Page 31 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

Electromagnet
Floor
Current-carrying wire Automaton
Automated guided vehicle

Each car would have its own individual computer. In a city, traffic would
be overseen by one or more central computers. In the event of computer
failure, all traffic would stop. This would practically eliminate accidents.
Whether the public would accept this sort of system on a general scale
remains to be seen.
AUTOMATED HOME
See SMART HOME.

AUTOMATION
The term automation refers to a system in which some or all of the
processes are done by machines, particularly robots. Assets of automa-
tion include the following:
• Robots work fast.
• Robots are precise.
• Robots are reliable if they are well designed and maintained.
• Robots are capable of enormous physical strength.
Advantages of human operators over robots include these facts:
• People can solve some problems that machines cannot.
• People have greater tolerance for confusion and error.
• Humans can perform certain tasks that robots cannot.
• Humans are needed to supervise robotic systems.
AUTOMATON
An automaton is a simple robot that performs a task or set of tasks with-
out sophisticated computer control.Automata have been around for over
200 years.

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