1.2. Glossary of Robotics Terms
- Actuators
- Actuators cause the effectors to perform action. (motors, relay
switches, pneumatic solenoids … )
- Autonomy
- Autonomy is the ability to make decisions independent of human control
and act on them.
- Controllers
- The brains of the robot that uses information from sensors and human
users to control the actuators.
- Control System Theory
- Control Sytems deal with dynamic systems. These are abstractions
that describe something that changes over time. Control System
Theory deals with how we can influence this change of the
system.
- Differential Drive
- Two drive wheels on either side of the robot. Other wheels are used to
provide balance, but movement and steering is controlled by setting the
velocities of the two drive wheels.
- Effectors
- Effectors enable a robot to take action. (wheels, arms, grabbers,
wings, …)
- Kinematics
- Kinematics is the branch of classical mechanics which describes the
motion of points, bodies (objects) and systems of bodies (groups of
objects) without consideration of the causes of motion.
- Robot
- A robot is an autonomous system which exists in the physical world,
can sense its environment, and can act on it to achieve some goals.
The term Robot is actually a Czech word meaning worker or slave.
It was coined in a 1920 play, by the Czech playwright Karel Capek,
entitled Rossum’s Universal Robot or RUR.
- Sensors
- Sensors detect information about the robot’s environment.
