Page 209 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

Microwave Data Transmission
available for less than $100. Such devices employ liquid-crystal displays
(LCDs) and have typewriter-style keyboards. Larger microcomputers
are used by more serious computer hobbyists and by small businesses.
Such microcomputers typically cost from several hundred to several
thousand dollars.
Microcomputers are often used for the purpose of regulating the
operation of electrical and electromechanical devices. This is known as
microcomputer control. Microcomputer control makes it possible to
perform complex tasks with a minimum of difficulty. Microcomputer
control is widely used in such devices as robots, automobiles, and air-
craft. For example, a microcomputer can be programmed to switch on an
oven,heat the food to a prescribed temperature for a certain length of time,
and then switch the oven off again. Microcomputers can be used to control
automobile engines to enhance efficiency and gasoline mileage. Micro-
computers can navigate and fly airplanes. It has been said that a modern jet
aircraft is really a giant robot, because it can (in theory at least) complete
a flight all by itself, without a single human being on board.
One of the most recent, and exciting, applications of microcomputer
control is in the field of medical electronics. Microcomputers can be pro-
grammed to provide electrical impulses to control erratically functioning
body organs, to move the muscles of paralyzed persons, and for various
other purposes.
See also BIOMECHANISM and BIOMECHATRONICS.
MICROKNOWLEDGE
Microknowledge is detailed machine knowledge. In a smart robot or com-
puter system, microknowledge includes logic rules, programs, and data
stored in memory.
An example of microknowledge is the precise description of a person. In
a personal smart robot, microknowledge allows the machine to recognize
its owner(s). This microknowledge can, ideally, also let the robot know if
a person approaching it is someone it has never met before. Another
example of microknowledge is a computer map of the work environment.
Compare MACROKNOWLEDGE.
MICROWAVE DATA TRANSMISSION
Microwave data transmission refers to the sending and receiving of
wireless data at extremely high radio frequencies. Microwaves are very
short electromagnetic waves, but they have longer wavelengths than
infrared (IR) energy. Microwaves travel in essentially straight lines
through the atmosphere, and are not affected by the ionosphere. Thus,
they can easily pass from Earth’s surface into space, and from space to
the surface.

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