MCT 351: Introduction to

Robotics
Lecture 1
 What is a Robot?
From an internet search on January 21, 2019

• Google: (especially in science fiction) a machine resembling a human

being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions
automatically.

• Wikipedia: A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a

computer— capable of carrying out a complex series of actions
automatically. Robots may be constructed to take on human form but
most robots are machines designed to perform a task with no regard to
how they look.

• Technical: a goal oriented machine that can sense, plan and act
 What is a Robot?
Results of a Google Image search on January 21, 2019
 Etymology
Robot

• Derived from the Church Slavonic word, robota, meaning “forced labor”
• Robota: tenant’s rent that was paid for in forced labor or service

Karel Čapek, a Czech Playwright introduced the term in his 1920 hit play, R.U.R., or Rossum’s Universal Robots.
 The Three Law’s of Robotics

• First Law – A robot may not injure a human being or,

through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

• Second Law – A robot must obey the orders given it by

human beings except where such orders would conflict
with the First Law.

• Third Law – A robot must protect its own existence as

long as such protection does not conflict with the First or
Second Laws.

Isaac Asimov (1920 -1992)

American Writer

The rules were introduced in Asimov’s 1942 short story "Runaround"

 In popular media

1962 1977 1983

2008
1984
1984
 State of the Art (2019)

Google Driverless Car

Big Dog – Boston Dynamics
PR2 – Willow Garage

Roomba – iRobot Asimo – Honda Robotics Sophia – Hanson Robotics

 Applications
Military

Industry
 Applications
Agriculture

Surgery
 Applications
Assistive

Entertainment
 Theory

Unimate Puma 560

Coordinate Transformation from

Base to Gripper
 Course Logistics
Books

Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics and

Control, 3rd Edition, by John J. Craig, Pearson
Education International

Robotics, Vision and Control: Fundamental

Algorithms in MATLAB, by Peter
Corke, Springer
 Course Logistics
Grading

• Quizzes – 10%
• Assignments – 10%
• Mid-term Exam – 20%
• Final Exam – 60%

• Grades to be awarded on an absolute scale