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INTRODUCTION

Robot Definitions

• The word robot was coined by a Czech novelist Karel Capek in a 1920 play
titled Rassum’s Universal Robots (RUR). Robot in Czech is a word for worker or
servant.

• According to Robot Institute of America, 1979, a robot is a reprogrammable,

multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools or specialized
devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of
tasks.

• Webster definition says that robot is an automatic apparatus or device that

performs functions ordinarily ascribed to humans or operates with what appears to
be almost human intelligence.

• The robot is a computer-controlled device that combines the technology of

digital computers with the technology of servocontrol of articulated chains. It
should be easily reprogrammed to perform a variety of tasks, and must have
sensors that enable it to react and adapt to changing conditions.

Laws of Robotics
Asimov proposed three “Laws of Robotics” and later added the “zeroth law”.
• Law 0: A robot may not injure humanity or through inaction, allow humanity to
come to harm.
• Law 1: A robot may not injure a human being or through inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law.
• Law 2: A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such
orders would conflict with a higher order law.
• Law 3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with a higher order law.
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Uses of Robot in Different Fields:

•Agriculture

•Automobile

•Construction

•Entertainment

•Health care: hospitals, patient-care, surgery, research, etc.

•Laboratories: science, engineering, etc.

•Law enforcement: surveillance, patrol, etc.

•Manufacturing

•Military: demining, surveillance, attack, etc.

•Mining, excavation, and exploration.

•Transportation: air, ground, rail, space, etc.

•Utilities: gas, water, and electric

•Warehouses
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THE COMPONENTS
Components of an Autonomous Robot

Motor/Locomotion
System

Power
ROBOT Control System
Management

Sensors

Connection of the Components

DC Voltage
Source

POWER
CONVERSION
UNIT

IC to amplify
SENSOR CONTROL the
SYSTEM Microcontroller
output

MOTORS
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SENSORS

Robot Sensors measure robot configuration/condition and its environment and send
such information to robot controller as electronic signals (e.g., arm position, presence
of toxic gas).
Need of Sensors:
The first primitive of robotics is “Sense”. A robot senses its environment by means of
sensors and transducers.
Sensing:
The perception that something has occurred or some state exists is called sensing.
Sensing is used to make a detectable signal (generally electric) from any physical
quantity. The Robots need to know about:
• Internal information
• Localization
• Obstacles
• Tracking

Different Types of Sensing

• Touch
• Vision
• Listening
• Feel (Pressure, Temperature, Humidity)
• Smell

Similar to human beings Robots Can sense all these with help of different types of
sensors

Different Sensors
• For vision a robot uses
1. Camera
2. Light and Infrared Sensors

• For sound a robot uses

1. Microphone
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2. Ultrasound Sensors

• For Temperature and Humidity

1. Thermistor
2. Humidity Sensor

• Other Sensors
1. Gas Sensor
2. Heartbeat Sensor
3. Passive Infrared Sensor
4. Force Sensors

Sensor and Transducers

• Transducer is a device which converts electrical signals to other kind
of energy and Vice-Versa.

• Sensor is an assembly which contains some transducer and some

electronic processing circuitry.

Resistive Transducers
Resistive Transducers are those, whose resistance varies with the change of the
external signal.

Example: – LDR, Thermistor

Reflection Type LDR Sensor

LDR
LED
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Working Of A Light Sensor

LDR - An LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) has a resistance that varies according to
the amount of visible light that falls on it. More the incident light, less the resistance.
This is known as a negative resistance co-efficient.

V (LDR)

The LDR gives change of the resistance with the variation of incident light. We have
placed the LDR in one arm of a potential divider.

Now, if the resistance of the LDR varies, the output voltage of the potential divider
also changes.

It is clear that the output of the potential divider is an analog voltage. But
Microcontroller does not accept the analog voltage. So we need to convert the analog
voltage to digital before we feed it to the microcontroller.

For this conversion we can use:

1. Comparators
2. ADCs
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COMPARATOR

CONNECTION OF LDR
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MOTORS

Need Of A Motor

In case of a mobile robot, the third primitive of Robotics, “Act” refers primarily to
locomotion among other objectives.

Motor Drivers

The microcontroller’s job is to control Motors. But the output of the microcontroller
can not provide enough voltage and current to start and run the motors. The motor
drivers provide required amount of current and voltage to the motors.

DC MOTOR
DRIVE

LOW
HIGH POWER
POWER
MOTORS
MOTORS

Unidirectiona Bidirectional
Unidirectiona Bidirectional
l Drive Drive
l Drive Drive

Two Types of Motor Drivers:

Unidirectional Motor Driver

A unidirectional motor driver is a motor drive in which motor rotates in only one
direction and stops.

Bidirectional Motor Driver

A bidirectional motor driver rotates in both direction and stops.
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A Bidirectional DC Motor Driver

L293D

(LOGIC SUPPLY= 5V)

(MOTOR POWERSUPPLY= 3-
24V)

Input Combinations for driving DC Motor

ENABLE INPUT1 INPUT2 MOTOR STATUS

0 X X STOPPED
1 0 0 STOPPED
1 1 1 STOPPED
1 1 0 CW
1 0 1 CCW
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CONTROLLER

A controller provides necessary intelligence to control the manipulator/mobile robot.

It processes the sensory information and computes the control commands for the
actuators to carry out specified tasks.

Microcontroller
It is a highly integrated circuit that contains a processor, memory, input and output
ports, timers, ADC and many other on-chip functional blocks.

MICROCONTROLLER

INPUTS
OUTPUTS
PROGRAM

The program can be changed

Microcontroller Features

• Microcontrollers are "special purpose computers".

• A microcontroller (or MCU) is a computer-on-a chip. Microcontrollers are
dedicated to one task and run one specific program.
• Any device that measures, stores, controls, calculates, or displays information
is a candidate for putting a microcontroller inside.
• The microcontroller includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O ports, and timers like a
standard computer.
• A microcontroller is an integrated chip that is often part of an embedded
system.
• They are designed to execute only a single specific task to control a single
system, they are much smaller and simplified so that they can include all the
functions required on a single chip.
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• The program is stored in ROM (read-only memory) and generally does not
change.
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AT89C52 Pin Configuration and Description

Description: The AT89C52 is a low-power, high-performance CMOS 8-bit

microcomputer with 8K bytes of Flash programmable and erasable read only memory
(PEROM).

VCC
Supply voltage.

GND
Ground.

Port 0
Port 0 is an 8-bit open drain bi-directional I/O port.

Port 1
Port 1 is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pullups.
Port Pin Alternate Functions
P1.0 T2 (external count input to Timer/Counter 2), clock-out
P1.1 T2EX (Timer/Counter 2 capture/reload trigger and direction control)

Port 2
Port 2 is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pullups.
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Port 3
Port 3 is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pullups.
Port Pin Alternate Functions
P3.0 RXD (serial input port)
P3.1 TXD (serial output port)
P3.2 INT0 (external interrupt 0)
P3.3 INT1 (external interrupt 1)
P3.4 T0 (timer 0 external input)
P3.5 T1 (timer 1 external input)
P3.6 WR (external data memory write strobe)
P3.7 RD (external data memory read strobe)

RST
Reset input. A high on this pin for two machine cycles while the oscillator is running
resets the device.

ALE/PROG
Address Latch Enable is an output pulse for latching the low byte of the address
during accesses to external memory. This pin is also the program pulse input (PROG)
during Flash programming.

PSEN
Program Store Enable is the read strobe to external program memory.

EA/VPP
External Access Enable. EA must be strapped to GND in order to enable the device to
fetch code from external program memory locations starting at 0000H up to FFFFH.
EA should be strapped to VCC for internal program executions.

XTAL1
Input to the inverting oscillator amplifier and input to the internal clock operating
circuit.

XTAL2
Output from the inverting oscillator amplifier.
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BLOCK DIAGRAM OF CONNECTIONS OF
DIFFERENT COMPONENTS TO THE
MICROCONTROLLER
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TIPS FOR BUILDING A ROBOT

1. Develop the hardware and the software at the same time.
2. Build robust bump sensors and bumper software first.
3. Run the robot a lot.
4. Write down is done, comment the control programs, draw
diagrams/schematics/etc and keep them up-to-date, label wires and connectors
(especially ones that carry the power supply).
5. Use fuses, optical isolators, and/or other forms of protection liberally in your
design.
6. Be very methodical in your debugging.
7. Beware of anyone else's pre-canned control code.
8. Design drive motor system to carry twice as much weight as you predict your
robot will weigh when finished.
9. Use the techniques and knowledge of others to avoid re-inventing the wheel.
10. If oscilloscope is used, put Ground pins in easy-to-reach places on your
circuit boards.
11. Give the robot lots of outputs: LEDs, sound, servos, etc.
12. Start with something simple, and then add to it.
13. Thrift stores, swap meets and garage sales are good sources for parts.