Artificial Intelligence

Robotics is the study of robots, which are machines that can be programmed to perform manual tasks. Most robots in use today perform various functions in an industrial setting. These robots typically are used in factory assembly lines, by the military and law enforcement agencies, or in hazardous waste facilities handling substances far too dangerous for humans to handle safely.

Most robots do not resemble the humanoid creations of popular science fiction. Instead, they usually consist of a manipulator (arm), an end effector (hand), and some kind of control device. Industrial use robots generally are programmed to perform repetitive tasks in a highly controlled environment. However, more research is being done in the field of intelligent robots that can learn from their environment and move about it autonomously. These robots use AI programming techniques to understand their environment and make appropriate decisions based on the information obtained. In order to learn about one's environment, one must have a means of sensing the environment. Artificial intelligence programs allow the robot to gather information about its surroundings by using one of the following techniques: contact sensing, in which a robot sensor physically touches another object; noncontact sensing, such as computer vision, in which the robot sensor does not physically touch the object but uses a camera to obtain and record information; and environmental sensing, in which the robot can sense external changes in the environment, such as temperature or radiation.

The most recent robotics research centers around mobile robots that can cope with environments that are hostile to humans, such as damaged nuclear-reactor cores, active volcanic craters, or the surfaces of other planets.