Page 182 - Toucpad robotics C11

U

UAV: Unmanned aerial vehicle. The term UAV applies to systems with various degrees of autonomy, from remote
controlled aircraft to drones that fly themselves from takeoff to landing.

UCAV: Unmanned combat aerial vehicle. Like a UAV, except armed and dangerous.
UNCANNY VALLEY: A concept in robotics suggesting that if the appearance of a humanoid robot approaches but not
attains that of a human, that robot will elicit an uncomfortable reaction from people. In one word: creepy.

V
VICON: A company that manufactures motion tracking systems. Uses infrared cameras to very precisely track the
motion of tagged objects in precalibrated environments; commonly used to control quadrotors indoors.

W

WORKSPACE: If a robot can reach a point in space, said point is within the robot’s workspace. If a robot can’t reach a
point in space, you have to move the robot.
X

XYZ COORDINATES: The Cartesian coordinate system we know and love.

Y

YAW, PITCH, AND ROLL: Terms to describe motion along an aircraft main axes. A yaw motion moves the nose of
the aircraft from side to side. A pitch motion moves the nose of the aircraft up or down. A roll motion keeps the nose
straight while moving one wing up and the other down.
Z

ZMP: Zero moment point is a control method widely used with dynamic robots to help them maintain stability. It
positions the robot such that the ground contact point (like the bottom of a humanoid robot’s foot) has zero horizontal
motion.

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