How to create real-life robots?

Question

Even before I learned to program I've been fascinated with how robots could work. Now I know how the underlying programming instructions would be written, but what I don't understand is how those instructions are followed by the robot.

For example, if I wrote this code:

object=Robot.ScanSurroundings(300,400);

if (Objects.isEatable(object))

{

Robot.moveLeftArm(300,400);

Robot.pickObject(object);

}

 

How would this program be followed by the CPU in a way that would make the robot do the physical action of looking to the left, moving his arm, and such? Is it done primarily in binary language/ASM?

Lastly, where would I go if I wanted to learn how to create a robot?

Answer 1

There are many ways of a robot to examine its environment. These include proximity sensors, light sensors, bumpers, cameras, and many more.

In addition, robots may communicate with external sensors that give them information that they themselves cannot directly observe. These are the control inputs of the model.

Now comes the control outputs which contain mobility of the model. Some robots have legs, some have a ball and some even move around like snakes!

In the modern robots, you would see an Inverse Kinematic model of the mechanism, the arm, that converts the spatial coordinates into positions for the joints in the arm.

These joints are usually moved with the help of servo motors. To move the arm, you will need a series of intermediate joint positions defining the path you want the arm to follow. While the arm is moving, your servo system will be getting feedback about its actual position. Simple servo systems may use a basic PID(proportional–integral–derivative) feedback loop to adjust the motors.

If a robot is considered to be a differential drive robot, it means that they can move around on two wheels. When both wheels are on the same speed, the robot moves in a straight line. When the wheels move at different speeds, the robot turns. Thus, controlling the movement of this robot comes down to properly controlling the rates at which each of these two wheels turns.

A robot is a dynamic system. The state of the robot, the readings of its sensors, and the effects of its control signals are constantly changing. Controlling the way events play out involves the following three steps:

• Apply control signals.

• Measure the results.

• Generate new control signals to bring closer to our goal.

These steps are repeated again and again till we have reached our goal. The more times we perform this per second, the finer control we will have over the system.

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