Robotics FAQ

01 What is the definition of a 'robot'?

A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to ...

02 Where did the word 'robot' come from?

The word 'robot' was coined by the Czech playwright Karel ...

03 When did robots, as we know them today, come into existence?

The first industrial modern robots were the Unimates developed ...

04 Where can I find robotics resources on the net?

Within this FAQ are a wide variety of URL's and pointers to ftp ...

05 Robotics Related Organizations p1

There are a number of organizations and societies related to robotics....

06 Robotics Related Organizations p2

Center for Autonomous and Man-controlled Robotic and Sensing ...

07 Robotics Associations of Many Countries p1

Compiled from a list provided by the British Robot Association....

08 Robotics Associations of Many Countries p2

IPA

09 Robotics Associations of Many Countries p3

10 Robotics Clubs p1

The original computer club in Silicon Valley was the Homebrew ...

11 Robotics Clubs p2

Palo Alto Homebrew Robotics ...

12 Robotics Clubs p3

San Francisco Robotics Society of ...

13 Robotics Publications

There are a number of academic journals and trade magazines devoted ...

14 Robotics Trade Magazines p1

Usually free, mostly ads or industry news. Many articles written ...

15 Robotics Trade Magazines p2

Laser Focus ...

16 Other sources: (Robotics)

Thomas

17 Robotics Books p1

The readership of this group ranges from the beginner to ...

18 Robotics Books p2

Microprocessor Based ...

19 Robotics Books p3

Robot Evolution: the Development of ...

20 CDROMS (Robotics)

Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot....

21 Magazine Articles (Robotics)

Initial List Provided by Dave ...

22 Online Technical Reports (Robotics)

There are emerging sources on the net for tech reports and papers. ...

23 Videos (Robotics)

[new section - looking for additional material]...

24 Conferences (Robotics)

There are a wide variety and number of conferences related to ...

25 Robotics Competitions part1

There are a number of robot gatherings where robot builders can ...

26 Robotics Competitions part2 BEAM Robot Olympics

Contact: Mark Tilden [22]mwtilden@math.uwaterloo....

27 Robotics Competitions part3 IEEE Micromouse Competitions

In 1979 the IEEE Spectrum ran the first micromouse competition ...

28 Robotics Competitions part4 IJCAI-95 Robot Competition

29 Robotics Competitions part5 La Ferte Bernard France Robot World Contest

Introduction:...

30 Robotics Competitions part6 Robot Symposium and Navigation Contest

31 Robotics Competitions part7 Robot Wars

32 Robotics Competitions part8 SAE Walking Machine Decathalon

The Ninth Annual SAE National Robotic Walking Machine ...

33 Robotics Competitions part9 Sumo Robot Competition

Sumo is a traditional Japanese sport in which two very ...

34 Robotics Competitions part10 Western Canadian Robot Games

[53]Web site for ...

35 Robotics Competitions part11 Robotic Sumo Wrestling: The Tradition Continues

This contest matches your own creation with another robot in ...

36 Graduate Programs in Robotics part1

This list is grouped by countries including the United States,...

37 Graduate Programs in Robotics part2 Canada

McGill

38 Graduate Programs in Robotics part3 Europe

39 Graduate Programs in Robotics part4 Switzerland

Swiss Federal Institute of ...

40 Graduate Programs in Robotics part5 United Kingdom

41 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: BrandeisUniversity

Waltham, ...

42 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: CaliforniaInstitute of Technology

Pasadena, ...

43 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: CarnegieMellon University (CMU)

Graduate program contact:...

44 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: Case WesternReserve University

Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied ...

45 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: ColoradoSchool of Mines

Mobile Robotics/Machine Perception ...

46 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: ClemsonUniversity (CU)

Graduate program contact:...

47 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: GeorgiaInstitute of Technology

Atlanta, ...

48 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: Iowa StateUniversity

Iowa Center for Emerging Manufacturing ...

49 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: New York University (NYU)

NYU's Department of Computer Science home page is at:...

50 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: Northeastern University

[90]Northeastern University> ...

51 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofMassachusetts

Laboratory for Perceptual ...

52 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofMichigan

53 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofPennsylvania.

UPenn offers Masters and PhD programs in Robotics and Robotics ...

54 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofSouthern California (USC)

USC has a new MS Program called: Master of Science in Computer ...

55 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofMaryland

56 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofNotre Dame

57 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: TheUniversity of Texas at Arlington

58 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: University ofWisconsin-Madison

Mechanical Engineering & Electrical ...

59 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: YaleUniversity

There is a broad spectrum of research activities in vision ...

60 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: WilkesUniversity

61 Graduate Programs in Robotics part6 United States: Other Unis

Boston University:...

62 Graduate Programs in Robotics part7 Japan

[68]Waseda University Tokyo, ...

63 Student Who's Who

An useful additional source of information is the graduate ...

64 What is the State of the Robot Industry?

In general, there was a significant slump in the mid to late 1980's ...

65 Mobile Robot Companies part1

There are a small number of companies targeting the research ...

66 Mobile Robot Companies part2

Denning Branch International ...

67 Mobile Robot Companies part3

IS

68 Mobile Robot Companies part4

OTO

69 Mobile Robot Companies part5

70 AGV Companies part1

AGV's are Automatic Guided Vehicles. They are common in ...

71 AGV Companies part2

Fata

72 AGV Companies part3

73 Underwater robots

[new section, need more information]...

74 Robotics Manipulator Companies part1

This is only a partial list of manipulator manufacturers. A ...

75 Robotics Manipulator Companies part2

Kawasaki Robotics (USA Inc.)...

76 Robotics Manipulator Companies part3

Oxford Intelligent Machines (OxIM)...

77 Robotics Manipulator Companies part3

Robotic Systems International (RSI), Ltd....

78 What other Organizations are working with robotics? Educational Organizations

79 What other Organizations are working with robotics? ResearchCenters

80 What other Organizations are working with robotics? NationalLaboratories

81 What other Organizations are working with robotics? USDepartment of Defense

82 What other Organizations are working with robotics? Companies

Redzone ...

83 Small Inexpensive Robots part1

One of the most common discussions on the net are related to finding,...

84 Small Inexpensive Robots part2

85 Small Inexpensive Robots part3

Graymark ...

86 Small Inexpensive Robots part4

M & T

87 Small Inexpensive Robots part5

88 Small Inexpensive Robots part6

Reality ...

89 Small Inexpensive Robots part7

90 Small Inexpensive Robots part8

Tomy

91 Small Inexpensive Robots part9

Zagros

92 Entertainment Robots

While not quite in the mainstream of robotics research, there are ...

93 What is a Robot Architecture?

A robot 'architecture' primarily refers to the software and ...

94 What Robotics related products are there?

Robots are amazingly interdisciplinary; systems are comprised ...

95 Robotics Cameras part1

There are a large number of cameras on the market and even ...

96 Robotics Cameras part2

Edmund Scientific ...

97 Robotics Cameras part3

Marshall Electronics ...

98 Robotics Cameras part4

Sony Electronics Inc. ...

99 Robotics: Inertial, Acceleration and Heading sensors part1

An excellent summary technical report on this area can be found at:...

100 Robotics: Inertial, Acceleration and Heading sensors part2

Andrew

101 Robotics: Inertial, Acceleration and Heading sensors part3

Endevco ...

102 Robotics: Inertial, Acceleration and Heading sensors part4

103 Robotics: Inertial, Acceleration and Heading sensors part5

Pewatron ...

104 Robotics: Inertial, Acceleration and Heading sensors part6

Summitt Instruments ...

105 Robotics: Rangefinding Devices part1

Principles There are four basic techniques for distance ...

106 Robotics: Rangefinding Devices part2

Acuity

107 Robotics: Rangefinding Devices part3

Erwin Sick GmbH. ...

108 Robotics: Rangefinding Devices part4

109 Robotics: Rangefinding Devices part5

Schwarz Electro-Optics ...

110 Robotics: Force/Torque, Accelerometers, Tactile part1

Force measurement provides indications of magnitude and direction ...

111 Robotics: Force/Torque, Accelerometers, Tactile part2

ATI Industrial ...

112 Robotics: Force/Torque, Accelerometers, Tactile part3

Cybernet ...

113 Robotics: Force/Torque, Accelerometers, Tactile part4

Interlink Electronics ...

114 Robotics: Force/Torque, Accelerometers, Tactile part5

Silicon Designs, Inc. ...

115 Robotics: Sonar Sensors

The time it takes for an acoustic pulse to propagate through air ...

116 Robotics Pan/Tilt Mechanisms part1

A common robotic need. Most pan-tilts sold today by companies such ...

117 Robotics Pan/Tilt Mechanisms part2

Efston Science ...

118 Robotics Pan/Tilt Mechanisms part3

Hammacher ...

119 Robotics: Measuring 3 or 6DOF position part1

How do I measure the postion of my manipulator or my mobile robot?...

120 Robotics: Measuring 3 or 6DOF position part2

Eshed

121 Robotics: Measuring 3 or 6DOF position part3

Polhemus Inc....

122 Robotics: Measuring 3 or 6DOF position part4

123 Robotics: Measuring 3 or 6DOF position part5

Selcom Selective Electronics Inc ...

124 Measuring linear motion (Robotics related products)

125 Interfacing sensors (Robotics related products)

126 Actuators (Robotics related products)

127 RC-Servos (Robotics related products)

128 RC-Servos: How can you reverse a servo?

129 RC-Servos: How can you control a servo from a parallel port?

130 RC-Servos: How can you implement force servoing with RCservos?

131 RC-Servos: How to implement RC servo control from aMicrocontroller like the HC11?

132 Shape Memory Materials (Robotics related products)

133 Other Actuators (Robotics related products)

134 Stepper Motors (Robotics related products)

135 Controllers (Robotics related products)

136 DC Motors (Robotics related products)

137 Imaging for Robotics part1

138 Imaging for Robotics part2

Current Technology ...

139 Imaging for Robotics part2

140 Imaging for Robotics part3

141 Imaging for Robotics part4

Teleos ...

142 Wireless Communication (Robotics related products)

143 RF Modems (Robotics related products)

144 RF Ethernet (Robotics related products)

145 Robot Parts: Suppliers and Sources

146 Whatever happened to Heathkit Hero Robots?

147 What's available for Puma Manipulators? (Robotics)

Pumas are probably the most common robot in university ...

148 What kinds of Robotics Simulators are there?

Simulation allows researchers, designers and users to construct ...

149 Commercial Robotics Simulators part1

Auto Simulations, Inc....

150 Commercial Robotics Simulators part2

Silma/

151 Shareware and Freeware Robotics Simulators: part1

Many university groups and individuals have developed simulators ...

152 Shareware and Freeware Robotics Simulators: part2

153 Shareware and Freeware Robotics Simulators: part3

154 Shareware and Freeware Robotics Simulators: part4

155 Commerical RTOS part1 (Robotics: Real-Time Operating System)

Chimera and ...

156 Commerical RTOS part2 (Robotics: Real-Time Operating System)

157 Commerical RTOS part3 (Robotics: Real-Time Operating System)

E-VENIX and ...

158 Commerical RTOS part4 (Robotics: Real-Time Operating System)

159 Research RTOS (Robotics: Real-Time Operating System)

160 What is NuTank? (Robotics)

NuTank stands for NeuralTank. It is a program to simulate ...

161 Survey of Mobile Robot Development Environments

This list provides a look at mobile systems that people are using. ...

162 Robot Controllers

This section describes both industrial robot controllers and ...

163 What is the Miniboard? (Robot Controllers)

The Mini Board is an outgrowth of the MIT 6.270 robot course ...

164 What is the F1 Board? (Robot Controllers)

A PCB board set designed around the 68HC11f1 microprocessor, which ...

165 What is the Bot Board? (Robot Controllers)

The BOTBoard is a single chip microcomputer board designed for ...

166 What is the Handyboard? (Robot Controllers)

The Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of ...

167 Other Robot Controllers

Jerry

168 What is the XXX Microcontroller? (Robotics)

Which microcontroller should I use and what are the ...

169 Motorola 68XX (Robotics Microcontroller)

A 68HC11 is an 8-bit data, 16-bit address microcontroller ...

170 Motorola 683xx (Robotics Microcontroller)

The 683xx family from Moto are highly integrated CPU's. Several ...

171 Intel 80C186 (Robotics Microcontroller)

An 80C186 is a evolution from the 8086. It is an embedded ...

172 Intel 8051 (Robotics Microcontroller)

A typical 8051 contains:...

173 Intel 8096 (Robotics Microcontroller)

It is 16 bit, many registers, internal RAM, the usual compliment ...

174 Microchip PIC16/17 (Robotics Microcontroller)

175 Parallax BASIC Stamp (Robotics Microcontroller)

The Stamp is a 1x2 (2.5x5cm) computer that runs BASIC ...

176 National Semiconductor LM628/629 (Robotics Microcontroller)

Small motor control chip. Does PWM for motion control at a very ...

177 Hewlett-Packard HCTL 1000, 2000 (Robotics Microcontroller)

HP's motor and encoder interface chips. Widely used and ...

178 Motor Drivers (Robotics Microcontroller)

This section primarily addresses chip-level devices for ...

179 Acknowledgements (comp.robotics.)

Thanks to those who responded with updates, new material, corrections,...