ROBOTICS EXAM REVIEW
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
How many degrees of freedom are in the human arm, excluding the
hand? Where are they located? - Answer-Seven total DOF, three in the
shoulder, one in the elbow, and three in the wrist
What is cybernetics? When was it pioneered? Who pioneered the field?
- Answer-Cybernetics combined theories and principles from
neuroscience and biology with those from engineering, with the goal of
finding common properties and principles in animals and machines.
Cybernetics was pioneered in the 1940s by Norbert Wiener.
A key concept of cybernetics focuses on the coupling, combining, and
interaction between the mechanism or organism and its environment.
Cybernetics effectively combined "thinking," "acting," and the interaction
with the environment
The study of cybernetics led to the development of Grey Walter's
Tortoise, which can be considered the first robot
What challenges do uncontrollable DOF create for an object's controller?
- Answer-Uncontrollable DOF create problems for the controller in that
they make movement more complicated
What does the ratio of the controllable DOF (CDOF) to total DOF
(TDOF) on a robot tells us? - Answer-The ratio of the controllable DOF
(CDOF) to total DOF (TDOF) on a robot tells us quite a bit about how
easy it is to control its movement
Who is Karel Capek? Why is he relevant to the study of robotics? What
did he introduce in is play "Rossum's Universal Robots?" - Answer-The
word "robot" was popularized by the Czech playwright Karel Capek in his
1921 play Rossum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.)
The word "robot" resulted from combining the Czech words rabota,
meaning "obligatory work" and robotnik, meaning "serf"
, Who is Isaac Asimov? Why is he relevant to the study of robotics? What
set of "rules" did he introduce in is short story "Runaround?" - Answer-
Isaac Asimov is a science fiction author. He is believed to be the first
person to use the term robotics The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of
rules devised by Asimov and introduced in his 1942 short story
"Runaround."
Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection
does not conflict with the First or Second Laws
What is the field or Artificial Intelligence (AI)? When and where was it
founded? Why is AI relevant to the study of robotics? - Answer-The field
of artificial intelligence (AI) was officially "born" in 1956 at a conference
held at Dartmouth University. The conclusions of the meeting can be
summarized as: In order for machines to be intelligent, they will have to
do some deep thinking. The important outcome of the Dartmouth
conference was that as the field of AI was being founded and shaped, it
had a strong influence on robotics, or at least on the branch we can call
AI-inspired robotics
Why are DC motors a good match for robotics? - Answer-DC motors are
simple, inexpensive, easy to use, and easy to find
How does the size and shape of the robot's body impact a robot's ability
to perform a task? - Answer-The size and shape of a robot directly
impact how the robot can move, what the robot can sense (because
sensors are attached to the body, in some way or another), what work
the robot can do; and how the robot can interact with other items in its
environment
What are four key issues related to power that a robot designer must
address? - Answer-The robot's design must:
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
How many degrees of freedom are in the human arm, excluding the
hand? Where are they located? - Answer-Seven total DOF, three in the
shoulder, one in the elbow, and three in the wrist
What is cybernetics? When was it pioneered? Who pioneered the field?
- Answer-Cybernetics combined theories and principles from
neuroscience and biology with those from engineering, with the goal of
finding common properties and principles in animals and machines.
Cybernetics was pioneered in the 1940s by Norbert Wiener.
A key concept of cybernetics focuses on the coupling, combining, and
interaction between the mechanism or organism and its environment.
Cybernetics effectively combined "thinking," "acting," and the interaction
with the environment
The study of cybernetics led to the development of Grey Walter's
Tortoise, which can be considered the first robot
What challenges do uncontrollable DOF create for an object's controller?
- Answer-Uncontrollable DOF create problems for the controller in that
they make movement more complicated
What does the ratio of the controllable DOF (CDOF) to total DOF
(TDOF) on a robot tells us? - Answer-The ratio of the controllable DOF
(CDOF) to total DOF (TDOF) on a robot tells us quite a bit about how
easy it is to control its movement
Who is Karel Capek? Why is he relevant to the study of robotics? What
did he introduce in is play "Rossum's Universal Robots?" - Answer-The
word "robot" was popularized by the Czech playwright Karel Capek in his
1921 play Rossum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.)
The word "robot" resulted from combining the Czech words rabota,
meaning "obligatory work" and robotnik, meaning "serf"
, Who is Isaac Asimov? Why is he relevant to the study of robotics? What
set of "rules" did he introduce in is short story "Runaround?" - Answer-
Isaac Asimov is a science fiction author. He is believed to be the first
person to use the term robotics The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of
rules devised by Asimov and introduced in his 1942 short story
"Runaround."
Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection
does not conflict with the First or Second Laws
What is the field or Artificial Intelligence (AI)? When and where was it
founded? Why is AI relevant to the study of robotics? - Answer-The field
of artificial intelligence (AI) was officially "born" in 1956 at a conference
held at Dartmouth University. The conclusions of the meeting can be
summarized as: In order for machines to be intelligent, they will have to
do some deep thinking. The important outcome of the Dartmouth
conference was that as the field of AI was being founded and shaped, it
had a strong influence on robotics, or at least on the branch we can call
AI-inspired robotics
Why are DC motors a good match for robotics? - Answer-DC motors are
simple, inexpensive, easy to use, and easy to find
How does the size and shape of the robot's body impact a robot's ability
to perform a task? - Answer-The size and shape of a robot directly
impact how the robot can move, what the robot can sense (because
sensors are attached to the body, in some way or another), what work
the robot can do; and how the robot can interact with other items in its
environment
What are four key issues related to power that a robot designer must
address? - Answer-The robot's design must:
