Robotics

A common application of robots is for use in places that humans can go only at risk to their own health or safety or that humans can not go at all. Industries where nuclear materials are used often make use of robots so that human workers are not exposed to the dangerous effects of radioactive materials. In one type of machine, a worker sits in a chair and places his or her hands and arms into a pair of sleeves. The controls within the sleeves are connected to a robot arm that can reach into a protected area where radioactive materials are kept. The worker can operate the robot arm and hand to perform many delicate operations that would otherwise have to be carried out by a human worker.

Robots have also been useful in space research. In 1975, for example, two space probes, code-named Viking 1 and Viking 2, landed on the planet Mars. These probes were two of the most complex and sophisticated robots ever built. Their job was to analyze the planet's surface. In order to accomplish this task, the probes were equipped with a long arm that was able to operate across a 120° radius, digging into the ground and taking out samples of Martian soil. The samples were then transported to one of three chemical laboratories within the robot, where they underwent automated chemical analysis. The results of these analyses were then transmitted by automatic telemetry to receiving stations on Earth.