Page 177 - Toucpad robotics C11

C

CARTESIAN ROBOT: A type of robot that only moves in straight lines at right angles, following coordinates on a—you
guessed it—Cartesian plane. This simplicity makes them straightforward to build and program, especially in large
sizes. Also known as a linear robot.
CHEMBOTS: A DARPA program seeking to create robots that are soft, flexible, and capable of stuffing themselves
through openings much smaller than they are.
COMPLIANT: A robot is said to be compliant when it’s not completely rigid and can sense and control the forces it
applies on things. If you put your hand in front of a compliant robot, the resistance from your hand will make it stop. If
you put your hand in front of a non-compliant robot, it’s going to hurt. See also “Series Elastic Actuator.”
CONTROL: Automatic control refers to the theoretical and practical tools used to make machines behave like we want
them to. Control involves creating abstract models of a system, using mathematical tools and computer simulations
to understand its behavior, and devising a controller to make it act in a desired way. See also “Feedback” and “Nyquist
Plot.”

CYBERNETIC: Robotic systems that contain active biological components, or a biological entity that makes use of
mechanical components. A cyborg is a hybrid of robotics and biology.

D

DARPA: The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Funds major programs in robotics to build everything
from spy hummingbird drones to Terminator-like humanoids. Unofficially known as the Pentagon’s mad-science wing.
DEGREES OF FREEDOM (DOF): Anything independently movable on a robot counts as a degree of freedom, so one
actuator is typically worth one degree of freedom. Adding more degrees of freedom to a robot can make it potentially
more useful yet terribly difficult to control.
DELTA ROBOT: See “Parallel Robot.”
DRONE: A general term for an autonomous vehicle, most commonly applied to unmanned aerial vehicles. See “UAV.”

E

ENCODER: Converts the angular position of the shaft of a motor to a digital code that a computer can understand.
Used by robots to tell how much their wheels have turned, helping them track the distance that they’ve traveled.
END-EFFECTOR: The gripper or tool at the end of a robot arm designed to interact with the environment. Examples
include a pinch-type gripper, a multi-finger device similar to a human hand, and a welding head.
EMERGENCY STOP: Also known as “e-stop.” Big red button that you push to shut down a robot when something goes
wrong. Every robot needs one. You never want to have to push it.
EXOSKELETON: Powered exoskeletons are robotic suits worn by humans that exert direct control over our limbs. They
can be used to augment your existing strength, or to restore function to disabled limbs.

F

FEEDBACK: A method used for improving control of machines. It involves measuring a certain parameter (the speed
of a mobile robot, for example), comparing it to a desired value, and based on the discrepancy, making a correction
(accelerating or decelerating the robot). This process repeats continually and is known as feedback loop. See also
“Control” and “Nyquist Plot.”
FORCE FEEDBACK: See “Haptics.”

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Glossary