Page 236 - Designing Autonomous Mobile Robots : Inside the Mindo f an Intellegent Machine

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CHAPTER

Programming Robots to Be Useful

In Chapter 7 we discussed the debate between those who believe robots need to be
self-teaching, and those who believe in preprogramming. From a business standpoint, a
robot that can go to work without installation is very appealing since it can be
churned out in ever-increasing numbers and shipped to the far corners of the market
without the need for an installation infrastructure. In business speak, it is said to be
“scalable.”

As we have discussed, this model assumes that the application requires no coordina-
tion with door openers, elevators, alarm systems, or other equipment, and can be
handled in much the same way in every installation. It also assumes that the task is
relatively simple and repetitive.

In the end, there will be applications in which self-teaching is possible, and applica-
tions in which it is not. The concepts presented in this book are directed toward ro-
bots that can perform complex and varied tasks, so we will take it as a given that
some form of instruction must be provided to the robot.

Preprogramming vs. teaching paths

For applications that must undeniably be programmed, the almost universal consen-
sus is that the easiest manner of programming would be to walk behind the robot
teaching it the route and its duties. I said “Almost universal consensus” because the
few of us who disagree with this approach are those who have actually tried to use it!

Using a 500-pound mouse

Cybermotion’s first programming method was walk-behind teaching. Granted, the
technology was still rather primitive at that time, but the lessons were fairly obvious.

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