MECH 4710 Introduction to Robotics

Lilong Cai
Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineer
HKUST
melcai@ust.hk

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Introduction •Brief introduction
-What is a Robot?
-Types of Robots?
-Why using Robots?
-Robot History
-Laws of Robotics
-Robot Applications
-The State of the Art in Robotics
-Future’s robots
-What is Robotics?
- Preview of this course
•Syllabus
-topics
-Homework, exams, grading policy
-Textbook and references
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What is a robot?
Origin of the word “robot”
• Czech word “robota”– labor, “robotnik” – workman
• 1921 play by Karel Capek – Rossum’s Universal
Robots

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 What is a robot?
Hollywood’s imagination

Star Wars 3PO

R2-D2

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What is a robot?
Definition: (no precise definition yet)
• Webster’s Dictionary
An automatic device that performs functions ordinarily ascribed
to human beings.
washing machine = robot?

• Robotics Institute of American (1979)

A robot (industrial robot) is a reprogrammable, multifunctional
manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools, or
specialized devices, through variable programmed motions for
the performance of a variety of tasks.

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What is a robot?
By general agreement, a robot is:
A programmable machine that imitates the actions or appearance of an
intelligent creature–usually a human.
To qualify as a robot, a machine must be able to:
1) Sensing and perception: get information from its surroundings
2) Carry out different tasks: Locomotion or manipulation, do
something physical–such as move or manipulate objects
3) Re-programmable: can do different things
4) Function autonomously and/or interact with human beings

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Types of Robots
Robot Manipulators

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 Types of Robots

Legged Robot Wheeled Robot

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Types of Robots

Aerial Robots mobile robots

Legged robots

Humanoid Underwater robots

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Wheeled Robots
Underwater Robots
Flying Robots
Biomimetic Robots
Why Use Robots?
Application in 4D environments
• Dangerous
• Dirty
• Dull
• Difficult
4A tasks
• Automation
• Augmentation
• Assistance
• Autonomous

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Why Use Robots?
Increase product quality
• Superior Accuracies (thousands of an inch,
wafer-handling: microinch)
• Repeatable precision  Consistency of products

Increase efficiency
• Work continuously without fatigue
• Need no vacation

Increase safety
• Operate in dangerous environment
• Need no environmental comfort – air conditioning,
noise protection, etc
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Why Use Robots?
Reduce Cost
• Reduce scrap rate
• Lower in-process inventory
• Lower labor cost

Reduce manufacturing lead time

• Rapid response to changes in design

Increase productivity
• Value of output per person per hour increases

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 History of Robotics: I
• The first industrial robot:
UNIMATE
• 1954: The first programmable robot
is designed by George Devol, who
coins the term Universal Automation.
He later shortens this to Unimation,
which becomes the name of the first
robot company (1962).
–George C. Devol obtains the UNIMATE originally automated the
first U.S. robot patent, No. manufacture of TV picture tubes
2,998,237 (1961).
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 History of Robotics: II
1978: The Puma (Programmable
Universal Machine for Assembly)
robot is developed by Unimation
with a General Motors design
support

PUMA 560 Manipulator

 History of Robotics: III
1980s: The robot industry enters a phase of rapid growth. Many
institutions introduce programs and courses in robotics. Robotics
courses are spread across mechanical engineering, electrical
engineering, and computer science departments.

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Adept's SCARA robots Cognex In-Sight Robot Barrett Technology Manipulator
 History of Robotics: IV

1995-present: Emerging applications

in small robotics and mobile robots
drive a second growth of start-up
companies and research.

2003: NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers launched toward Mars

in search of answers about the history of water on Mars 20
 History of Robotics: V

"

Chang’e 3 Jade Rabbit

Yutu (Chinese: 玉兔; pinyin: Yùtù; literally: "Jade Rabbit") is an

unmanned lunar rover that formed part of the Chinese Change's 3
mission to the Moon. It was launched on 1 December 2013 and
reached the Moon's surface on 14 December 2013. 21
 History of Robotics: VI

"

Chang’e 4 Jade Rabbit 2

Yutu (Chinese: 玉兔; pinyin: Yùtù; literally: "Jade Rabbit") is an unmanned
lunar rover that formed part of the Chinese Chang'e 4 mission to the back of the
Moon. It was launched on 8 December 2018 and reached the on the back of the
Moon's surface on 3 January 2019 after 26 days mission.
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 Chang’e 5 嫦娥五号
Chang'e 5 (Chinese: 嫦娥五号; pinyin: Cháng'é wǔhào) is the fifth lunar exploration mission of
the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and China's first lunar sample-return mission. Like
its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. It launched
at 20:30 UTC on 23 November 2020 from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island,
landed on the Moon on 1 December 2020, collected ~1,731 g (61.1 oz) of lunar samples
(including from a core ~1 m deep), and returned to the Earth at 17:59 UTC on 16 December
2020.

Chang'e-5 mission is the first lunar sample-return mission conducted by humanity in over four
decades since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. By completing the mission, China became the
third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.
China space station's robotic arm relocates
cargo spacecraft in successful trial

China space station's robotic arm relocates cargo spacecraft in

successful trial - YouTube

中国空间站机械臂转位货运飞船试验取得圆满成功 |《午间
30分》20220106【东方卫视官方频道】 - YouTube
 Laws of Robotics
• Asimov proposed three “Laws of
Robotics” to cope with potential for
robots to harm people

• Law 1: (Human safety)

A robot may not injure a human being or
through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm
• Law 2: (Robots are slaves)
A robot must obey orders given to it by
human beings, except where such orders
would conflict with a higher order law
• Law 3: (Robot survival)
A robot must protect its own existence as
long as such protection does not conflict
with a higher order law
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Laws of Robotics
All robots in Asimov’s books were subject to these laws

These laws are simple and straightforward, and they

embrace the essential guiding principles of a good
many of the world’s ethical systems.

– But: They are extremely difficult to implement!!!

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 Robot Applications
What Can Robots Do?
Industrial Robots

•Material handling
•Material transfer
•Machine loading and/or
unloading Material Handling Manipulator

•Spot welding
•Continuous arc welding
•Spray coating
Assembly Manipulator
•Assembly
Spot Welding
•Inspection Manipulator
 Robot Applications
•Agriculture
•Automobile
•Construction
•Entertainment
•Health care: hospitals, patient-care, surgery , research, etc.
•Laboratories: science, engineering , etc.
•Law enforcement: surveillance, patrol, etc.
•Manufacturing
•Military: demining, surveillance, attack, etc.
•Mining, excavation, and exploration
•Transportation: air, ground, rail, space, etc.
•Utilities: gas, water, and electric
•Warehouses 28
 Robot Applications
Installed Industrial Robots

Japan take the lead, why?  Shortage of labor, high labor cost
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 Robot Applications
Installed Industrial Robots in China
Import
Domestic

Installed Industrial Robots in China

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 Robot Applications
Predication of the growth rate

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 Robot Applications
Top fifteen largest market in the world:

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Robot Applications

Industrial Applications of Robots

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NASA International Space Station

Robots in Space
Surgical Robot - Da Vinci 35
Robots in Military
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Robot Applications

• Entertainment Industry
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 Robots Applications

Sony Aido

Sony SDR-3X Entertainment Robot

Kitchen Assistant Robot Motoman

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Robot Applications

• Robots for Assistive Technology

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Social Robots
Atlas is a bipedal humanoid robot primarily developed by the
American robotics company Boston Dynamics, with funding and
oversight from the United States Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA). The 1.8-meter (6 ft) robot is designed for
a variety of search and rescue tasks and was unveiled to the public
on July 11, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq6mJOktIvM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSjKoEva5bg 42
Robot Applications

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/12/30/is-the-boston-
dynamics-do-you-love-me-robot-dance-cgi/

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 Future Directions

Robotics is in its infancy. Researches will be carried out

in order to develop low cost, high performance, intelligent
and autonomous robots in different sizes.

• Home used robots

• Medical assistant robots
• Entertainment robots
• Micro-robots for both military and medical usages.

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Future of Robots

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Micro-/Nanorobots
What is Robotics?
The study of robot is called robotics.
Robotics is the discipline which involves:
(a) the design, manufacture, control and
programming
of robots;
(b) the use of robots to solve problems;
(c) the study of the control process, sensors, and
algorithms, and the application of these to
design of robots.
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Robotics

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 Robotics Foundations
• Kinematics
• Dynamics
• Mechanism and Actuation
• Sensing and Estimation
• Model Identification
• Motion Planning
• Motion Control
• Force Control
• Design and Performance Evaluation
• Robotic Systems Architectures and Programming
• Behavior-Based Systems
• AI Reasoning Methods for Robotics
• Robot Learning
Summary
Robotics--interdisciplinary research
• Mechanical design
• Computer science and engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Cognitive psychology, perception and neuroscience
Research open problems
• Manipulation, Locomotion
• Control, Navigation
• Human-Robot Interaction
• Learning & Adaptation (AI)

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 Preview of this course

To carry out the above task, we have to study the issues related to:
Description of position and orientation;
Forward and inverse kinematics of robots
Forward and inverse dynamics of robots;
Trajectory generation; position and force control of
robots; Programming and simulations; etc.. 51
 Manipulator arms
The common industrial manipulator,
is often referred to as a robot arm.

A robot is expected to move its end effector

to a given position and orientation in three-
dimensional space, requiring six degrees of
freedom in the absence of constraints.

For certain robots, its degree of freedom is less than six. For
example, a SCARA robot has only four degree of freedom.

A number of independent movements an object can make with respect

to a coordinate frame is called its number of degrees of freedom
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 Description of Positioning Task
• Problem
- Given: The manipulator
geometrical parameters
-Specify: The position and
orientation of manipulator

• Solution
- Coordinate system or
“Frames” are attached
to the manipulator and
objects in the environment

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 Forward Kinematics
• Problem
- Given: Joint angles and links
geometry
- Computer: Position and
orientation of the end effector
relative to the base frame ?

• Solution
- Kinematic Equations: - Linear
Transformation (4X4 matrix)
which is a function of the joint
positions( angles & displacement)
and Specifies the end effector
configuration in the base frame 54
 • Problem Inverse Kinematics
- Given: Position and orientation
of the end effector relative to
the base frame
- Computer: All possible sets of
joint angles and links geometry
which could be used to attain ?
the given position and orientation
of the end effector
• Solution
- Kinematic Equations: - Linear
Transformation (4X4 matrix)
which is a function of the joint
positions( angles & displacement)
and Specifies the end effector
configuration in the base frame 55
 Velocity Transformation
• Mapping from velocities in the
joint space -() to the velocities
of the end effector- ( v , ) in the
Cartesian space

• At certain points, called singularities,

?
this mapping is not invertible.

All mechanisms are prone to these difficulties, including robots.

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 Force Transformation

• Mapping from the joint

force/torques -(τ) to
force/torques in the
Cartesian space applied
on the end effector- (F)

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 Forward Dynamics
• Problem
- Given: Angular acceleration and
links geometry, mass, inertia,
friction
- Computer: Joint torques of the
links (solve differential equations)

• Solution
- Dynamic Equations

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 Inverse Dynamics
• Problem
- Given: Angular acceleration,
velocity and angles of links in
addition to link geometry, mass,
inertia, friction
- Computer: Joint torques
(solve alegebic equations)

• Solution
- Dynamic Equations

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 MECH 4710 Introduction to Robotics
Spring 2022 (Monday 9:30-11:20am LSK1032)
Course Description:
Introduce the mechanical structure of industrial robots as well as the
spatial description and transforms of the robot, forward kinematic and
inverse kinematic equations for different robotic structures, and dynamic
of the robot manipulator.
Instructor: Lilong Cai (Room 2545), Tel 2358-7209, email melcai@ust.hk)
TA: Zhenjiu Dai zdaiaf@connect.ust.hk
Grading Policy: Homework and Lab 15%
Midterm Exam: 40%
Final Exam: 45%
Textbook: Introduction to Robotics, by John J. Craig 3 Edition
Laboratory Work: Kinematics and manipulation of the STAUBLI robot. 60
MECH 4710 Introduction to Robotics
Contents in the lecture
1. Introduction to robotics (1 weeks Chapter 1)
* Background
* The mechanics and control mechanical manipulator
* Notation
2. Spatial Descriptions and Transformations (2 weeks Chapter 2)
* Object location, frame and transformation
3. Forward and inverse Manipulator Kinematics (4 weeks Chapter 3-4)
* Manipulator position, forward and inverse kinematics
4. Manipulator Jacobian and Dynamics ( 5 weeks Chapter 5-6)
* Manipulator motion, velocity and acceleration
* Manipulator Jacobian, singularities and static force
* Dynamics of robots Newton-Euler formulation
* Lagrange formulation.
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Thank you!

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 Robots Video
Paul Merton in China Mr Woo Robots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk69NCCbVgY
The Duel: Timo Boll vs. KUKA Robot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIIJME8-au8
The Revenge: Timo Boll vs. KUKA Robot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv6op2HHIuM
Boy, the Robot that can Ride Bicycles ַ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3_0OzaoQ00
AKIBA ROBOT FESTIVAL 2006: Actroid Female Robot
http://www.youtube.com/v/WbFFs4DHWys&rel=1

YASKAWA BUSHIDO PROJECT / industrial robot vs sword master

http://video.popyard.com/cgi-
mod/show.cgi?lan=cn&cate=0&p=1&n=28301&r=0

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