Robot design

Last week, along with Rafael Labra as my partner, we were tasked with designing  a robot to solve an actual problem. The result of this was the "Librarius 2.0", a robot whose characteristics will  be described below.

What problem or challenge does the robot solve? What are some of the functions you will program your robot to carry out? 

The robot is designed to solve the problem of reaching high shelves from libraries and ordering books. It´s main function is the ability to distinguish books by topic and ordering them in the proper shelve, no matter how high it is due to its large robotic arm.

What materials will it be made out of? Why?

It will move by the use of special wheels designed for little objects made from rubber and aluminum.  Its main body and the robotic arm will be made mainly from steel and cooper to ensure the proper and efficient use of energy and the main terminal will be directed by the new generation of microprocessors.  All these materials ensure the correct functioning of the robot and make it capable of doing its work without problems.

 How will the robot sense its surroundings?

It will have 5 sensors. The first four will allow the robot to move in all directions by detecting possible obstacles and avoiding them. The fifth one and most important, will be locate in the top of the robotic arm and will be in charge of distinguishing the books by topic and selecting which books goes to each shelve.

 How will it move and respond to the environment? 

It will have small wheels, which will aloud the robot to move through the library without problems. Also it will avoid any possible obstacle in the way and will only stop to select and leaves books in their proper shelve.

How or why is a robot better equipped to handle this challenge than a human? 

Mainly because the robot will get the job done efficiently and correctly, whatever a human might do it wrong or don´t do it at all. Basically, the robot reduces in almost a 100% the human mistake.

What specific functions will the robot carry out?

It will distinguish books by topic and ordering them in the proper shelves. This will be possible because of the front sensor, which will recognize the books by topic using an international database.

 What components will the robot include that help it carry out these tasks?

It will include mainly the wheels to move freely around the library, accompanied by the movement sensor that will determine the best way to move. It´s main task will be achieved with the help of a special sensor to detect books by topic and a pincer that will grab the book and left it in the appropriate shelve after the sensor have determined what type of book is it.

 What will the robot look like?

The robot will look like a small construction crane, but with wheels to move, a main terminal which will look like a box unite to the wheels and the upper part, which is basically a large robotic arm with a sensor to distinguish books, and a sort of pincer that will take books from a basket attached to the robot and deposit it in the appropriate shelve

 Will it look humanlike? 

No, it won´t look like a human as it is more like the concepts of a crane and a toy car, much like Wall-E but instead of the head it will have this large robotic arm with it the only thing of the robot that can be considered “humanlike”

Why or why not? 

It does not need to look like a human because it is not necessary, apart from that it would not be practical because if made like a human it will have limitation to reach high shelves, which is exactly why the robot have the large flexible robotic arm.

How will the robot’s appearance influence how people interact with it? What limitations does the robot have?

People won´t have any problem interacting with the robot, since it does not present any possible harm, actually the robot when encountering with a human blocking the way will turn around and find another way to where it is going.. It will be designed to be very user friendly so that anyone can use it, and it will go slowly and silently enough for a library. The only robot limitation is that to start working it needs to be turn on by a human and you need to left the books in the basket so the robot can order them.