When we think of robots the first thing that come in to our minds is, a fancy human alike evil machine that looks similar to the image below, just as they are portrayed in Hollywood movies.
But that is actually very far from the robots that we have today in our lives. It’s not easy to define what robots are, and it’s not easy to categorize them either.
According to Wikipedia,
A robot is a machine especially one programmable by a computer capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically.
It doesn't have a fix type of shape, we cannot term human like robots (humanoids) as the only robots that exist, in fact they have different shapes, sizes and capabilites.
According to IEEE there are around 15 types of Robots. Where are going to discuss them one by one:
(1) Aerospace Robots
Aerospace Robots is a general term and it includes all robots that are capable to fly.
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| https://www.robird.com/ |
The above is a robot that look just like a bird, it is made from a company called RoBird (formerly Clear Flight Solutions). Robird is designed to mimic a raptor. It flies by flapping its wings and steers by using two tail fins. Application of this robot was to keep birds away from airport.
The theory is simple
Wessel Straatman, one of the engineers behind the product tells.
Birds know that birds of prey are territorial. When we fly Robird in an area, other birds learn that it’s dangerous to be there. As a result, they’ll avoid it, solving the problem for a period of time.
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| NASA's Robonaut |
Not just Bird Robots but other robots also fall in this Aerospace category such as robots that can operate in space, such as Mars rovers and NASA's Robonaut.
The humanoid that flew to the International Space Station and is now back on Earth.
(2) Consumer Robots
Robots that are sold by companies and are available in the market to purchase for daily use are categorized as Consumer robots. There are tons of consumer robots available that serve different purpose in day to day life. Here I am going to discuss a few of them.
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| AIBO Robot |
Meet Aibo! is a consumer robot, it adopts AI, Facial Detection, Computer Vision to detect objects and faces. Aibo is a series of robotic pets designed and manufactured by Sony. Sony announced a prototype Aibo in mid-1998. The first consumer model of Aibo was introduced on 11 May 1999. Its quite expensive, but still if you want to buy one, You can buy from Amazon here.
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| JIBO Robot |
Robots that perform search and rescue operations fall in this category. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has developed a snake robot that can be used for rescue missions.
It has a camera on its head, which gives images back which the robot is on a mission. You must be wondering why a snake robot? well its because this structure can crawl through areas where humans and other robots cannot.
Another form of Rescue robot is a spider robot, it usually has 4 legs called Quadruped Robots, 6 legs called Hexapod robot and 8 legs called Octapod Robot. These are highly stable robots that can be used for walking on uneven terrains where mobile robots cannot work.
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| Snake Bot developed by CMU Team |
Another form of Rescue robot is a spider robot, it usually has 4 legs called Quadruped Robots, 6 legs called Hexapod robot and 8 legs called Octapod Robot. These are highly stable robots that can be used for walking on uneven terrains where mobile robots cannot work.
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| Lynxmotion Phoenix Hexapod |
I also made a Hexapod Robot in my final year project during Engineering. I am soon going to post a blog about how you can make one by your own.
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| DJI Phantom |
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| SCR Drones Atlantic I |
Drones can be used for a number of purposes from military to surveillance, as well as search and rescue.
(5) Educational Robots
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| Makerblock mbot |
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| WHDTS Line Follower Robot kit |
Robots that are available as used in STEM Schools, Engineering Colleges. There are also available as STEM or DIY Kits in markets.
(6) Entertainment Robots
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| Vector Robot by Anki |
(7) Exoskeletons
Its a kind of outer body which can be build for human or an animal to provide extra strength or abilities.
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| Iron Man |
Yup, that's an exoskeleton! but in real world, it looks more like these:
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| Phoenix Exoskeleton (SuitX) |
(8) Humanoid Robots
Robots that are human look alike and have a human structural body.
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| NAO Robot by Softbanks Robotics |
(9) Industrial Robots
Used in factories and industries on production lines.
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| Industrial Robots in Automotive Industry |
(10) Medical Robots
Used in hospitals for medical and surgical purposes.
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| DaVinci Xi surgical robot |
(11) Military & Security Robots
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| Endeavor Robotics PackBot |
Used by military and other forces for carrying a number of operations such as bomb disposal, surveillance and other.
(12) Research Robots
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| Pulkit Verma, a graduate who helps with efforts to reprogram autonomous robots using AI. Photo Courtesy: ASU |
Robots that are in Universities or other organizations and are used by Engineers and Scientists.
(13) Self Driving Cars
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| Image Courtesy: Tesla |
One of the greatest inventions in recent years are self driving cars. There are many companies who offers self driving cars, one of them is the American electrical cars manufacturer Tesla.
(14) Telepresence Robots
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| Double 3 by Double Robotics |
These are remote controlled by the person who is at remote location via internet connectivity. Typically, these are used to stand in for tour guides, night watchmen, factory inspectors, attending conferences etc.
(15) Underwater Robots
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| Credit: Boeing
Underwater robots are also called Unmanned Underwater Vehicles termed as UUVs. They are used for searching underwater and looking for any environmental problems. Some robots also clean plastic and other pollution under water.
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That's all ! for this blog post. Hope you found it interesting.
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