A robot is a computer-programmed machine designed to perform complex tasks with high precision and speed automatically. Robots are driven by control devices and are designed to look like humans, but most of them are made to perform tasks regardless of their appearance.
History of robots
The word “robot” was first used on an imaginary humanoid character by Karel Capek (Czech writer) in his 1920s work. The term “robot” was invented by Karel’s brother (Josef Capek). The robot ideas were born from the first imagination of mythologies and fictions in the past civilizations of Ptolemaic Egypt, ancient Greece and ancient China. Inventors and engineers tried to build machines that were similar to animals and humans and could work automatically. Examples of such robots included birds of Mozi and Lu Ban made by human and Archite human doves.
The robots were made in ancient Greece and ancient China. The history of the history of robots in ancient Greece derives from mythologies such as the Pygmalion and mechanical servants made by Hephaestus (Greek god). Ctesibius is considered the first Greek scientist to create an artificial organ and a watch with figures in motion in 270 BCE. Archytas made a pigeon powered by mechanical steam. Ancient China saw some early robots in the form of automatic humans made by Yan Shi and Emperor King Mu of Zou. The other regions are France, Japan and Italy, among other ancient civilizations.
Six types of modern robots
Robots are classified according to the purpose designed for execution. They include mobile, industrial, service, educational, modular and collaborative robots.
Mobile robots
Mobile robots are not confined to one place, but can move from one place to another, hence the term “mobile”. Many industries use mobile robots to move goods and products from one place to another.
Industrial robots
Industrial robots, on the other hand, are automated machines for production purposes. Industrial robots are used in assembly, painting, welding and other industrial activities.
service robot
Service robots are robots designed to help humans perform tasks that can be dirty, dangerous, repetitive or boring. Therefore, they are automated to perform such activities, such as household chores. They are also used in industry as well as scientific functions that involve repetitive processes.
Educational robots
Educational robots are “robot teachers” that are used for educational purposes and are mainly programs, resources and platforms to improve learning.
Modular robots
The modular robots are made in such a way that they can change shape and appearance during the execution of an activity. This robot can contain actuators, electronic components, power supplies and sensors for handling with the environment. This type of robot is mainly used for space exploration, entertainment in “3D” images and in areas such as machine cleaning.
Collaborative robots
Collaborative robots are machines made in such a way that they can work hand in hand with humans in the same workspace. They are unique to other types of robots in that they “interact” with humans when they perform a certain task.
Future of robots
Due to the high precision and speed associated with robots, it is expected that robots will have widespread use in the future. Furthermore, robots are more reliable than humans, so many industries, as well as scientific researchers, have favored robotics by humans. The main disadvantage of robots is mass unemployment, as they perform tasks that may require the recruitment of human labor.
