Fiction made reality

2000/12/10 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Robotika

Sony and Honda have recently introduced two robots. These robots have novelties, they are increasingly similar to those shown in fiction films, they are no longer limited to the productive tasks of the factories. What does it mean to make fiction a reality, that robotics has reached the top?

The word robot is check, it means employee, server. Most people believe that robots are very modern, but the truth is that the idea of robots is lost throughout history. The Greeks, for example, tried to make endless mechanisms that did not require control of people. XVII. and XVIII. For centuries, using watchmaking mechanisms, they came to manufacture automatons in order to speed up human work. And later, using the concepts of intelligence and artificial life, Isaac Asimov appeared. Asimov was a fiction writer, but also a scientist. He knew that the man was going to make the robots that were at his service. That's why he represented them, so he became a writer of fiction. Among other things, Asimov announced a future in which robots would not harm human beings and proposed three laws for robotics:

1. Robots cannot harm human beings or deny humans.
2. Robots must obey human orders, unless they are contrary to the first law.
3. Robots must protect their existence until they enter into contradiction with the first and second law.

These laws are also fiction. The robots are neither bad nor good, they will be what the man wants. And for the moment it has limited them to being fine workers.

Robotics opens up a new era in the processes of machining and automation of production processes. It basically replaced machines or automatic systems that meet specific obligations by devices that perform specific and general tasks.

Robotics is a technology created around 1960. Since then the robots have spread a lot. They have become a common practice in industrial processes, but have not yet reached homes, which have just begun. In this sense, despite the great advance, it can be said that robotics currently has many possibilities of development and innovation. Robotics is a multidisciplinary technology, since the design and manufacture of robots requires the collaboration of multiple disciplines. Mechanics, electronics, computer, automatic, mathematics, etc. They are essential for the manufacture of robots.

Robots are classified according to their architecture or configuration, among others, in the following groups:

• Polyarticulated robots. These are robots of many shapes and configurations, but with a common characteristic: they are fixed. Industrial manipulators and robots, for example, are polyarticulated.
• Mobile robots. Robots of great motor capacity. It can be driven with remote control, sensors, electromagnetic soil circuits, etc. In some cases they are able to overcome and avoid the obstacle and have some degree of intelligence.
• Androids. Human robots. To date, they have not developed too much, since the locomotive system was very complicated. Because they have to coordinate the movement without losing the balance. The Honda and Sony robots have recently shown that they have begun to overcome problems of coordination and balance.
• Zoomorphic. In this group, androids could also be included, since they are considered robots based on locomotion. Although they can be of all kinds, they can be used in the exploration of space, in the investigation of volcanoes, or in the repair of nuclear power plants, for example.
• Hybrids. This group includes all kinds of robots. In fact, in some cases the feature of robots is not the one of a single group, so they can be grouped into this group.

In addition to this classification, there are others that depend on the function: industrial, personal, military, etc. It can also depend on control systems, applications, generation… And if you look at the latest generation robots, you need to look at Japan. Sony etxea

The robot SDR -3X and Asimo of Honda are the most representative exponents of this industry. The SDR-3X is a robot of five kilos and 50 centimeters. You are given orders through two microphones and can know 20 pre-recorded commands. The camera has also been put on the head, so it distinguishes the colors. You can walk, change direction, get up and lie down, dance or play football with the ball. Also, do not forget the pet, since before approaching it the Sony had invented the dog Aibo. The Aibo dog has been more profitable for Sony, with incredible sales.

New robot from Asimo Honda Motor. Scientists have had to conduct a 14-year research to build the robot. It has 43 kilos and has a height of meter and twenty centimeters. You can press the switches of light, open the doors or perform various work in chair. Asimo is capable of climbing stairs and is controlled by the remote control. Those in the background do not intend to put on sale the robot, they will use it in exhibitions and the technology they have acquired to invent it will serve to improve their engines.

These robots have been invented to make company to those in solitude, to help those who cannot or to assume a series of mechanical tasks. The intentions are not bad, but the truth is that the robots that were shown on television seemed merely clumsy. More than one would say they are going to hinder more than help.

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