How many of the world's six major robot types do you know?

In the world's biology, science and technology make mankind different, and robot technology is one of the major scientific and technological changes that will affect the future of mankind. Human beings are full of imagination about this technology, which also makes it a favorite subject of movies, novels and video games. This issue will take you to explore robot technology and the current six major robot types.
Film and Reality
I don't know whether you have seen the movie "Mechanical Public Enemy". The movie describes the world in 2035, and intelligent humanoid robots have been widely used by humans. They have no so-called feelings and thoughts, and are simply designed to engage in various jobs. However, one robot appears human thinking ability and emotion, resulting in a series of strange events. Most of the robots mentioned in most entertainment works involve artificial intelligence and humanoid emotions, but this is different from the current mainstream robot technology.
According to the general definition of academia, robot is a kind of machine with connotative computing mechanism, which can automatically perform a series of complex actions. At present, most robots are not human shaped, but designed the most functional shape according to the requirements of each task. For example, the top medical robot Da Vinci surgical system is a surgical instrument designed to imitate the human wrist joint.
Robot Age
In other words, we have long lived in the era of robots, but they are too old to be human, and they are invisible in factories, hospitals and laboratories. According to the statistics proposed by the International Federation of Robots in 2021, from 2012 to 2018, the global industrial robot devices will grow year by year, and the number of devices in 2020 will be about 377000, most of which are mechanical arms. As for where they are used, the highest proportion is in the electrical and electronic industry, followed by the automobile industry, and the third is the mechanical and metal industry.
However, although this kind of robot has a high level of technology, its appeal is actually very simple, that is, accuracy and stability. Those robots that really get attention belong to the AI field. For example, Woebot, a chat robot that challenges psychological counseling, combines AI technology with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Results The experiment proved that it can really relieve the symptoms of depression and anxiety. In short, industrial robots are relatively mature in the field of robots, while intelligent robots are more like a popular research direction. Next, we will introduce six common robot types with reference to Intel's materials.
Autonomous mobile robot
This kind of robot is usually a mobile platform. Through cameras and sensors, it can avoid hitting obstacles when moving. For example, if there is an obstacle in front, the autonomous mobile robot will decelerate and re plan its path around, and then continue to work. Usually, autonomous mobile robots will appear in the storage area, which can save manpower and do not need to rely on people to operate and transport machines and tools In addition, it will also be used in the medical field to write, deliver drugs and medical supplies, and also help with disinfection, so that employees can spend more time on patients.
According to the market survey company, the market size of autonomous mobile robots in 2019 is 304 million dollars, but it will double to 736 million dollars by 2025. It is mainly used for logistics and warehousing, which is estimated to account for 40% of the demand for related work.
AGV
The automatic guided vehicle is a wheeled mobile robot with a very long history. As early as 1954, a company in the United States invented the first automatic guided vehicle in the world. At that time, the technology was to let the automatic guided vehicle run along the cable on the ground, and it was used for storage and transportation like the autonomous mobile robot. There are many scientific and technological advances, and sensors will be installed on the ground or wall by means of electromagnetism or laser to guide the moving direction of the AGV.
From the above introduction, we can see that the automatic guided vehicle is somewhat similar to the autonomous mobile robot, but there are differences between them. For an autonomous mobile robot, although it is not limited by the orbit and is more adaptable to the environment, it is relatively expensive. Moreover, the optical radar commonly used by autonomous mobile robots uses laser as the light source. If it encounters glass that can penetrate or cloth that can be absorbed, it may cause the machine to get lost. As for the disadvantage of the autonomous guided vehicle, it is necessary to structure the track and signal points in advance, and it is relatively difficult to adjust afterwards. However, for large companies with huge output and little need to change their production lines, AGVs are still very useful machines. Therefore, semiconductor factories or panel factories often equip AGVs.
Articulated robot
Articulated robot is commonly known as mechanical arm, which is the most common type of robot in industrial places. The mechanical arm is designed to imitate the action of the human arm. It will be equipped with two to more than ten rotary joints. The more joints, the more flexible its movement will be Ideal for arc welding, material handling, machine maintenance and packaging. The history of mechanical arm is also very long. As early as 1969, a professor at Stanford University named Schumann invented a six axis mechanical arm. However, the role of the early robot arm is relatively small. It can only select a single type of object from a precise position in a specific direction, and cannot adjust the grasping angle.
Today's robots are equipped with cameras and even artificial intelligence technology, which can detect and identify objects around them. In terms of the Da Vinci robotic surgery system just mentioned, it is composed of a three-dimensional image light source, a photography system and a control console. Doctors can perform more accurate minimally invasive surgery through a lens with ultra-high interpretation. Just looking at its ability to peel grapes can tell how precise actions can be made. However, the cost of such super high-tech mechanical arms as Da Vinci is also quite amazing, with a price of more than 40 million yuan.
Humanoid robot
This kind of robot, as its name implies, is a robot with a shape similar to that of a human body, but it may not reproduce the whole human body, but may make a part similar to that of a human body according to its function. Seeing the humanoid robot below, I wonder if you will feel like watching a science fiction film.
Compared with the robot arm or mobile robot just introduced, it seems that a robot like a human can satisfy our imagination of the future. So what is the current development of humanoid robots? If the science fiction robot with thinking ability and flexible action is taken as the standard, it is still far from the target. Let's take a look at Boston Dynamics, which specializes in humanoid robots. Last year, they produced a film. The robots in the film play parkour in various obstacles, and their flexibility makes the world amazing. But even companies of this level emphasize that these robots are not normal, but can be achieved through careful control and a large number of adjustments.
In addition, look at the work of British engineering arts. This robot is called Ameca. His expression is lifelike, and his pale gray face is a little scary. The reason why this kind of robot can be built is that the team behind it applies various technologies, including shooting real people with dozens of surveying and photography devices, then using 3D modeling, and powerful software to add motion sequences for the robot.
What are the functions of the powerful Ameca? Unfortunately, it is not the level of the public enemy of movie machinery. It is the entertainment robot that can interact with humans realistically, but it is still a long way from real artificial intelligence. In general, technology has been able to make robots that are very similar to human beings, but their intelligence is not enough to handle various things in the real world.
Assisting robots
As for the robot arm introduced to you just now, there are usually no other humans near the working environment, because of safety considerations. Cooperative robots are designed to work with humans. Therefore, this kind of robot must have several characteristics. For example, it must be highly connected with the computer, and be able to adjust the workflow at any time. In addition, it has built-in vision and image processing functions, and has a high ability to identify objects. The most important thing is to equip a safety sensor to avoid encountering humans. At present, cooperative robots are gradually popularized, usually used to perform dangerous or heavy work.
Hybrid robot
The robot to be introduced finally is actually a product that combines different types of robots according to different functions. For example, if you are a warehouse operator and you want robots to help you move goods in the warehouse and also want them to be able to handle parcels, the solution is to combine the autonomous movement function with the mechanical arm, which can move and perform precise actions. In addition, many robots will also incorporate computing or machine learning capabilities, depending on the needs of the working environment.