What Is Robotics?

Robotics is the intersection of science, engineering and technology that produces machines, called robots, that substitute for (or replicate) human actions. Pop culture has always been fascinated with robots. R2-D2. Optimus Prime. WALL-E. These over-exaggerated, humanoid concepts of robots usually seem like a caricature of the real thing…or are they more forward thinking than we realize? Robots are gaining intellectual and mechanical capabilities that don’t put the possibility of a R2-D2-like machine out of reach in the future.

As technology progresses, so too does the scope of what is considered robotics. In 2005, 90% of all robots could be found assembling cars in automotive factories. These robots consist mainly of mechanical arms tasked with welding or screwing on certain parts of a car. Today, we’re seeing an evolved and expanded definition of robotics that includes the development, creation and use of bots that explore Earth’s harshest conditions, robots that assist law-enforcement and even robots that assist in almost every facet of healthcare.   

While the overall world of robotics is expanding, a robot has some consistent characteristics:

1. Robots all consist of some sort of mechanical construction. The mechanical aspect of a robot helps it complete tasks in the environment for which it’s designed. For example, the Mars 2020 Rover’s wheels are individually motorized and made of titanium tubing that help it firmly grip the harsh terrain of the red planet.
2. Robots need electrical components that control and power the machinery. Essentially, an electric current (a battery, for example) is needed to power a large majority of robots.
3. Robots contain at least some level of computer programming. Without a set of code telling it what to do, a robot would just be another piece of simple machinery. Inserting a program into a robot gives it the ability to know when and how to carry out a task.

The robotics industry is still relatively young, but has already made amazing strides. From the deepest depths of our oceans to the highest heights of outer space, robots can be found performing tasks that humans couldn’t dream of achieving.

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• 26 Robotics Companies Changing The Way We Live And Work
• How 12 Companies Are Using Artificial Intelligence To Make Smarter Robots

Types of Robots

Mechanical bots come in all shapes and sizes to efficiently carry out the task for which they are designed. From the 0.2 millimeter-long “RoboBee” to the 200 meter-long robotic shipping vessel “Vindskip,” robots are emerging to carry out tasks that humans simply can’t. Generally, there are five types of robots:

Pre-Programmed Robots

Pre-programmed robots operate in a controlled environment where they do simple, monotonous tasks. An example of a pre-programmed robot would be a mechanical arm on an automotive assembly line. The arm serves one function — to weld a door on, to insert a certain part into the engine, etc. — and it’s job is to perform that task longer, faster and more efficiently than a human.

Humanoid Robots

Humanoid robots are robots that look like and/or mimic human behavior. These robots usually perform human-like activities (like running, jumping and carrying objects), and are sometimes designed to look like us, even having human faces and expressions. Two of the most prominent examples of humanoid robots are Hanson Robotics’ Sophia (in the video above) and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas.    

Autonomous Robots

Autonomous robots operate independently of human operators. These robots are usually designed to carry out tasks in open environments that do not require human supervision. An example of an autonomous robot would be the Roomba vacuum cleaner, which uses sensors to roam throughout a home freely.  

Teleoperated Robots

Teleoperated robots are mechanical bots controlled by humans. These robots usually work in extreme geographical conditions, weather, circumstances, etc. Examples of teleoperated robots are the human-controlled submarines used to fix underwater pipe leaks during the BP oil spill or drones used to detect landmines on a battlefield.

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• From Diffusing Bombs to Performing Surgery, VR Robots Have Some Amazing Uses

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Augmenting Robots

Augmenting robots either enhance current human capabilities or replace the capabilities a human may have lost. Some examples of augmenting robots are robotic prosthetic limbs or exoskeletons used to lift hefty weights.

APPLICATIONS OF ROBOTICS

• Helping fight forest fires
• Working alongside humans in manufacturing plants (known as co-bots)
• Robots that offer companionship to elderly individuals
• Surgical assistants
• Last-mile package and food order delivery
• Autonomous household robots that carry out tasks like vacuuming and mowing the grass
• Assisting with finding items and carrying them throughout warehouses
• Used during search-and-rescue missions after natural disasters
• Landmine detectors in war zones

ROBOTICS IS QUICKLY INFILTRATING EVERY ASPECT OUR LIVES, INCLUDING AT HOME.

Uses of Robots

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Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is probably the oldest and most well-known user of robots. These robots and co-bots (bots that work alongside humans) work to efficiently test and assemble products, like cars and industrial equipment. It’s estimated that there are more than three million industrial robots in use right now.   

Logistics

Shipping, handling and quality control robots are becoming a must-have for most retailers and logistics companies. Because we now expect our packages arriving at blazing speeds, logistics companies employ robots in warehouses, and even on the road, to help maximize time efficiency. Right now, there are robots taking your items off the shelves, transporting them across the warehouse floor and packaging them. Additionally, a rise in last-mile robots (robots that will autonomously deliver your package to your door) ensure that you’ll have a face-to-metal-face encounter with a logistics bot in the near future.
 

Home

It’s not science fiction anymore. Robots can be seen all over our homes, helping with chores, reminding us of our schedules and even entertaining our kids. The most well-known example of home robots is the autonomous vacuum cleaner Roomba. Additionally, robots have now evolved to do everything from autonomously mowing grass to cleaning pools.    

Travel

Is there anything more science fiction-like than autonomous vehicles? These self-driving cars are no longer just imagination. A combination of data science and robotics, self-driving vehicles are taking the world by storm. Automakers, like Tesla, Ford, Waymo, Volkswagen and BMW are all working on the next wave of travel that will let us sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft are also developing autonomous rideshare vehicles that don’t require humans to operate the vehicle.   

Healthcare

Robots have made enormous strides in the healthcare industry. These mechanical marvels have use in just about every aspect of healthcare, from robot-assisted surgeries to bots that help humans recover from injury in physical therapy. Examples of robots at work in healthcare are Toyota’s healthcare assistants, which help people regain the ability to walk, and “TUG,” a robot designed to autonomously stroll throughout a hospital and deliver everything from medicines to clean linens.

What is Docker?

Docker is a tool designed to make it easier to create, deploy, and run applications by using containers. Containers allow a developer to package up an application with all of the parts it needs, such as libraries and other dependencies, and deploy it as one package. By doing so, thanks to the container, the developer can rest assured that the application will run on any other Linux machine regardless of any customized settings that machine might have that could differ from the machine used for writing and testing the code.

More on containers

• What are containers?
• Containers cheat sheet
• 10 things to avoid in containers
• Red Hat Container Development Kit

In a way, Docker is a bit like a virtual machine. But unlike a virtual machine, rather than creating a whole virtual operating system, Docker allows applications to use the same Linux kernel as the system that they’re running on and only requires applications be shipped with things not already running on the host computer. This gives a significant performance boost and reduces the size of the application.

And importantly, Docker is open source. This means that anyone can contribute to Docker and extend it to meet their own needs if they need additional features that aren’t available out of the box.

Who is Docker for?

Docker is a tool that is designed to benefit both developers and system administrators, making it a part of many DevOps (developers + operations) toolchains. For developers, it means that they can focus on writing code without worrying about the system that it will ultimately be running on. It also allows them to get a head start by using one of thousands of programs already designed to run in a Docker container as a part of their application. For operations staff, Docker gives flexibility and potentially reduces the number of systems needed because of its small footprint and lower overhead.

Getting started

Here are some resources that will help you get started using Docker in your workflow. Docker provides a web-based tutorial with a command-line simulator that you can try out basic Docker commands with and begin to understand how it works. There is also a beginners guide to Docker that introduces you to some basic commands and container terminology. Or watch the video below for a more in-depth look:

Docker and security

Docker brings security to applications running in a shared environment, but containers by themselves are not an alternative to taking proper security measures.

Dan Walsh, a computer security leader best known for his work on SELinux, gives his perspective on the importance of making sure Docker containers are secure. He also provides a detailed breakdown of security features currently within Docker, and how they function.

Understanding containers

Containers can be thought of as necessitating three categories of software:

• Builder: technology used to build a container.
• Engine: technology used to run a container.
• Orchestration: technology used to manage many containers.

One of the appeals of using containers is their ability to die gracefully and respawn upon demand. Whether a container’s demise is caused by a crash or because it’s simply no longer needed when server traffic is low, containers are cheap to start, and they’re designed to seamlessly appear and disappear. Because containers are meant to be ephemeral and to spawn new instances as often as required, it’s expected that monitoring and managing them is not done by a human in real-time, but is instead automated.

Linux containers have facilitated a massive shift in high-availability computing, and there are many toolsets out there to help you run services (or even your entire operating system) in containers. Docker is one option among many, as defined by Open Container Initiative (OCI), an industry standards organization meant to encourage innovation whilst avoiding the danger of vendor lock-in. Thanks to the OCI, you have a choice when choosing a container toolchain, including Docker, OKD, Podman, rkt, OpenShift, and others.

If you decide to run services in containers, then you probably need software designed to host and manage those containers. This is broadly known as container orchestration. The Kubernetes provides container orchestration for a variety of container runtimes.

Artificial intelligence/AI/difinition

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.

The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal.

Understanding Artificial Intelligence

When most people hear the term artificial intelligence, the first thing they usually think of is robots. That’s because big-budget films and novels weave stories about human-like machines that wreak havoc on Earth. But nothing could be further from the truth.null

Artificial intelligence is based on the principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and execute tasks, from the most simple to those that are even more complex. The goals of artificial intelligence include learning, reasoning, and perception.

As technology advances, previous benchmarks that defined artificial intelligence become outdated. For example, machines that calculate basic functions or recognize text through optimal character recognition are no longer considered to embody artificial intelligence, since this function is now taken for granted as an inherent computer function.

AI is continuously evolving to benefit many different industries. Machines are wired using a cross-disciplinary approach based in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, psychology, and more.null 

Algorithms often play a very important part in the structure of artificial intelligence, where simple algorithms are used in simple applications, while more complex ones help frame strong artificial intelligence.

Applications of Artificial Intelligence

The applications for artificial intelligence are endless. The technology can be applied to many different sectors and industries. AI is being tested and used in the healthcare industry for dosing drugs and different treatment in patients, and for surgical procedures in the operating room.

Other examples of machines with artificial intelligence include computers that play chess and self-driving cars. Each of these machines must weigh the consequences of any action they take, as each action will impact the end result. In chess, the end result is winning the game. For self-driving cars, the computer system must account for all external data and compute it to act in a way that prevents a collision.

Artificial intelligence also has applications in the financial industry, where it is used to detect and flag activity in banking and finance such as unusual debit card usage and large account deposits—all of which help a bank’s fraud department. Applications for AI are also being used to help streamline and make trading easier. This is done by making supply, demand, and pricing of securities easier to estimate.null

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Artificial intelligence refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines.
• The goals of artificial intelligence include learning, reasoning, and perception.
• AI is being used across different industries including finance and healthcare.
• Weak AI tends to be simple and single-task oriented, while strong AI carries on tasks that are more complex and human-like.

Categorization of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be divided into two different categories: weak and strong. Weak artificial intelligence embodies a system designed to carry out one particular job. Weak AI systems include video games such as the chess example from above and personal assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. You ask the assistant a question, it answers it for you.

Strong artificial intelligence systems are systems that carry on the tasks considered to be human-like. These tend to be more complex and complicated systems. They are programmed to handle situations in which they may be required to problem solve without having a person intervene. These kinds of systems can be found in applications like self-driving cars or in hospital operating rooms.

Special Considerations

Since its beginning, artificial intelligence has come under scrutiny from scientists and the public alike. One common theme is the idea that machines will become so highly developed that humans will not be able to keep up and they will take off on their own, redesigning themselves at an exponential rate.

Another is that machines can hack into people’s privacy and even be weaponized. Other arguments debate the ethics of artificial intelligence and whether intelligent systems such as robots should be treated with the same rights as humans.

Self-driving cars have been fairly controversial as their machines tend to be designed for the lowest possible risk and the least casualties. If presented with a scenario of colliding with one person or another at the same time, these cars would calculate the option that would cause the least amount of damage.

#Another contentious issue many people have with artificial intelligence is how it may affect human employment. With many industries looking to automate certain jobs through the use of intelligent machinery, there is a concern that people would be pushed out of the workforce. Self-driving cars may remove the need for taxis and car-share programs, while manufacturers may easily replace human labor with machines, making people’s skills more obsolete.

Top 10 Trending Technologies To Master In 2020

Change is the only constant. This applies to your professional life as well. Up-skilling yourself is a need nowadays, the reason is pretty simple, technology is evolving very quickly. I have listed the top 10 trending technologies, which are expected to acquire a huge market in 2020.

So, let’s make a new year resolution to master any one of the below technologies:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Blockchain
3. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
4. Cognitive Cloud Computing
5. Angular and React
6. DevOps
7. Internet of Things (IoT)
8. Intelligent Apps (I – Apps)
9. Big Data
10. RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

So, the countdown begins from here.

10) RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

RPA Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master RPA.

• Generally, any desk job in any industry involves tasks that are repetitive in nature and can be automated.
• RPA or Robotic Process Automation allows you to automate such routine and repetitive tasks. 
• You don’t need to write any code to automate repetitive tasks.

In 2020, the trend of bots and machine learning is only going to skyrocket, which means RPA will become an invaluable skill to have.

9) Big Data

Big Data and Hadoop Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master Big Data and Hadoop.

Big data refers to problems that are associated with processing and storing different types of data. Most of the companies today, rely on big data analytics to gain huge insight about their:

• customer,
• product research,
• marketing initiatives and many more.

For your surprise, big data led Germany to win the world cup.

Hadoop and Spark are the two most famous frameworks for solving Big Data problems.

If you already have some knowledge of Big Data, splendid! If not, now is the time to start.

8) Intelligent Apps (I – Apps)

• I-Apps are pieces of software written for mobile devices based on artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, aimed at making everyday tasks easier.
• This involves tasks like organizing and prioritizing emails, scheduling meetings, logging interactions, content, etc. Some familiar examples of I-Apps are Chatbots and virtual assistants.

As these applications become more popular, they will come with the promise of jobs and fat paychecks.

7) Internet of Things (IoT)

• Another buzzword that no longer remains a buzzword but has become a full-fledged technology ecosystem in itself.
• IoT essentially is connecting many devices and creating a virtual network where everything works seamlessly via a single monitoring center of sorts.
• IoT is a giant network of connected devices – all of which gather and share data about how they are used and the environments in which they are operated.

This includes everything from your:

• mobile phones,
• refrigerator,
• washing machines to almost everything that you can think of.

With IoT, we can have smart cities with optimized:

• traffic system,
• efficient waste management and
• energy use

6)  DevOps

DevOps Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master DevOps tools.

This is the odd one out in the list. It is not a technology, but a methodology. 

DevOps is a methodology that ensures that both the development and operations go hand in hand. DevOps cycle is picturized as an infinite loop representing the integration of developers and operation teams by:

• automating infrastructure,
• workflows and
• continuously measuring application performance.

It is basically the process of continual improvement, so why not start with yourself.

5) Angular and React

Angular and React Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master Angular and React.

OK, now we are getting into core tech.

• Angular and React are JavaScript based Frameworks for creating modern web applications. 
• Using React and Angular one can create a highly modular web app. So, you don’t need to go through a lot of changes in your code base for adding a new feature.
• Angular and React also allows you to create a native mobile application with the same JS, CSS & HTML knowledge.
• Best part – Open source library with highly active community support.

4) Cognitive Cloud Computing

AWS Solution Architect Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master AWS.

• Cognitive Cloud is an extended ecosystem of traditional Cloud and Cognitive Computing.
• It’s due to this, you can create Cognitive Computing applications and bring to the masses through cloud deployments. Cognitive computing is considered as the next big evolution in the IT industry.
• It converses in human language and helps experts in better decision making by understanding the complexities of Big Data. Its market size is expected to generate revenue of $13.8 billion by 2020 and is one of the top 10 trending technologies to consider this year.
• Big brands such as IBM, Google, Microsoft, Cisco have already started implementing this next-gen tech to gear up for the upcoming market.

3) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

• Virtual is real! VR and AR, the twin technologies that let you experience things in virtual, that are extremely close to real, are today being used by businesses of all sizes and shapes. But the underlying technology can be quite complex.
• Medical students use AR technology to practice surgery in a controlled environment.
• VR on the other hand, opens up newer avenues for gaming and interactive marketing.

Whatever your interest might be, AR and VR are must-have skills if you want to ride the virtual wave!

2) Blockchain

Blockchain Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master Blockchain.

• This is the tech that powers bitcoins, the whole new parallel currency that has taken over the world.
• Interestingly, blockchain as a technology has far-reaching potential in everything from healthcare to elections to real estate to law enforcement.

Understand how blockchain works and your career is as sorted as the secure ledger this tech is based on!

1) Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence Training – Explore the Curriculum to Master AI and Deep Learning.

• AI existed even before the internet was born, but it is now that the data processing and compute power backbone became strong enough to sustain an entire technology by itself.
• AI is everywhere today, from your smartphones to your cars to your home to your banking establishment.
• It is the new normal, something the world cannot do without