Active Components in Robotics: How They Enable Intelligent Machines

Image of a robot. Source Freepik

Robotics is a field that specializes on the building of mechanical robots. It covers all the relevant topics that entail robots including the design, programming, construction, training, and deployment of robots.

At the end of the day, the robots should do the tasks that they are designed to do accurately. In most cases, the behavior of robots tend to replicate the activities of actual human beings.

At the heart of the robotics are the active components. These are electronic components that give robots powers and capabilities to execute different tasks.

In this guide, e are going to explore the role of active components towards the building of the intelligent machines.

Table of Contents

A brief understanding of the robotics

Before we get into the active components, let’s have a brief overview of robotics. Generally, it is an engineering field that focuses on producing productive robots.

One facet of this field focuses on the mechanical aspect of the robot. Here, the robot should be able to execute physical movements in its environment. This can be moving itself or other objects in an environment. Perfect example of the mechanical characteristics of the robotics is the Mars Rovers Wheels which comprises of the motorized wheels that are designed to help this robot navigate over a tough terrain.

The second critical aspect of the robotics is electronic components. A typical robot comprises of many active components which run everything in it.For example, to power up a robot, you will need a power IC. There are other power components that perform power management functions in robots. Other electronic components of the robotics include sensors, actuators among others.

The third aspect of the robotics entails the programming. A robot must be programmed to do certain things in a certain way. Otherwise, it will just be an ordinary piece of electronic device. It is through programming that robots are placed in certain environment to do specific tasks.

For years, the three have been the main center of a attention when it comes to robotics. But with the advancement of technology, we are seeing other aspects fields being incorporated into robotics. One of them is artificial intelligence.

It will be impossible to discuss the building of intelligence robots without mentioning the role of AI and machine learning. AI chips are being used for developing intelligent robots.

When we bring all these fields together, we will end up with smart and intelligent robots.

Evolution of the intelligent robots

What do we mean by the ‘intelligent robots”? Also know as ‘smart robots, these are advanced types of robots that tend to have cognitive abilities. They act and reason like humans. They also learn and make decisions based on the type of training that they have received.

Intelligent robots are powered by artificial intelligence and its tenets such as computer vision and machine learning. They acquire their cognitive abilities through vigorous training using large datasets.

What are the features of the intelligent robots

Thanks to the power of the the AI and machine learning, intelligent machines posses the following characteristics

Ability to learn: Machine leaning entails training the robots to learn the subject area so that they can execute their tasks perfectly. For example, if the robot will be used in the manufacturing environment, it will be trained on all the necessary components. Machine learning algorithms are used for training these machines.
Perception: Smart robots are able to tell the environment that they are in and differentiate one object from another. The power of perception is enabled by integrating different active components such as sensors. The perception aspect in robotics is similar to that of human beings. They can also recognize speech, visuals and any other data about their surrounding.
Autonomy: The evolution smart robots is characterized by autonomy. Here, the machines are able to operate independently without human involvement. The main advantage of autonomous robots is they save time and also cut own the cost of employing supervisors.
Decision making: After perceiving the environment and analyzing data, the next logical thing that you should expect from intelligent robots is to make decisions. The decision is usually from the training that the robot has been exposed to through the large volumes of data about a particular subject.

A combination of these features enhances the practicality and usability of the intelligent machines. They can be used in different application areas thanks to their high levels of intelligence.

Some of the industries that are already embracing the power of smart robots include medical and health, manufacturing, transport, defense and security among others.

Functions of active components in robotics

Image source Freepik

What do the active components do in robotics? Let’s look at some of these functions and the specific components that are used.

For sensing

In the field of robotics, we equate sensing to the data collection. By sensing, robots are able to collect data about the environment in which they are supposed to operate.

Sensors are the active components that give robots the sensing capability. There are different types of sensor chips that are installed in different parts of robots. These are semiconductor integrated circuit elements that perceive different physical parameters and convert them into electrical signals.

Sensors in smart robotics collect data such as temperature, speed, terrain, physical attributes of objects among others.

The inclusion of artificial intelligence and machine learning has enhanced the sensory capacity of the robotics.

For actuating the mechanical

Robots have to make movements in order to function.The movements could be from one physical location to another or could be body movement. Actuators are the active components used for executing the robotics mechanics. They convert the electrical energy into physical energy.

The actuators ensure that movements of the robots are done accurately. Keep in mind that any wrong by a robot can be catastrophic. At the same time the movement by actuators should be controlled and coordinated.

Due to the demand for intelligent machines, modern actuators tend to have advanced features. Most of them are able to execute complex movements.

Implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning

Active components are making it possible to integrate AI and ML features into smart robotics. This can easily happen through the use of AI chips.

These chips are embedded with powerful machine learning algorithms that ensure the machines learn through the given datasets in their respective environment.

AI chips also support the implementation of the computer vision on the smart robotics. This feature gives intelligent machines the ability to identify and differentiate different objects based on their physical attributes.

We cannot ignore the fact that AI improves adaptability of robots. All that is needed is to retrain the AI model for a new environment.

Networking and communication

Most robotic applications have the network feature to support data exchange with other devices. Take an example of the Mars Rover in the mars. It should be able to transfer and receive signals from the other planet to the earth.

Such seamless communication can be possible only with the use of networking integrated circuits. These chips are designed to support various network protocols for uninterrupted data transfer.

Networking chips also support integration of the intelligent robotics with the IoT. Here the machines can easily connect with other smart devices in a network and also be controlled remotely.

Active components for energy management in robotics

Robots are made of electronic components which rely on the electricity to run. For optimum performance, there should be an efficiency power management system in the robots. This is where the relevance of the active components comes in.

Specialized power IC chips ensure that there proper management of energy in the intelligent machines.

These chips ensure that the right amount of energy is obtained from the power source to the machine.Power chips also shield the machine from the dangers of power surge, over-current,over-voltage and other electric-related hazards.

Smart robotics also feature intelligent power management. This is where different components of the chip get power depending on demand. Intelligent power management enhances energy-efficiency of the robotics.

Active components control the robotics

The whole control mechanism in robotics is determined by the active components.There are microcontrollers that are designed for this function. The read instructions from the input systems such as sensors and execute as supposed.

Active components are also responsible for coordinating movements of the actuators. This is in addition implementing proper timing on the robots.

There are any other active components that are essential in the running and operation the smart robots. For example, security chips secure the machine from threats such as hacking while memory IC chips are designed for efficient data management of the machine

Conclusion

I hope that with this guide, you are able to appreciate the role of active components in robotics. Everything about robots is heavily reliant on these components.They have turned ordinary robots into smart machines. So, in case you are working on a robotics project, it will be smart to get the right electronic components. From reputable and reliable suppliers.