Sunday, December 9, 2007

Nanotechnology introduces Nanorobots (Reproduction)

Nanorobots

By: sharmkan

Nanotechnology’s invention of nanorobots is theoretical microscopic devices that calculated on the scale of nanometers (1 nm equals one millionth of a millimeter). When fully realized from the hypothetical stage, they would work at the atomic, molecular and cellular level to perform tasks in both the medical and industrial fields that have heretofore been the stuff of science fiction.

In past generations some body identified with cancer may be offered a new option to chemotherapy (the traditional cure of radiation, which kills not just cancer cells but healthy human cells too, causing hair loss, exhaustion, sickness, depression, and a host of other symptoms as well). A doctor enthusiastic towards nanomedicine would give the patient an injection of a particular kind of nanorobot, which would seek out cancer cells and tear down them, dismissing the disease at the source, leaving healthy cells unharmed. The amount of the adversity to the patient will fundamentally be a stab to the arm. A person experiencing a nanorobotic treatment can hope to have no alertness of the molecular devices working inside them, other than fast betterment of their health.

Workflow of a nanorobot gathering information and biomolecules

Nanomedicine's nanorobots are actually very tiny that they could with no trouble pass through the human body. Nanotechnology scientists report the external of a nanorobot would probable are constructed of carbon atoms in a diamondoid structure as of its motionless properties and other strength. Super-smooth surfaces would further lessen the possibility of activating the body's resistant system, permitting the nanorobots to go about their business without hindrance. Glucose or natural body sugars and oxygen may be a foundation for force, and the nanorobot would have other biochemical or molecular parts depending on its task.


According to present theories, nanorobots would possess as a minimum basic two-way communication; would respond to acoustic signals; and would as well be able to get power or even re-programming instructions from an outside source via sound waves. A system of particular stationary nanorobots may be deliberately placed all through the body, logging every active nanorobot as it passes, and then reporting those results, permitting an line to keep pace of all of the devices in the body.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

Robots: The Future of Eldercare

ARMAR Robot for the Kitchen

By: Elaine Mora

Advances in technology have been astounding over the last decade. Electronics are starting to be built into everything from vacuums to toothbrushes and slowly, but surely, computers will become an invaluable part of every aspect of daily living. Someday, you all be able to take a shower and the bathroom will not only detect you, it will adjust the height of the sink to your level and set the water temperature to 96 degrees, just the way you like it.

Taking care of the elderly will become much easier, as well. Remember Rosie from The Jetsons? She was able to cook and clean and even read their son, Elroy, a bedtime story. It may be a long time before we see a robot that we are actually able to communicate with, but robots that cook and clean are already in production. Think about your elderly loved ones. Instead of having to send them away to a retirement home, they all be able to spend their remaining years at home with you, where they should be. And you won't have to worry about leaving them alone or making sure they are taking their medication.


Now, it is really going to take a long time before robots are advanced enough to fully take care of us, so don't start believing that they are going to take all our jobs. But robots, or more likely just computers, will be built into everything and make life easier. Instead of a robotic nurse pushing grandpa around in a wheelchair, the robot may actually be the wheelchair. Grandpa will simply have to think about which direction he wants to move and his robotic chair will follow.

Imagine the possibilities of living in a world where you won't have to remember when to take which pills or where your wheelchair will be able to go up and down stairs with ease. Help will always be instantly at your side, so there will be less of a need for emergency response and homes will be a completely safe environment.

This all may sound great, but can we really expect to see all this new technology anytime soon? The answer is yes, and no. Within our lifetimes, expect to see electronics built into just about everything. Expect to be able to use verbal commands to control most major household appliances, but don't expect them to be able to answer back with a witty remark until about 2050. We are in the electronic and digital age, but will soon be up against the robotic and nanotechnology age.

Robot to Help Out Blind Shoppers

Robots/computers are already being used for more precise surgery, to make parallel parking easier, and even to fight wars. Within 10 years, every single household will be home to at least one new robotic device. Within 20 years, robots will be able to protect our houses and keep our children and elderly citizens safe. In just 2 generations from now, children will be born into the hands of machines and bedridden seniors will be comforted knowing they can safely still live at home.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Fundamental Technique Of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology Program

By: sharmkan

Introduction to nanotechnology manipulates the atomic properties of nanotechnology materials. Nanotechnology is the broad classification of applied science and technologies evolving around. Nanotechnology comprises of physics, material science, and applied science different disciplines. The characteristic of nanotechnology will be different and it comes up with standard features and techniques. It is designed and produced specifically to meet wide applications. It is used to control, manipulate the molecular level of the scale and it ranges with regards to the fabrication devices.

Nanotechnology in medicine has been made with regards to nanotechnology research and nanotechnology reports. Generally, Nanotechnologies have been classified under multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary field of science and technology and more nanotechnology materials have been updated constantly. It is confined has mechanical and electrical engineering. The popular nanotechnology among the customer is molecular nanotechnology which is used to operate molecular scale. The main purpose of introduction to nanotechnology is that it produces desire structure or device using principles.

Nanotechnology-DNA Computer

Nanotechnology uses more techniques and tools for its updating. Nanotechnology includes techniques for fabrication such as deep ultraviolet lithography, electron beam lithography, atomic layer deposition, and molecular vapor deposition. With regards to nanotechnology research and nanotechnology reports, it is come to know that it is possible to measure nanostructures and it is functionality. Nanotechnology can be used for wide applications and it has been designed specifically to meet the requirement of the customers around the world. Nanotechnology is an extension of existing sciences which interprets as nano scale or as recasting of existing science using new technology research.


Nanotechnology research has been made continuously to update technology using different techniques and tools available in the world. New technologies have been used to measure the molecular interactions that take place. Two different approaches have been insisted in nanotechnology to control, assist and to manipulate the molecular level of the scales. The fabrication techniques used ranges and the applications of structures differ. The design, devices for nanotechnology used for production to control the manipulation of size and shape of the scale which produces structural and characteristic for the technology updated.

Nanotechnology uses techniques to suit for applications such as field emission, plastics, energy storage, adhesives/connectors, molecular electronics, fibers and fabrics and for other applications. More number of manufacturers is interested in manufacturing tools required for nanotechnology and they provides and update for reasonable price consideration. To use nanotechnology or its updating, more assumption has been created with regards to science and technology which results from nanotechnology research.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Do-It-Yourself Robots with Linux

Robots have been a passion of mine since I was a child, so imagine my excitement when I was given the opportunity to add a robotics class to our high school's computer curriculum! We recently celebrated our second year of offering robotics at Greater Houlton Christian Academy (GHCA), the school where I teach. During this time, we've produced three different robots, each based on a PC running Linux. We work with a tight budget, so we have to be creative in our design, use of materials and tools. This results in robots that any do-it-yourself hobbyist can build.

The first robot to roam the halls of GHCA is K9, a robot dog based on the British sci-fi show, Doctor Who. I created K9 myself as a way to jump-start our Robotics program. K9's main purpose is to "ooh and ahh" students, hopefully encouraging an interest in the field of robotics. I used common angle iron and 1/4 nuts and bolts to assemble K9's "skeleton", much like an Erector Set from years gone by. In fact, K9's head was built using an Erector Set from 1971! Sheet metal provides the finished look for our class mascot.

K9 was the first robot built at GHCA

The second robot was designed by students Aaron Bither and Brian Thompson during our first year of offering robotics. At the beginning of each school year, we start by defining a "problem" that we'd like to overcome, and then we proceed to brainstorm how a machine can solve this problem, what features it will need and so on. Aaron and Brian decided to build a robot that could deliver messages from one classroom to another. They quickly learned that what is simple for humans is usually quite complex for robots. By the end of the school year, they had a robot that could be programmed to navigate the hallway, but much was left undone. It was a learning experience for us all.

Our third robot, and the featured robot of this article, was designed by students Jordan McGuire, Jeromy Nevers and Barrett Jewell. I am also part of the team, contributing ideas and guiding the students, teaching them through the hands-on process of design and construction. The problem this group of students wanted to tackle is security, so they decided to make a "sentry bot" that could patrol the hallways and scan for intruders. Again, easier said than done.

A functioning, autonomous robot has three major components: the mechanical systems, the electronic systems and the software. Design typically begins with the mechanics of the robot, and of particular interest is the method of locomotion. There are many ways to make a robot move, but our class adheres to the KISS principle-keep it simple, silly! For example, we don't build complex legs when wheels work just fine. In fact, all three robots use ordinary lawn-mower wheels with various drive systems.


The Sentry Bot

Our sentry bot uses a very simple tricycle design. To drive a robot's wheels, we use windshield-wiper motors. These motors can be purchased on-line for less than $20 US or torn out of an old car for free. They run on 12VDC and provide very high torque at a nice rotation rate. Our sentry bot uses two of these motors: one to drive the front wheel and the other to turn the steering strut.

Once the means of locomotion has been chosen, it's time to design the frame. The frame needs to be strong but not too heavy, and it must accommodate the drive system, any additional mechanical systems (such as arms and sensors), the power source (we use a 12V garden tractor battery) and the electronics. We decided on plywood for the sentry bot because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to work with. We cut out the frame using a simple jigsaw. One trick to reduce weight was to cut out sections of the interior of the plywood frame-just don't cut out too much or the frame will become weak.

Our electronics systems consist of the main computer and interface board that connects the computer to the drive system and sensors. Although I would love to equip every robot with a low-power embedded computer, our budget simply does not allow for this. However, we do have access to a number of old Pentium desktop computers. Considering the processing power of the Mars Rovers, a 200MHz Pentium is more than enough for our humble robot.

A big challenge in using old desktop computers for robotics is the power consumption. These motherboards draw a lot of current. Another problem is the voltages that the motherboard needs. For the sake of time and money, we use a power inverter with the original AT power supply. This is easy to do but not very efficient. Future robots will use components from old laptops that are donated to us, which consume less power and can run directly off the battery.

Interface boards are designed and built in class. The main purpose of this component is to take the low-current outputs of the PC's parallel port and allow those outputs to power the motors. We use transistors and relays to construct our control circuits, as well as a logic circuit to prevent motor "twitching" during bootup. Our logic circuit also ensures that the motors don't exceed any limits, such as turning the steering strut too far left or right. Inputs from sensors are routed through buffers before going to the parallel port. Simple, but it works!




Barrett Jewell works on the interface board.

Of course, what you really want to learn about is the software and operating system that run our robots. Yes, all three robots run Linux! In the beginning, we experimented using DOS and QBasic. However, we were quite limited in what we could do with DOS, so I started experimenting with Linux using K9 the robot dog.

When K9 was built, we used the Mandrake Linux distribution at our school. Mandrake offered a minimum installation option, which was enough for the simple demands of our robots. Since then, however, our school has switched over to Gentoo Linux, and thus our sentry bot actually runs on Gentoo. Maybe some of you are thinking that Gentoo is overkill for a simple robot. Maybe, maybe not.

I personally find that installing Gentoo is faster than installing most other distributions, maybe because I've done it so many times. A bare system (stage 3) install of Gentoo is relatively small, at least compared to the storage available on the robot's hard drive. However, Gentoo's biggest offering is the ability to add and update the software our robot needs quickly and easily, all compiled to make our old hardware run as fast as possible.

In case you are wondering how useful it is to compile software on an old Pentium system, know that our sentry bot has network access to our computer lab. Using distcc, a distributing compiler, our bot has the processing power of 20 Athlon 1500+ processors and more than 7GB of RAM at its disposal for compiling new software. Trust me, sentry bot can compile source code pretty quickly.

Gentoo Linux comes with another plus-it is very Python-centric (due to the Portage system). Our school offers a class to all 8th graders where they use Python to learn the basic concepts of programming. This provides a natural stepping stone for students who later want to take our Robotics class. Python is both simple and powerful, and although it is an interpreted language, it runs plenty fast for the simple needs of our robots. We use some C to interface Python to the parallel port, as well as to deal with time-critical operations, such as drift corrections. However, most of our code is in Python. This allows the students to make changes quickly and see immediate results in the robot's behavior. Because our computer lab is Linux-based, students easily can access the robot using SSH and KDE's fish from their workstations.

Controlling the motors using Linux and Python isn't difficult. The real challenge lies in the implementation of awareness, both of the environment and the robot's internal conditions. For example, a simple program coupled with a few electronic components can turn on the main drive motor for ten seconds, propelling the robot forward. But what's to stop the robot from drifting to the left or the right, or from running into a wall or person? Although the robot easily can track its progress based on time (driving ten seconds forward), the speed of the motor varies with battery charge and friction. To tell the robot to go forward exactly 50cm requires something a bit more complicated; it requires a feedback loop.

Most robots use motors with encoders of some sort to act as a digital "odometer". These encoders can be built using simple IR emitter/receiver pairs and a disk with holes in it. In fact, old-style computer mice work using this very principle. This got me thinking-instead of building a fancy encoder circuit and interface to the computer, followed by the software needed to read the encoder, why not use a simple device that provides the same information in a very computer-friendly format? Hence the "invention" of the optical mouse encoder.



A Close-up of Our Optical Mouse Encoder

Like everything else about our robot, our optical mouse encoder is simple yet effective. We took a mouse pad, cut out a circle and glued it to the main drive wheel. We then mounted an optical mouse to the steering strut so that the mouse rests over the circular mouse pad. As the wheel turns, the mouse pad rotates beneath the mouse, which sends very precise positioning data to the computer. This movement easily can be read by opening and reading from the /dev/psaux or equivalent device file. Optical mice provide a high resolution with great accuracy, so with the proper conversions, we can track our robot's movement down to a fraction of a centimeter. Knowing how far it has traveled, the robot can know where it is on a preprogrammed map, assuming it hasn't been picked up and moved and that there is no drift or wheel slipping.

Of course, drift and wheel slipping do occur, and maps can't predict moved furniture, people or bookbags. The robot needs a way to detect its environment, and to do this we are using sonar and bump sensors. Typically, sonar is neither cheap nor simple, but it just so happens that I had recently "won" a car parking assistant at a Christmas party Yankee swap. This device uses sonar and has three lights to tell drivers how far to back up their cars as they pull into the garage. Well, you can't beat free, and although this device does not measure distance in the traditional sense, it was a working sonar that can detect objects that are close (yellow light) and really close (red light). By wiring the yellow and red LEDs to our parallel port's input lines, our robot can detect objects as it approaches them and take action, such as stop or turn. The sonar emitter is mounted on the front wheel strut, so the sonar is always "looking" in the direction the robot is heading.

Even though we've tried to keep things simple, we still have much work to do. Our students are looking forward to the coming school year when they can continue working with the physical platform they've constructed. With the majority of the hardware in place, our focus will turn to the software. One challenge we've already run into is making sure the robot is going perfectly straight and not drifting to the left or right. Although it may be possible to design the hardware to lock the front wheel pointing exactly forward, there is still the issue of drift due to friction differences at each wheel. To solve this problem, we're turning to software.

Instead of measuring the rotation rate of the single front wheel per our current design, we recently experimented by attaching two optical mice to measure the two rear wheels. Linux provides a separate device file for each mouse, allowing us to track both rear wheels independently and compare them. By measuring differences in rotation rate, we can use software to adjust the steering motor until the robot is going perfectly straight. This also will let us precisely calculate the robot's heading as it makes turns or is affected by drift and wheel slippage. Couple this with external sensors, and we will have a robot that can know exactly where it is in our building.
A Look at the Steering Mechanism and Interface Board

High school student Jordan McGuire has written software that allows the robot to correct its internal position based on sonar readings of known boundaries, such as walls. Similar techniques can be used to detect objects that "don't belong", and then use other sensors, such as heat and motion, to detect a possible intruder during times when the building should be empty. With Linux, it is simple to add a Webcam that can capture and send the images of an intruder via a wireless network. A sentry bot's best weapon is its camera.

With Linux as our operating system, we can expand the capabilities of the robot well beyond the original "mission" given it. We've even discussed adding a GPS receiver and programming the robot to fetch us milkshakes from the local ice cream stand. Okay, maybe that's a little far-fetched, but it is good to dream big!

Speaking of dreams and future designs, as the Robotics program matures and students are introduced to robotics at a younger age, I plan to bring in more advanced concepts. We will still work to keep it simple, but there definitely are better ways to do some of the things we are currently doing. For example, the power requirements of a desktop PC are unrealistic for a battery-powered robot. Laptop components will be a great improvement, but if money were no object, embedded computers would be the way to go. A recent donation has purchased a TS-7260 ARM computer board for K9 that requires less than a watt of power to run. This Linux-based board has a number of I/O ports that are better suited for interfacing to the various motors, servos and sensors of a robot when compared to a PC's parallel port. The other inefficiency our simple approach introduces is the burden of a central PC managing minute yet very time-sensitive tasks, like speed control of the main drive motors. I'm currently redesigning K9's controller board to use simple microcontrollers to unload the low-level tasks from the CPU. Although our class may not be ready to tackle microcontrollers just yet, they definitely will be introduced to the concept and get to see the results.

I realize this article doesn't give step-by-step instructions on how to build a DIY robot. There are many good books and informative Web sites on that topic. My goal is to share what can be done with inexpensive, easy-to-obtain parts and our favorite operating system. Linux is loved by tinkerers and hobbyists, and an exciting and challenging extension to this line of tinkering is to add motors and sensors and autonomy. Like peanut butter and jelly, Linux and robotics are a perfect combination!

Friday, September 7, 2007

Robot Kits

By: Deven



Fascinated with electronics, then you will be doubly fascinated with the robots. And if you are indeed, then get yourself the robot kits so that you can have an amazing learning experience at your home. With the robot kits not only you will be able to understand and implement the knowledge of electronics, but after completion of the task you can have the ultimate robotic companion. But for the beginners, let us understand what is a robotic kit? Technically a robot kit is a special construction kit, which is used for building robots, especially autonomous mobile robots. In all, the robot kits are a great educational tool that keeps you involved and informed at the same time.

The robot kits are available for all the age groups and there can be many options while selecting it. Beginners can start with the entry level robot kits to venture in this field. Remember it is always better to understand the complete process and technique involved before you start with a costly robot kit. This is just to avoid any accidents in the process. The robot kits typically consist of structural elements, mechanical elements, motors (or other actuators), sensors and a controller board that controls the inputs and outputs of the robot. Some advanced robot kits are also available without electronics so as to provide you the opportunity to use your won designed electronics controllers and other circuits.
There are many manufacturers and designers of robot kits who provide a wide array of mechanical, programmable and various other multifunction robot kits. The general robot kits are a combination of mechanical and electronics process with a programmable chipset and can be used widely as great educational tool, whereas the high-end robot kits are similar, and the only difference being much complexity that can be a product of artificial intelligence, which is incorporated in the robots. These high-end robots take a great length of time to complete and can be taken as a group task, rather than an individual activity.

One of the popular robot kits are qfix robot kits. The qfix robot kits are an excellent educational tool for purpose of teaching robotics. They are widely popular and are commonly used in schools, high schools and mechatronics training in companies. Apart from this hobby robot builders commonly use the robot kits. Another popular robot kit is manufactured by the legendry Lego Mindstorms and consists of mechanical parts, a advanced controller, various sensors and actuators, and a software environment in order to program the constructed robot. In the qfix robot kits the mechanical parts are made of aluminum and all elements are industry standard. The mechanical elements in the robot kits include bars and plates, holders for motors and sensors, axes and wheels. Generally, Atmel controllers are used as electronics components.

Mastering this activity can lead you to the competitions that are held at various levels for robot building. This can be the most rewarding experience for any participant to present and display his or her robot.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

Fun And Easy Robot Building With Lego Mindstorm NXT

By: Jonathan Brunet



Robot hobbyists, come aboard. Lego has come up with the next generation Lego Mindstorm, NXT. The real easy way of forming, programming, and manipulating your very own robotic Lego creation. Don’t be intimidated. You need not be a true blue robotics expert to enjoy the Lego Mindstorm NXT. Amateurs and professionals, kids and adults alike would definitely enjoy the collection spontaneously.

The same concept in Lego building is followed. You need to have the usual Lego building blocks that come with the kit. The kit includes about 519 parts that you piece together. You can either follow the instructions on the guide that comes with it or add your creativity and construct your own robot creation The Lego Mindstorm NXT guide contains easy to follow guides and pictures. You can deviate from the design as you wish. Since it’s easy to follow, kids will find it simple and enjoyable to do. Big kids would look forward to the programming part of the Lego Mindstorm.

The Lego Mindstorm’s robotic ability to execute commands is because of the NXT main data controller named the "intelligent brick". There it contains the firmware, the memory and the program needed for it to work. This is the big yellow Lego brick that you’d construct the robot on. You’ll build around this piece. The heart of the new system is the NXT brick, an autonomous 32-bit LEGO microprocessor that can be programmed using a PC, or for the first time in the retail offering, a Mac. After building their robots, users create a program within easy-to-use yet feature-rich software, powered by LabVIEW from National Instruments.

The Lego Mindstorms NXT Set
1. Brick and sensors
2. Curved beams
3. Straight beams
4. Miscellaneous parts
5. Connectors
6. Angled connectors
7. Axles
8. Gears
9. Wheels
10. Wire

The addition of sensors to the Lego Mindstorm NXT give user's creations a whole new level of awareness. Ultrasonic sensors allow robots to "see", sound sensors enable robots to react to sound commands including sound pattern and tone recognition. Improved light and touch sensors allow your robot to see colors and feel or touch objects.

When it comes to programming, this will be the fun part. Programming gurus would definitely have a kick out of it. Novices will find it simple and easy. There’s a series of commands that you can select, drag and drop into your set of commands. Click a button and watch your creation perform the task.

You can select a series of preset commands in there. This means that no programming knowledge is required whatsoever. Codes are already in there, ready for you to select and activate. Good for newbies. The robot can go different directions, reverse, or roll over. There’s also an option to create your own chain of program codes which professionals will find appealing. The robot can do plain or complicated tasks depending on the user.

This program will then be beamed from the computer via Bluetooth or the included USB 2.0 cable to your Lego Mindstorm NXT robot. Then just sit back and watch your Lego Mindstorm NXT robot execute your commands. The Lego Mindstorm is simply not just a toy. It is actually used by universities teaching robotics. The simple robotic logic and design will be good for students to understand the basics of robotics. Lego Mindstorm NXT will enhance your creativity, skills, and technical background. Highly recommended to hobbyists out there. It’s very technical yet simple. Right on for anyone’s taste.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

Robotics In Health Care

By: ForProcessAutomation.com

Medical robotics is a remarkable technology that can provide health care to geographic areas that have limited access to medical specialists using tele-robotic surgery.

We haven’t quite reached the Jetson age of personal robots to do all of our work around the house. There are still quite a few developments in robotics, however, that affect humans in our day to day lives, although we might not recognize them as such. The robots in real life are not generally manufactured to look like people, but they nevertheless carry out many functions that would be dangerous or difficult for a human to do.

One area where the use of robotics has advanced considerably is that of healthcare. Robotics are now used in many areas of healthcare, including surgery, home care, and hospital processes.

In surgery, the advancement of robotics has made the surgical process easier on both the patient and the surgeon. Robotic intelligence and precision have combined to eliminate human limitations. Robotic surgery allows a surgeon to navigate to the area of operation with minimal cutting, ensuring both a less invasive procedure and a faster recuperation time. Robotic surgery also allows for more precise placement of tools within the surgical area, minimizing the risks of slippage or error.

In home healthcare, the current focus is largely on human labor. The aging population of baby boomers has already put a strain on the home health care situation which is only going to increase in the next ten to twenty years. Already, many home health care providers are feeling the strain of an industry that is increasingly becoming an employees market, where the supply of qualified health providers simply does not meet the demand.

In order to fill this void, there are many research projects underway in the field of home health care robotics. Some of the areas include telenursing for those in need of remote home care, mobile health status monitoring, home health diagnosis equipment, mobility assistance for bedridden patients, and auditory and visual assistance for the elderly (http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/a/s/asada/www/workshop.html). The completion and implementation of these ideas will revolutionize the home health care industry, both in terms of individual capacity and in expense.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com