Page 30 - Introduction to AI Robotics

1 From Teleoperation To Autonomy

Chapter Objectives:

Define intelligent robot.
Be able to describe at least two differences between AI and Engineering
approaches to robotics.

Be able to describe the difference between telepresence and semi-autonomous
control.

Have some feel for the history and societal impact of robotics.

1.1 Overview

This book concentrates on the role of artificial intelligence for robots. At
first, that may appear redundant; aren’t robots intelligent? The short an-
swer is “no,” most robots currently in industry are not intelligent by any
definition. This chapter attempts to distinguish an intelligent robot from a
non-intelligent robot.
The chapter begins with an overview of artificial intelligence and the social
implications of robotics. This is followed with a brief historical perspective
on the evolution of robots towards intelligence, as shown in Fig. 1.1. One
way of viewing robots is that early on in the 1960’s there was a fork in the
evolutionary path. Robots for manufacturing took a fork that has focused on
engineering robot arms for manufacturing applications. The key to success in
industry was precision and repeatability on the assembly line for mass pro-
duction, in effect, industrial engineers wanted to automate the workplace.
Once a robot arm was programmed, it should be able to operate for weeks
and months with only minor maintenance. As a result, the emphasis was