crests, the author could conclude that the fish could do “pushups”. Considering the rest of the animal, with its flat head, top eyes, and ribs, the fish was built to navigate the bottom of streams and ponds, avoiding larger predators in the water. The interesting hypothesis coming from this evidence is that many of the major bones humans use to do different functions such as walk, throw, and grasp came first from other ancient animals. Yet, these bones similar in structure to their ancient counterparts come together to create a unique construction in the present. Characteristic of this construction include our ability to rotate our thumbs relative to the elbow, leading to hand usage, as well as the hind limbs with knees and elbows in opposite directions, leading to bipedal
All animals with limbs have a common design. If a batwing were to be formed from a person’s hand, make the fingers extremely long; a horse elongates the middle fingers and reduce and lose the outer ones; frogs elongate the bones of the leg and fuse several of them together. All in all, despite radical changes in what limbs do and what they look like, this underlying blueprint is always present.
Continuing with the development and improvement of the assembly line, in the 1960s, new machines were invented that allowed for five axes of motion. These devices were called the “Versatran”, and were installed a Ford factory in Ohio. But later in the decade, robots became even more complex adding another axis it can work
Allen, Paul G., and Mark Greaves. "The Singularity Isn't Near." MIT Technology Review 12 Oct. 2011: n. pag. Rpt. in Robotic Technology. Ed. Louise Gerdes. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. .
The discovery of Ardipithecus Ramidus (Ardi) changed our whole insight of how humans evolved. The theory that we evolved from ape like species was disproven. Because of Ardi’s has close resemblance of qualities of both a chimpanzee and a human, she is thought to be the “missing link” between our last common ancestor and the Australopithecines. Ardi’s had a pelvis structure, which was evident that she was bipedal on the ground while she could also climb trees, using her long fingers and opposable big toe for grasping, however the flexibility that apes use to grab and scale tree trunks and vines she lacked. The way the hand, wrist and shoulder bones demonstration shown that she wasn't a knuckle walker and did not spend much time hanging or swinging
NOVA scienceNOW : 41 - First Primates is a video that mainly talks about Primates who are ancient ancestors of human beings. Primates came out on the Earth 55million years ago when dinosaurs extinct due to collision between an immense comet and the Earth. Plesiadapiform, which is a possibly the first ancestor of primates and human beings, firstly evolved with a mouse-size organism during 10 million years. It existed during the 10 million year with diverse evidences that can show its validity of first ancester of primates. Nails of plesiadapiforms is a critical evidence that they are early ancestors of primates. Secondary proof is a tube-like structure which is found in the middle ear. It happens to be a tube for a huge vessel that goes to the
Over the last decade people have be relying more and more on technology to do simple things.For example the E-Rover was made for people wouldn't have to walk. E-Rover is a burden on society because it contributes to our society to becoming more lazy.
A gecko’s ability to walk on ceilings is due to the nano fibrils found on their feet, a well-known fact. It was discovered that millions
These two models provide insights into how bipedalism evolved from quadrupedal type of locomotion. Though the arguments are supported by numerous evidences, there are actually still a lot of things need to be explained, and they all seem to have something in common, which is to ensure the continuity of the
How would today’s world be if the technology that is known and loved by millions suddenly vanished? Could the world re-adapt to the lack of technology, or would it plummet into Darkness and Despair? In actuality, if someone can develop artificial intelligences to a certain limit he or she can prevent many of the world’s future problems. In a sense, Mankind can benefit greatly from the further use and development of Artificial Intelligence although some people would have one believe that the further development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can endanger large areas around the world.
In “Alone Together: The Robotic Movement,” Sherry Turkle explains some of the negative effects that robots are having on our lives. She also explains how they can have a negative effect on our daily lives without us even noticing. I am someone who knows a great deal about technology, however I had no idea that close human-robot interaction was happening at such an inappropriate level. There are many different examples Turkle uses in the article, however, I will only talk about two. I agree with Turkle not only that there are ethical problems with human-robot interaction but also that a lot of other forms of technology might be doing more harm than good.
Lately there have been more and more smart machines that have been taking over regular human tasks but as it grows the bigger picture is that robots will take over a lot of tasks now done by people. But, many people think that there are important ethical and moral issues that have to be dealt with this. Sooner or later there is going to be a robot that will interact in a humane manner but there are many questions to be asked like; how will they interact with us? Do we really want machines that are independent, self-directed, and has affect and emotion? I think we do, because they can provide many benefits. Obviously, as with all technologies, there are dangers as well. We need to ensure that people always
The robot had been out for 24 hours now and already Jasper has lost his family from the explosions. All 4 of them were dead except for him. He was alone and the frigid night air had engulfed him in chills as he lay on the hard, burned ground.The robot….the robot was originally a government project. Then the AI nuclear robot went rogue, escaping the facility where the tests were being run and started blowing everything up across Dead Creek, Farem, the capital of the Government.
Introduction: For years robotic technology has depicted fictional humanoid robots in movies and television, consequently peaking our imagination of artificial life forms. No longer are humanoid robots fiction, but reality as roboticists have been developing them not only with an appearance based on a human body but with humanlike sensory and movements. Moreover, humanoid robots are performing human tasks from industrial to service jobs and can survive in any kind of environment. The advancement of robotic research involves the fields of science, cognitive science, programming and engineering (Cheng). Some people consider humanoid robots a threatening force because they feel they are not safe, they will take over our jobs, or are uncomfortable with their