Robots have been around for many years and continue to amaze us with the capabilities and operations they can perform. We never really realize how much work it takes to make a stationary object begin to move and perform tasks.
This is where robot software comes along. It is probably one of the most important pieces to creating a fully functional robot. The software uses a set of coded commands or instructional material that tells a robot what to do and when to do it. Due to the unlimited possibilities of coding, there are software systems and frameworks that make programming robots even easier. Some robotic software even aims at creating devices that are intelligent. Some of the tasks these devices can perform are feedback loops, control pathfinding, data filtering, and locating.
Software utilized to control the robots consists of a set of instructions and data objects, known as program flow. For example, Go to Jig1 is an instruction for the robot to a positional data named Jig1.
Below is an example of a plain english coded set of instructions describing what each task means.
Example code: Move to P1 (a general safe position)
This is where robot software comes along. It is probably one of the most important pieces to creating a fully functional robot. The software uses a set of coded commands or instructional material that tells a robot what to do and when to do it. Due to the unlimited possibilities of coding, there are software systems and frameworks that make programming robots even easier. Some robotic software even aims at creating devices that are intelligent. Some of the tasks these devices can perform are feedback loops, control pathfinding, data filtering, and locating.
Software utilized to control the robots consists of a set of instructions and data objects, known as program flow. For example, Go to Jig1 is an instruction for the robot to a positional data named Jig1.
Below is an example of a plain english coded set of instructions describing what each task means.
Example code: Move to P1 (a general safe position)
Move to P2 (an approach to P3)
Move to P3 (a position to pick the object)
Close gripper
Move to P4 (an approach to P5)
Move to P5 (a position to place the object)
Open gripper
Move to P1 and finish
Most of these instructions have a start and a finish. The instructions coded by the programmer have to be very specific because a robot is just like a computer, it does not understand implicit commands. Implicit commands can lead to errors, and in the case of robots in factories which are large in size size and move fast, it can even cause severe injuries. So all strings of code are pre-checked before they are finalized and programmed to the robot.
While this is just a small piece of information on this topic, it gives you a good idea about how robots work and the process it takes to program them correctly. This occupation is one of the hardest still to
work in because most workers have to be well versed in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Software Engineering to be able to work in this industry of robotics.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_software
http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/113252131-565x376_6.jpg
http://www.ciros-engineering.com/fileadmin/Templates/CIROS/IMG/articles/Roboterprogrammiersprache_RAPID.jpg
Robotics is a big field in computer science because its concerned about machine learning and how to improve up on artificial intelligence so i don't think that it's only related to electrical engineering but it's a great article.Thank you !
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