Research and Education in Robotics †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Research and Education in Robotics. Answer: Introduction The development of robotics has been as a result of progressive desire for artificial intelligence. Scientists have always struggled to see how they can use machines to solve some of the problems human beings face (Obdrz?a?lek Gottscheber, 2014). The critical areas of science that have triggered the growth of robotics are electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science. The knowledge and skills from these areas have been blended to make robots and in all honesty robots are automated. Automation of robots is all about feeding them with certain information, which will guide them on how they would conduct themselves when doing a certain task (Kim, Tadokoro, 2013). Besides, robots are used to carry out various roles, and again being machines they have the ability to make errors. Nevertheless, robots come in different types and that is to mean even their applications are vary. There are robots classified by the type of their application. In this type, there are industrial robots, which are to carry out industrial activities in the manufacturing sphere. Industrial robots will be tasked to weld, paint materials, and handle material. Further, by application there are also domestic robots, domestic robots, space robots, military robots, entertainment robots as well as competition robots (Deb, 2013). Another type of robots is based on kinematics and locomotion and examples include: stationary robots, wheeled robots, legged robots, swimming robots, flying robots and swarm robots. Most importantly, the types of robots are based on the activities they carry out. That is to imply that robotics technologies come in different ways depending on the use a particular robot is supposed to carry. As indicated on the introduction that robots come in different ways, because of their different uses. Domestic robots are used for vacuum cleaning, mowing the lawn and generally other odd jobs (Gupta, Arora, 2013). In essence, this use of robots has made most households to stay cleaner and again it is useful for the working class people, who do not have time to do some odd jobs at their homes. Robots also offer military services and indeed this is most applicable to the developed world, whose military is sophisticated. At this point in time, when the world is facing terrorism, robotic technology has helped scientists to develop military robots with the ability to conduct military tasks without exposing any military officer to danger. These military robots can be used to neutralize IEDs and other explosives implanted by, for example, terrorists especially on the battlefield targeting the military. Industrial robots and other robots with arms are used in car manufacturing. Car production is a herculean task but since the invention of robots, humans can use these robots to facilitate the production of cars (Gupta Arora, 2013). These robots have mechanical tools, sensors and wheels which increase their efficiency and that is why they build cars as quickly as possible. Understand that humans are not as first as robots, therefore they save time and boost car production. Further, these robots will install various features into cars, well and paint them. Robots have facilitated space exploration. Today, there are spacecraft that are sent to space to collect, and record information that helps the understanding of space. The fact that the space has various risks, and can cause some health risks to humans, space robots are now used, because they cannot be exposed to any health risks (In Mohammed, In Moreno, In Kong, In Amirat, 2015).. Indeed, these space robots have sensors and sometimes they can be controlled by scientists in various stations on land. Robots are also used for underwater exploration. See, it this way, it has been a challenge to understand ocean floor and entirely the aquatic life within the sea. But since, invention of robots oceanography has been facilitated and people are able to understand the ocean and also appreciate the beauty of aquatic life (Gupta Arora, 2013). Indeed, underwater exploration has helped prevent endangering human life below water, and thus robots have the ability to carry all the dangerous missions underwater. From the dangerous missions robots carry out underwater, scientists have been able to understand the various activities occurring on the ocean and how those activities affect human life. Robots are also used to conduct some surgeries on human beings. Because, they are programmed they have been able to carry out surgeries successfully. Understand that robots are eliminating human error and because of that they are used to conduct surgery (In Siciliano In Khatib, 2016). However, surgeon robots receive human assistance. A human surgeon would use, his computer to assist the robot in the surgical process. By and large, surgeon robots have significantly given the medical field a shot in the arm, and with time robotic technology is likely to take over medicine. Robots are using for mining (Gupta Arora, 2013). Mining is a dangerous mission, because sometimes the land can collapse and bury miners. Incidents of land collapsing and burying miners have been reported in South Africa, but all that can be avoided when robots are used for manufacturing. Robots are not human beings, and the fact that they can be used for mining; it confirms that human life cannot be endangered. All in all, robots have various uses. They can also be used in spillage, especially oil spillage. Today, they are used to fight crime. There are some operations that can risk the lives of law enforcement officers in that case robots can be used. Indeed, it is due to various uses of robots, that businesses today find it necessary to use robots. Advantages of robots in relation to the Case Study The first advantage of robots is increased production. In all honesty robots are faster than human beings and they do suffer from fatigue. Due to this, businesses that use robots would also be able to produce faster and have their services delivered quickly to the customers. Thus, businesses today that use faster production ought to use robots. When production is high, it is possible for a business to grow across Australia, because it would have produced products enough to satisfy the need of many customers in Australia. As a result, the business would gain competitive advantage over other businesses that just use human labor (Berlin, 2013). Humans are prone to fatigue and that is to imply that productivity of an organization would always be low, hence making it unable to rival a business that has employed robots. Also, robots promote efficiency and work flow. Robots are properly coded or programmed to perform various tasks and in most cases they work perfectly and in the end, they offer an organization efficient work flow (Berlin, 2013). Remember that the work flow of an organization is important to its success. A business that has an efficient and effective workflow would be able to have its operations stopped at some times. Thus, it is fundamental that this company considers using robots to improve its work flow and indeed when the work flow is improved it would be within the realms of possibility for the organization to achieve its goals forthwith. Robots enhance the health of employees. Remember that adopting a robotic technology does not mean eliminating human labor completely (Harres, 2013). Employees would be needed to carry out some tasks, but those tasks that can risk the health of employees, robots can be used. In actuality, an organization that cares about the welfare of its employees would always succeed, because its human resource will work diligently towards achieving the organizational goals. Therefore, robots should be used to eliminate some health risks to the organizations employees. Robots would always improve the quality of the products. Consumers need businesses that produce products of good quality, and the only way a business can continue producing products of a better quality is by employing the robots. Robots ensure that production goes on well, and uniformity is considered during production (Kuttan, 2013). As a result, the products that would be produced will significantly have a better quality. This only advantage of the robots should be considered by the CEO. The CEO of this company, must know that when the Australian consumers, would always buy goods whose quality is ever excellent and therefore the company should employ robots. Robots do tasks repeatedly without any fatigue. This something that is impossible for labor that is dominated by humans. Human beings are likely to get bored if they perform repetitive tasks. In all honesty, when a human employee is bored, it all means that the organization would not perform optimally and to solve the problem of employing getting fatigued and bored for performing the same task robots should be employed. Thus, in the event this organization adopts the use of robots they would fundamentally benefit from this advantage of robots. Robots are also resistant to wear and tear (Bekey, 2013). Robot can be used for years without breaking down and that would help the organization avoid absenteeism among employees on grounds of sickness. If a robot can be used for years without breaking down that would help the organization operate yearly, without any stop. Unlike an organization that entirely uses human labor, when some come fall sick and some can absent themselves from work. When employees absent themselves from work, business activities are likely to be slowed down. It is now prudent that this organization focuses on using robots to avoid cases of absenteeism and maternity leave that can affect the operations of the organization. In this, the organization would have a competitive edge over an organization depending entirely on human labor. Further, the cost of using robots is low. After acquiring robots, to be honesty an organization will not be paying them salaries and offering some benefits (Bekey, 2013). For human labor, the organization would have to pay high salaries which in all probability reduce the profitability of a business. Therefore, this organization should consider reducing cost by employing robots in its business operations. Note that when salaries are high, the cost of production would always be high and that negatively affects the competitiveness of a business. Disadvantages of robots The most common disadvantage of robots is job loss. Every country today wants to reduce unemployment, have its people work to better their lives and build their nations. However, in the event the organization uses robots in its business operations, it means that several employees would have to lose their jobs (Harres, 2013). They will lose their jobs, because they would be replaced with machine intelligence. Robots have no ability to innovate as human employees. Robots are programmed to work in a certain way, but they do not their own intelligence (Bekey, 2013). As a result, they would never come up with any innovation to solve some problems. It should be known that the success of an organization is dependent on how it innovates. When employees perform various tasks repetitively they always have the ability to innovate, hence giving a business a competitive advantage. For sure, this is something that cannot be done by robots. Robots are very dangerous in the event they malfunction. To be honest, if a robot malfunctions, it will completely be dangerous (Angelo, 2013). A robot is programmed to carry out some tasks, and if it malfunctions it will not be able to do as expected, and it can destroy anything that comes near them. That is to insinuate that robots are dangerous to humans themselves if they malfunction. Robots also do not have conscience or emotions (Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, Durrant-Whyte, Abbeel, 2012). Due to this, they would never interact with human employees, and that is to mean that when a human employee is working with a robot, they would always be bored because the robot will never be able to interact with them. The human interaction at a work station is evidently important because it will motivate employees, and because robots are emotionless, they would never motivate their human counterparts. Ethical, social and legal considerations in Robot Technology The first ethical concern is that robots are threatening the dignity of humans. People are special being with intelligence, but their dignity is lost in the sense that robots are made to look better than humans (Bekey, 2013). Also, it is difficult to trust a robot, and to be candid this organization requires trust in order to build its corporate image. But because most people seem not to trust robots, they would always not trust the organization and its products as well. Also, robots have no ability to judge things whether they are morally right or wrong and as a result it can break some business ethics. Socially, robots would lead to laziness among people and sometimes impair creativity of people. Legally, there are concerns of data privacy, where a robot can share data to the third party (Calo, Froomkin, Kerr, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016). Also, when it comes to damage or injury, there have been questions of who would carry the responsibility. However, looking at the above raised issues, human beings need to be in total control of robots. They should not entirely depend on them and live all responsibilities to tasks. Also, extra care should be exercised to avoid destruction of a robot in case it malfunctions. Recommendations The organization should first consider buying a few robots and have a higher number of human employees. Remember that as the organization transitions to replacing human labor, it is prudent to ensure that robots are introduced one buy one. Thus, the organization should identify its key areas where robots can be introduced and areas where human labor can be used. Also, because this is an organization that seeks to grow and expand across Australia, it is essential to rely heavily on human labor as opposed to the robot labor. This is because, this organizations requires innovation which would give it a competitive edge over its competitors. When discussing the disadvantages of robots, it was elucidated that they do not have the ability to innovate and that to mean that for this organization to progress, it should rely more on human labor (Wallach Asaro, 2016). Let the robots work as assistants not purely as the main employees. Now that robots can do mass production, the company should utilize them in production unit, and leave human beings to handle other tasks. Conclusion It is true that robotics technologies are growing advancing every year, and most high-tech organizations are adopting them. Also, for household use, they are assisting people perform several tasks and in the industrially they are playing a significant role of boosting production. However, robots should not be entirely be used to replace human labor, because a country like Australia wants its people to be employed and be involving directly to nation building. References Angelo, J. A. (2013).Robotics: A reference guide to the new technology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Bra?unl, T. (2013).Embedded Robotics: Mobile Robot Design and Applications with Embedded Systems. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Bekey, G. A. (2013).Autonomous robots: From biological inspiration to implementation and control. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Calo, M. R., Froomkin, M., Kerr, I., Edward Elgar Publishing. (2016).Robot law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Ltd. Deb, S., Deb, S. (2013).Robotics technology and flexible automation. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Gupta, A. K., Arora, S. K. (2013).Industrial automation and robotics. New Delhi: University Science Press. Harres, D. 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