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the history of robotics essay
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Over the past several decades, society has become particularly interested in robotics. Shows such as The Jetsons have forecasted the future to be a world where robotics plays an everyday role in life. In addition, it has inspired many to work towards this future. Everyday, society is getting closer and closer to this futuristic world. Robotics is a rapidly changing field that has the potential to help society in a positive way.
In 2005, military funded research was carried out by Boston Dynamics in order to develop a robot that could work side by side with soldiers in combat. This robots name was suitably BigDog. Its 240 pound frame, shaped just like a mid-sized dog, is able to carry 340 pounds of gear (“Boston Dynamics”). Sensors provide it with feedback that allows it to walk on slopes of up to thirty five degrees and various terrains such as snow, ice, mud, rubble, and shallow water. It can even absorb impact from a human trying to knock it over (“Boston Dynamics”). However, the primary issue was that BigDog is too noisy and was still not ready to work in unison with military units. This is why Boston Dynamics developed BigDog’s older brother, LS3. LS3 is much quieter, can carry up to 400 pounds, listen to voice commands, follow a soldier, and after falling down can get back up without assistance (“DARPA’s AlphaDog”). It can navigate around obstacles when needed which is especially useful when in an urban environment, and is able to run for 20 miles without refueling (“Boston Dynamics”). This would be an incredibly useful unit for the future as it cannot only carry gear reliably, but it could also carry wounded soldiers that cannot walk under their own power. LS3 is scheduled to deploy with US Marines sometime in 2...
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...utomaton/robotics/humanoids/aldebaran-robotics-nao-robot-autism-solution-for-kids>.
"Paralyzed Woman Controls Robotic Arm With Her Mind." CBS News. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. .
"Paralyzed woman uses mind to move robotic arm." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. .
"The 2nd Gen Exoskeleton Robotic Suit." Military.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2014.
"US military’s BigDog robot learns to throw cinder blocks, grenades¦ | ExtremeTech." ExtremeTech. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. .
Scientists are on the brink of doing the unthinkable-replenishing the brains of people who have suffered strokes or head injuries to make them whole again. If that is not astonishing enough, they think they may be able to reverse paralysis. The door is at last open to lifting the terrifying sentence these disorders still decree-loss of physical function, cognitive skills, memory, and personality.
Sharon Draper’s award-winning, young-adult, fictional novel entitled Out of My Mind presents the narrative story of a young girl, Melody Brooks, who lives with a full-time disability, which is cerebral palsy. Melody faces one day at a time, rarely claiming she is handicapped in any way. Melody cannot talk, write, or even bathe herself, but she is highly intelligent and has a quick photogenic memory. These two characteristics contribute heavily to her argument within the novel which is, as cliché as it sounds, do not judge a book by its cover.
On September 29, 1993, Robert Wendland, then age 42, was involved in a vehicle accident. He was in a coma for 16 months. In January 1995, Mr. Wendland came out of the coma, but he remains severely cognitively impaired. He is paralyzed on the right side. He communicates using a "Yes/No" communication board. He receives food and fluids through a feeding tube. During rehabilitation, he has been able to do such activities as grasp and release a ball, operate an electric wheelchair with a joystick, move himself in a manual wheelchair with his left hand or foot, balance himself momentarily in a "standing frame" while grabbing and pulling "thera-putty," draw the letter "R," and choose and replace requested color blocks out of several color choices.
You wake up in a hospital bed, scared, confused, and attached to a network of tubes and beeping equipment. After doctors assault you with a barrage of questions and tests, your family emerges from the sea of unfamiliar faces surrounding you and explains what has happened; you have had a stroke in the right half of your brain, and you are at least temporarily paralyzed on your left side. You wiggle your left toes to test yourself; everything seems normal. You lift your left arm to show your family that you are obviously not paralyzed. However, this demonstration does not elicit the happy response you expect; it only causes your children to exchange worried glances with the doctors. No matter how many times you attempt to demonstrate movement in the left half of your body, the roomful of people insists that you are paralyzed. And you are, you just do not know it. How is this possible? You are suffering from anosognosia, a condition in which an ill patient is unaware of her own illness or the deficits resulting from her illness (1).
...ter screen an arm that was placed onto his stump. When Ture Johanson saw his arm on the computer screen, he was able to control his own movements using his own neural command. In this particular study, Johanson was asked to perform numerous movements with his phantom hands such as driving a racecar. By driving a racecar, Catalan found that the subject moved muscles at the end of his existing arm to show the intent of moving his missing hand. From this study, subjects who had been experiencing PLP for several years had longer periods without pain and had shorter periods of intense pain. In addition, the phantom hand was relaxed from a tight fist to a half-open position. This study is different from others because the control signals are retrieved from the arm stump, and thus the affected arm is in charge. Moreover, it uses the signals from the damaged limbs itself.
After rapidly and unexpectedly losing all ability to know where her limbs were without looking at them as well as her ability to speak, the woman spent a year in rehab learning how to control her vocal cords and to move on her own again. Sacks’ patient had lost her ability to perceive her body position, and despite her rehabilitation, she never regained that sense. Without using her eyes to see where her limbs were at any given moment, the woman would crumple into a heap like a lifeless doll. Although her body, like all others, has body-position sensors in her muscles, on her tendons, and in her joints (Kasschau, 1985, p, 205), the woman’s brain had either ceased to receive or ceased to interpret the signals sent from the sensors. Sacks not only helped to treat the woman’s physiological symptoms, but helped her to deal with the emotional aspect of her recovery, much as a clinical psychologist would. She was able to express her feelings about her struggle to recover, and Sacks took those feelings seriously enough to include in his tale. The woman’s case is an interesting one that merits further study by a physiological psychologist, but Sacks’ initial study opened that door to the
Mathematicians, medical doctors, neuroscientists, computer scientists, and a monkey are sitting in a room, they figure out how to remap the brain of paralyzed patients. This is no joke and was done by a team of researchers in 2002 at Brown University. Before a study like the aforementioned came along many would have ask what do a mathematician and a neuroscientist have in common. This is Johansson’s point; we have t...
Have you ever been with someone who has been suffering through paralysis or at least experienced someone going through that phase of life? It’s really hard to even imagine someone to be in that condition not just because of the physical disabilities that are involved but also because of the psychological stress that the victim goes through.
These people have had to adjust to living with these disabilities and work with them. Recently though, there have been studies that describe a system that could allow paralyzed people to control a robotic arm (Blaser 6). These researchers are hoping to advance the technology so that it will also allow amputees to control robot prosthetics (Blaser 6). Physical therapy will be what allows them to control these robot limbs. Physical therapists will train and coach these patients until they master the system. They will be able to regain use and do things without the help of someone else. This is revolutionary for millions of war veterans who are amputees, along with other disabled people. This has offered light to a future that may allow disabled people to control something they thought they had
In all the research and projects so far have been made with this method (Brain computer interface), all subject controlled by a person brain, an example of the research that has been done by Millan et al. [4] was on mobile robots has been controlled by a person brain. Or control the electrical wheelchair made a non-invasive method by thinking about it that the person was able to move between rooms [3].
Robotics is affecting many parts of our lives right now, from jobs, to house chores to medicine and a lot more. But which is really more effective and efficient? Humans or robots? Yet, we continue to develop robots to help us. Is a future taken over by robots about to happen? Can robots be the future of our lives?
In 2010, robots are very different from the expectations set in 1965. “The latest advances in technology have led to robots that look very much like humans but are mostly able to perform only limited functions.” (Bar-Cohen 12). Yoseph Bar-Cohen and David Hanson’s book ‘The Coming Robot Revolution” is very clear ab...
The operations of the robots have also advanced from simple hard-stop, one-function, hydraulic actuated robots to the more sophisticated, high-precision, servo controlled robots that can be reprogrammed to do many different jobs.
In case of emergencies, robots could reduce the percentage of fatal damages that occurs through these cases. In fact, humans’ lives are much valuable and precious rather than robots, in which societies could use robots to scarify through the dangerous situation for the sake of rescuing people. In addition, dangerous situations such as firefighting or earthquake require much effort, precision, and scarifying in the evacuation process. Furthermore, a beneficial feature that could help robots to coexist through the risky situations easily and preform the rescuing mission perfectly is that robots do not have feelings or emotions. According to Bruemmer (2006), robots do not have the ability to realize or notify any aspect that people do not programmed them to do. In other words, robots are merely machines that cannot feel or recognize what surrounding them without a sophisticated program done by humans. Therefore, as robots do not have the ability of feeling or knowing they could go through inhumane conditions for saving people. Moreover, robots have various capabilities that make them unique enable them to do heavy duties and bear more serio...