Small-scale applications through robot arms: Two robot arm manipulators, with different design approaches, provide an introduction to small-scale applications

The word “robot” often brings to mind a mechanical servant roaming an area shouting warnings to intruders. While we may view this full-fledged walking, talking robot as commonplace someday, the individual components of such a system are highly complex and subject to extensive design and testing. Robotics systems currently under investigation include artificial intelligence, vision, force, proximity, tactile sensing, kinematics of arms, and manipulation languages. Each area has unique problems and requirements, but shares the attempt to emulate human movement.