Stephen PokowitzJulia Barry4th Block3/15/15

The field of robotics is changing rapidly and new developments and breakthroughs happen almost everyday in science. In the new 21st century world of drones, robots, and artificial intelligence it has become necessary for robots to be able to identify and react to stimuli to protect themselves and or to protect humans. They are often used in dangerous situations where using humans would be too dangerous, but that being said, specialized robots cost in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars and protecting them from destruction is paramount if they are to be efficient. There are three main portions to threat detection, systems and means of threat detection, protecting robots and protecting humans and there has been a plethora of research done on them.Humans have always wanted to be able to detect threats before they came, whether using dogs to predict inclement whether or canaries to detect the presence of harmful fumes in the mine humans have always tried to be one step ahead of danger. With the advent of the computer and new technologies and sensors humans are now able to use miniature computers and processors to detect weather patterns, planes, and threats. Currently the military uses robots to defuse bombs and to detect radiation so that soldiers dont have to be put into those dangerous situations. The Idaho National Laboratory made a breakthrough in threat detection technology when they introduced their ARTHR (Autonomous Real-Time Threat-Hunting Robot) system, Its intelligence payload enables commercial robots, with plug-and-play sensors, to hunt for and localize deadly hazards and security threats such as irregular oxygen levels, volatile organic compounds, chlorine, ammonia, radioactivity, explosive particulates and land mines. ARTHR is the first paradigm shifting system that ports seamlessly between varieties of robot platforms. The key is that ARTHR is not a robot it is a payload of brains. Its a combination of robust intelligent behaviors, hazard sensors, simple-to-use interface tools and innovative interaction techniques that improve a robots value and functions in hazardous environments, (INL) ARTHRs brilliance comes from its ability to be a plug and play system. Any sensor can be used to detect a multitude of things not listed such as weather patterns, incoming objects, motion sensors to detect cars or animals or anything of the sort. Robots also must have a way of aggregating and accumulating data that can be processed at a later time, it doesnt matter if the sensors sense something if it does not get communicated. In a case study of sensors on Swarm Bots the actual robot does not seek out the threat only the auxiliary swarm bots and communicate back to the robot. All sensors communicate with a base robot, which does not actively seek threat. Instead, the base robot processes the information using sensor data and data sent by swarm robots. A command center can collect processed data (aggregated data) from the base robot without interacting with other components of the SoS such as sensors and swarm robots(Jamshidi). The robot uses a processor or miniature computer brain to process and store the incoming information. Robots must be able to protect themselves from outside forces or else they become inefficient and a waste of money. Many companies and organizations have implemented systems to prevent robots from getting destroyed by outside forces. As seen in the Voyager spacecraft series NASA believes it is paramount to keep their deep space probe up and running so they developed a computer system to make sure that the robot stays in homeostasis, each Voyager is equipped with computer programming for autonomous fault protection. The Voyager system is one of the most sophisticated ever designed for a deep-space probe. There are seven top-level fault protection routines, each capable of covering a multitude of possible failures. The spacecraft can place itself in a safe state in a matter of only seconds or minutes, an ability that is critical for its survival when round-trip communication times for Earth stretch to several hours as the spacecraft journeys to the remote outer solar system,(The Mission). The voyager design was one of the first designs With threat detection concerning humans the primary objective is to either go in the place of a human into a dangerous situation or to react to a threat or perceived threat that may harm a human. This can most easily be seen in the military with the use of bomb defusion robots and drones that can evaluate a threat and/or get rid of it by using sensors to detect what may be threatening. Current technology pioneered by Johns Hopkins University now allows for bomb disposal technicians to access and dispose of bombs that before would have required the technician to put himself in danger, Sallys MPL is most remarkable in its ability to give operators an amazing degree of vital real-time control. To activate the arm, an operator wearing a special sensor-laden glove manipulates his arms and hands, and Sally mimics these movements. The sensors in the glove are so precise that Sally can actuate individual joints in her hands and fingers to exactly mimic whats happening on the operators end,(Maxey). Advancements like the one mentioned can pave the way to a whole new era of robot protection of humans. Though robots have a long and storied history, starting with Asimov and his three rules of robotics, all the way up to the invention of drone swarms that can accurately make a 3D map of an area. One of the more promising aspects of robotics is the ability to create robots that can sense threats, and protect itself or humans from potential dangers and tons of research has been done into these forms of threat detection. While its improbable that a robot like the ones seen in I Robot and the like will come be the managers and savers of humanity, the future looks promising. In our robotics class we have learned how to implement sensors to sense and react to threats against our robot. While they might not be as sophisticated as some of the systems mentioned above the sensors and techniques used in class still give us a better understanding of how sensors can be implemented for threat protection.

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