Robots basics ? what you need to know before getting the latest robot news

Posted by tedmark on May 4th, 2014

With the latest robot news announcing how they are building bigger and better robots every day, many questions remain unanswered about what are robots exactly and how do they work. Usually, the latest robotic news brings you detailed information about everything that happened in the robotics field lately but there should be someplace to start from, so you can actually understand the latest robot news.

The broadest definition around defines a robot as anything that a lot of people recognize as a robot. Most roboticists, the people who build the robots, use a more precise definition. They say that robots have a reprogrammable brain (a computer) that moves a body. By this definition, robots are distinct from other movable machines, such as cars, because of their computer element. Many new cars do have an onboard computer, but it's only there to make small adjustments. You control most elements in the car directly by way of various mechanical devices. Robots are distinct from ordinary computers in their physical nature - normal computers don't have a physical body attached to them.

As any of the latest robot news out there can confirm, the vast majority of robots do have several qualities in common. First of all, almost all robots have a movable body. Some only have motorized wheels, and others have dozens of movable segments, typically made of metal or plastic. Like the bones in your body, the individual segments are connected together with joints. And for someone to understand the latest robotic news they should at least have a sense of how robots move. Robots spin wheels and pivot jointed segments with something called an actuator. Some robots use electric motors and solenoids as actuators; some use a hydraulic system; and some use a pneumatic system (a system driven by compressed gases). Moreover, some of the latest robotic news will tell you that there are robots that actually use all these actuator types, which is completely true.

A robot needs a power source to drive these actuators. Most robots either have a battery or they plug into the wall. Hydraulic robots also need a pump to pressurize the hydraulic fluid, and pneumatic robots need an air compressor or compressed air tanks. The actuators are all wired to an electrical circuit. The circuit powers electrical motors and solenoids directly, and it activates the hydraulic system by manipulating electrical valves. The robot's computer controls everything attached to the circuit. To move the robot, the computer switches on all the necessary motors and valves. Most robots are reprogrammable -- to change the robot's behavior, you simply write a new program to its computer.

According to the latest robot news, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In the coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific worlds and into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s. So to be sure that you are prepared for what’s coming, make sure you are subscribed to the latest robotics news.

If you’re looking to get exciting and useful information in regards to the latest robot news then this is the place to be. You will find useful, fun and exciting information about what the latest discoveries are and where did the advances get to. Everything is at the tips of your fingers with the latest robotics news.