How robot mine workers work. Search robots - how they work and what they do

It seems like everything is logical, cleaning carried out for the allotted amount of time guarantees the cleansing of the entire room, but is this true in practice? The model we are considering is capable of cleaning for almost three hours without additional recharging. If the drive does not have enough charge, “Robot” will simply go to the charging location and connect to the device on its own to recharge the drive.

Charger comes included with all entry-level models, but it is worth noting that mid- and high-range devices are equipped with a charging base. The device is sent for recharging thanks to an infrared transmitter. When the Robot's charge is running low, it searches for the infrared signal emitted by the charging base. After finding a device to recharge, “Robot” is guided by the “call” of the signal and personally positions itself on in the right place to restore charge. Currently, there are devices that also independently return to cleaning after the storage charge is restored.

Based on all of the above, it can be stated that “Robot” is a fairly smart device, but it still has certain actions that it is not able to carry out without human intervention.

First, the user must remove minor obstacles on the floor surface so that the robot vacuum cleaner does not get stuck and does not try to suck them into itself. In addition, the user must give the device a command where it is prohibited from moving. To do this, you can use the virtual walls included with the device, which will help limit the movements of the robot vacuum cleaner. Thanks to virtual walls that transmit an infrared signal, the Robot, having received it, turns around and begins moving in the opposite direction. An impressive number of sensors built into the “Robot” allow it to move around the room, quite autonomously.

Cleaning

Based on the data obtained, more than half of the “Robot” owners call them nothing more than friend vacuum cleaners. However, the majority of users purchase high-tech new products not for the reason that they are looking for an unpretentious robotic friend, but because their floor coverings get dirty. Robot has a three-dimensional cleaning system. By disassembling it and looking under the brushes (you don't need to do this, we did it for you), you can find a couple of dirt sensors.

Brush located on the side of the device, the cleaning robot protrudes slightly beyond the territory in order to be able to reach places that the “Robot” itself is not able to reach. This brush rotates around its axis. Thanks to these actions, dust and debris rise and are absorbed by the operating device. The brush on the other side of the “Robot” catches debris, which is located at the bottom of the device body.

Separator on the underside of the device, consists of a pair of rotating different sides brushes that lift dust and other debris and send it directly to the waste collection tank.

"Robot" sucks up dirt, while moving on the floor covering. The owner of a robot vacuum cleaner needs to empty the garbage tank at least once after cleaning one room. It happens that you have to clean the tank several times, but this is only if the floors are very clogged. Outdated models of robotic vacuum cleaners do not respond to the fact that the garbage tank is full and continue to clean.

In addition, for older models it is necessary to change the filter if it is too dirty. It should also be noted that in the robotic model, unlike a classic vacuum cleaner, there is no bag for collecting dust; the robotic device simply shovels all the debris into the garbage bin. Based on information provided by robot vacuum cleaner companies, the power of their devices is similar to conventional vacuum cleaners, although based on the characteristics studied, it seems that this is not entirely true.

Tests of "Robot" demonstrated that it perfectly cleans wood and laminate floors, and also collects an impressive amount of animal hair and other rubbish on carpets with medium and low pile. The creators of “Robot” insist that cleaning carpets with a large pile with this device is not possible.

When cleaning independently, a person carries out various actions, to improve the process. If the area is very dirty, the person makes significant efforts to clean it more effort. Robot vacuum cleaners strive to reproduce cleaning at the same level. To determine areas of the floor surface that require auxiliary cleaning,"Robot" applies two mud sensors located above the central brush. These sensors use acoustic influence. When the brushes raise a significant amount of dust and debris, their particles vibrate excessively due to contact with the dirt sensors. Sensors detect an increase in the amount of pollution and send a command to the device that this place needs to be cleaned again.

To determine the transition to another floor covering, "Robot" is equipped moving bar(with built-in brush), its height is adjustable automatic mode when fixing the rise one or two centimeters from the floor.

Also a great advantage of “Robot” over cleaning with a conventional vacuum cleaner is possibility of vertical cleaning.

Collecting waste from furniture and hard-to-reach places.

We have already written about this above, but let us remind you of this important characteristic, will not be superfluous. Considering the device's low height of only ten centimeters, it easily penetrates under tables, beds, cabinets and even couches. Perhaps this type of cleaning is one of the most significant advantages of devices such as “Robot”! Of course, devices such as robotic vacuum cleaners greatly simplify our lives, and we hope that with the development of technology, the functionality of these devices will only increase.

Types of robot vacuum cleaners


Of course, in the current market of smart home appliances, there are more advanced models of robotic vacuum cleaners, but their main task is, of course, cleaning.
Many models have already acquired remote controls remote control, so that the user can control them without getting up from the couch.

In the range of advanced models of robotic vacuum cleaners, one can note the desire to increase the responsibilities of these devices. In the future, their responsibilities will include more than just cleaning floors. Already now, through some models of robotic vacuum cleaners, you can connect to the Internet, purify the air, or carry out video surveillance of the room. In the near future, it is quite possible that home robots will be able to play music, act as an answering machine, and make coffee while they clean your home. Well, we'll wait and see, there's nothing else left for us.

We hope you learned something new about robot vacuum cleaners from this article! Learn and make new discoveries every day, there is still a lot of interesting and educational things in the world!

There are people who clean their floors only once a week, while there are others who do this job much more often. An attractive characteristic of robot vacuum cleaners is the fact that they meet the needs of both categories. One way or another, with them the house becomes more impeccable, requiring virtually no human factor.

Modern best robots Vacuum cleaners are a far cry from the early models, which had to be searched under every piece of furniture in the house until you heard the low-energy signal. The latest models aimed at cleaning homes offer dramatic improvements in efficiency, self-cleaning ability, and the ability to find your way to a charging station on your own.

In this article we will take a closer look at how a robot vacuum cleaner works. The iRobot Roomba Red will help us understand how a robot vacuum cleaner works, and we will also check several other robot vacuum cleaners on the market.

Operating principle of a robot vacuum cleaner

The modern market offers a huge selection of robotic vacuum cleaners, prices for which vary from 3,500 rubles to 100,000 rubles. These vacuum cleaners for cleaning services are characterized by a low profile and compact size to maintain the ability to penetrate under furniture, which is not possible with traditional vacuum cleaners.

Most manufacturers will tell you that a robot vacuum is designed to complement standard vacuuming, but cannot replace that work. They are designed to perform daily cleaning, which becomes an important touch in maintaining cleanliness, so the robot vacuum cleaner is designed to maintain cleanliness between manual vacuuming. However, if you're the kind of person who never vacuums, a robotic assistant can make your floors and carpets cleaner than they already are without you having to lift a finger.

The most popular manufacturer of robotic vacuum cleaners in Russia remains iRobot, which offers a variety of models on the market, from the basic Roomba Red model to the technologically advanced Roomba Scheduler. In order to understand how a robot vacuum cleaner works, we got our hands on the iRobot Roomba Red, which will become our guide to the world of robotic cleaning. Let's start with what's inside.

iRobot Roomba Red measures approximately 13 inches (33 cm) in diameter and 3.5 inches (9 cm) in height. An external inspection of the robot vacuum cleaner reveals the following details:

Most Roombas run on NiMH batteries. The Roomba Red battery, for example, is rated at 3 amp hours and takes about seven hours to fully charge at 18 volts. Some of latest models iRobot robotic vacuum cleaners, of course, reduced this time to 2-3 hours. Fully charged equals approximately 2-3 hours of cleaning time, which in the world of Roomba vacuum cleaners means 2-3 rooms before the robot needs charging. Two motorized wheels are responsible for the mobility of the robot vacuum cleaner. Roomba is driven by variable power delivery to each wheel.

The Roomba vacuum cleaner is equipped with five motors:

• One behind each wheel (Total: 2);
• The third controls the vacuum cleaner;
• The fourth rotates the side brush;
• The fifth controls a set of brushes;

If we consider it separately, then it is navigation system makes robot vacuum cleaners robotic. And the main difference in the models for 3,500 rubles and for 80,000 rubles is hidden in the accuracy of the navigation sensors. The Roomba Red test subject uses iRobot's AWARE Robotic Intelligence System, a system designed to reduce human intervention in the robot's operation as much as possible. The awareness system includes several sensors that collect data from environment, send them to the robot vacuum cleaner's microprocessor, after which Roomba's behavior is adjusted as expected. According to iRobot, the system can respond to new inputs up to 67 times per second. Next, we will understand the navigation of robotic vacuum cleaners in detail and understand how a robotic vacuum cleaner works in more detail.

The first thing Roomba does when you press the Clean button is calculate the size of the room. iRobot was pretty vague when it came to how the robot does this, but we believe the robot sends out an infrared signal and tests how long it takes for the signal to return to a receiver located on the robot vacuum's bumper. Once the robot has established the dimensions of the room, it knows how long and far it needs to move while cleaning.

While the robot vacuum cleaner is cleaning, it avoids steps and other types of changes in height using four infrared sensors on the bottom front of the robot. These are "Break Sensors" that constantly send infrared signals and upon receiving a negative signal, Roomba will immediately stop. If the robot is approaching a cliff, the signal will disappear. Older models, like Roomba Red, simply turn around and move in the other direction, while modern models are able to clean the edge of a cliff. When Roomba Red hits something, its bumper activates mechanical sensors that tell the robot's system that it has hit an obstacle. A specific algorithm is then used that involves turning and attempting to move forward until the robot is unable to move forward.

There is another infrared sensor, which we will call the “Wall Sensor”, it is located on right side bumper and allows Roomba to move very carefully along walls and around other objects (such as furniture) without touching them. This means that the robot can walk along baseboards without bumping into them. It can also calculate its own cleaning path, which, according to iRobot, uses a preset algorithm that allows the robot to completely cover floors.

Appears on the Internet every day great amount new materials: websites are created, old web pages are updated, photos and video files are uploaded. Without invisible search robots, it would be impossible to find any of these documents on the World Wide Web. Alternatives to similar robotic programs on this moment time does not exist. What is a search robot, why is it needed and how do they function?

What is a search robot

A website crawler (search engine) is an automatic program that is capable of visiting millions of web pages, quickly moving across the Internet without operator intervention. Bots constantly scan the space, find new Internet pages and regularly visit already indexed ones. Other names for search robots: spiders, crawlers, bots.

Why do we need search robots?

The main function that search robots perform is indexing web pages, as well as text, images, audio and video files located on them. Bots check links, mirror sites (copies) and updates. Robots also monitor HTML code for compliance with the standards of the World Organization, which develops and implements technology standards for the World Wide Web.

What is indexing and why is it needed?

Indexing is, in fact, the process of visiting a specific web page by search robots. The program scans texts posted on the site, images, videos, outgoing links, after which the page appears in search results. In some cases, the site cannot be crawled automatically, then it can be added to search engine manually by the webmaster. Typically, this happens when you are missing a specific (often just recently created) page.

How search robots work

Each search engine has its own bot, while the search engine Google robot may differ significantly in its operating mechanism from a similar Yandex program or other systems.

IN general outline The principle of operation of the robot is as follows: the program “arrives” at the site by external links and starting from home page, “reads” the web resource (including viewing those service data that the user does not see). The bot can both move between pages of one site and go to others.

How the program chooses which one Most often, the spider’s “journey” begins with news sites or large resources, directories and aggregators with a large reference mass. The search robot continuously crawls pages one after another, the speed and consistency of indexing is influenced by the following factors:

• internal: linking (internal links between pages of the same resource), site size, code correctness, user friendliness, and so on;
• external: overall volume reference mass, which leads to the site.

First of all, the search robot looks for the robots.txt file on any website. Further indexing of the resource is carried out based on information received specifically from this document. The file contains precise instructions for "spiders", which allows you to increase the chances of search robots visiting the page, and therefore, to ensure that the site gets into the Yandex or Google results as soon as possible.

Programs similar to search robots

The concept of “search robot” is often confused with intelligent, user or autonomous agents, “ants” or “worms”. There are significant differences only in comparison with agents; other definitions denote similar types of robots.

So, agents can be:

• intellectual: programs that move from site to site, independently deciding what to do next; they are not very common on the Internet;
• autonomous: such agents help the user in choosing a product, searching or filling out forms; these are so-called filters, which have little to do with network programs.;
• custom: programs facilitate user interaction with World Wide Web, these are browsers (for example, Opera, IE, Google Chrome, Firefox), instant messengers (Viber, Telegram) or mail programs(MS Outlook or Qualcomm).

"Ants" and "worms" are more similar to search "spiders". The former form a network among themselves and interact smoothly like a real ant colony, while the “worms” are capable of self-reproduction, otherwise they act in the same way as a standard search robot.

Types of search robots

There are many types of search robots. Depending on the purpose of the program, they are:

• “Mirror” - view duplicate sites.
• Mobile - aimed at mobile versions Internet pages.
• Fast-acting - fixes new information promptly, viewing the latest updates.
• Referential - index links and count their number.
• Indexers various types content - individual programs for text, audio and video recordings, images.
• “Spyware” - searches for pages that are not yet displayed in the search engine.
• “Woodpeckers” - periodically visit sites to check their relevance and performance.
• National - view web resources located on domains of one country (for example, .ru, .kz or .ua).
• Global - indexes all national sites.

Robots of major search engines

There are also separate search engine robots. In theory, their functionality can differ significantly, but in practice the programs are almost identical. The main differences between the indexing of Internet pages by robots of the two main search engines are as follows:

• Strictness of verification. It is believed that the Yandex search robot mechanism evaluates a site somewhat more strictly for compliance with World Wide Web standards.
• Maintaining the integrity of the site. The Google search robot indexes the entire site (including media content), while Yandex can view pages selectively.
• Speed ​​of checking new pages. Google adds a new resource to search results within a few days; in the case of Yandex, the process can take two weeks or more.
• Frequency of reindexing. The Yandex search robot checks for updates a couple of times a week, and Google checks once every 14 days.

The Internet, of course, is not limited to two search engines. Other search engines have their own robots that follow their own indexing parameters. In addition, there are several "spiders" that are not designed by large search resources, but by individual teams or webmasters.

Common Misconceptions

Contrary to popular belief, spiders do not process the information they receive. The program only scans and saves web pages, and further processing is carried out by completely different robots.

Also, many users believe that search robots have negative impact and “harmful” to the Internet. Indeed, certain versions of "spiders" can significantly overload the servers. There is also human factor- the webmaster who created the program may make mistakes in the robot settings. However, most existing programs are well designed and professionally managed, and any problems that arise are promptly corrected.

How to manage indexing

Search robots are automatic programs, but the indexing process can be partially controlled by the webmaster. External resources help greatly with this. In addition, you can manually add a new site to the search engine: large resources have special forms registration of web pages.

What does a person studying mechatronics and higher mathematics have in common with an android programmer interested in behavioral science and psychology? That's right: both are involved in robotics. What kind of animal is this? Why is this industry in Lately is the most in demand and highly paid?

So, let’s begin a series of articles on professions. And the first in the list goes Robotics is a dream job!

Situation today

Today, this industry is completely undeveloped in the vastness of the former CIS countries. And there is room for development, not only in the field of industry, but also in the home, mobile, combat, and anthropomorphic industries.

If you want to find your dream job and become a robotics engineer (not an easy job, it must be said), you need to know what, who, where and how they offer in this field, as well as where to start.

Creating robots: subtleties of the matter

The creation of robots has two important components: hardware and engineering ideas on the one hand, and software and data processing on the other. And to become a roboticist, you will have to understand both issues, and equally well.

A robot is the same computer, only equipped with sensors and motors. Robots are computer science brought to life. And to begin to understand them, you will first have to delve into the specifics of software development, which means learning programming languages.

By the way! For our readers there is now a 10% discount on

Where to start?

If from the very beginning, then buy yourself a LEGO constructor. It will help develop design abilities, build cause-and-effect relationships and develop logical thinking.

Those who are already familiar with these areas are recommended to get acquainted with Robotics Bioloid or LEGO EV3. They are ideal for diving into details and practicing acquired skills.

Once you have developed the basic algorithms, you can look for an intern position in a robotics company. Here you will be taught everything you need.

It's not difficult to create a robot. It is difficult to create a robot that would decide real problem. Find a problem, and only then create a robot.

How to learn robotics on your own?

To obtain this specialty, you will have to gain knowledge in many branches of science: engineering structures, circuit design, working with relays and light sensors, programming, electronics, biology, mechanics, aesthetics.

In general, robotics is worth pursuing. And not only because this is a very promising activity. It’s just that this industry is an unplowed field for specialists of all stripes – even for psychologists and biologists.

By the way, here is a list of some places where you can study robotics and find your dream job:

• MIREA,
• MSTU im. Bauman,
• MEM NRU HSE, Robotics Laboratory.

There are also certain courses available to teach this topic. True, they are all English-speaking. So if you have no problems with English language, go for it:

• Introduction to Robotics | Mechanical Engineering | MIT
• Artificial Intelligence: How To Build A Robot – Udacity
• Robotics courses – Plymouth
• Artificial Intelligence: Principles and Techniques
• Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence - Courses | Coursera
• UC BerkeleyX: CS188.1x: Artificial Intelligence | edX

Well, while you strive to find your dream job, study a bunch of specialized literature, the educational service will help you study in your main specialty by

Recently, the Henn-na Hotel opened in Japan, in which 90% of the work is performed by robots and 10 people handle the remaining 10% of all tasks. The robots produced by Kokoro are called actroids. They know how to greet and check in guests by making eye contact with them and responding to their movements. Some can communicate in foreign languages.

Hotel Henn-na, which literally translates from Japanese to English as "weird hotel", uses robots other than actroids, e.g. humanoid robots NAO and Pepper from Aldebaran Robotics. Robots greet guests at the entrance and at the reception desk, help them take off their coats and carry bags, and clean their rooms.

Hotel Henn-na is not the only one of its kind. In New York, there is a YOTEL in which robots take care of guests' belongings, make coffee, bring laundry, clean rooms and do many other jobs.

And last year, hotel giant Starwood introduced robots it called Botlrs. While serving guests, these robots can move around the hotel and in elevators without human assistance. Since 1992, robots have been helping in hospitals: delivering trays of food and medicine, washing bed linen, throwing out trash. In the Lowe's hypermarket chain, the OSHbot robot helps customers find the right product.

Amazon uses more than 15,000 robots in its warehouses to deliver orders on time. Even the US Army plans to replace tens of thousands of soldiers with robots. Last year, the University of Birmingham introduced its first security robot, Bob, a 1.8-metre tall robot that scans rooms and alerts if it sees anything unusual. If Bob gets stuck somewhere, he can call for help, and if he runs out of battery, he goes off to recharge on his own.

Robots help improve the productivity of remote workers. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Business School, employees who work from home can “walk” around the office and communicate with colleagues using robots.

How the widespread introduction of robots will affect us

Robots are increasingly appearing next to us at work, so won’t they completely take away jobs? Some believe that due to the widespread introduction of robots, people may end up on the streets. In 2013, a study was conducted in Oxford, according to which 47% of existing high-risk jobs will soon be automated. Within 20 years, people in these places will be replaced by robots.

However, there is another opinion: by giving machines the hard work, people will be able to devote themselves to more interesting and high-tech activities. So does David Kann, head of Double Robotics, the company that created the robots used at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Robert Atkinson, economist at the Foundation think tank technological development and innovation, argues that the conclusions that robots will take away jobs are based on an extremely superficial analysis of the situation. In fact, the opposite is happening: the adoption of robots is declining. Atkinson attributes this decline to two reasons:

1. Thirty years ago, the United States invested much more actively in the development of robotics and software than now.
2. Low-hanging fruit like airport check-in machines have already been picked.

The third reason, according to Atkins, is that there is no productivity development policy in the United States.

They could do a lot to increase the level of productivity in the country, but they don't even plan anything. Unlike, for example, Australia, where there is a National Productivity Commission whose job is to identify growth opportunities. And we are only guessing what is going to happen...

And it is more profitable for companies to hire people with low wages than to automate. There is no incentive to replace employees with robots. Now, if people needed to pay more, then companies would think about robotization.

For example, if the majority of representatives of low-paid professions demand higher wages, as fast food workers did in New York, then the process of automation will accelerate.

Here's what Harry Mathiason, president of the law firm Littler Mendelson, which specializes in labor law issues related to robotization, has to say on this issue.

There is progress. In New York, fast food workers have already achieved that the minimum wage will now be $15 an hour. Soon it will be cost-effective for employers to shift some of their work to robots. Accordingly, this will speed up the process of widespread automation. Thus, we will be able to see robots everywhere in the next five years if we ourselves are economically active.

Harry Mathiason

Robots may take our jobs, but that's not a bad thing

Like Atkinson, Mathiason believes there is no cause for concern. He explains that the automation of 47% of high-risk jobs has nothing to do with unemployment.

People will begin to move to positions that do not exist now, but will appear in the future. If we look at history, we will see that a similar situation has already happened. Then everything did not happen as quickly as it does now, but nevertheless there were precedents. By the way, in 1870, 70–80% of the population earned money from agriculture, and now only 1%.

And, by the way, turning again to history, one can see that with the advent of new technologies in production, unemployment always remained at the same level or even decreased. I really want to see what will happen over the next 10 years: for people, the first place will not be the threat of unemployment, but the opportunity to learn something new. And if a person has been doing one low-skilled job for 10 years, then perhaps the need for career growth will only be a joy for him.

Harry Mathiason

Mathiason promises exciting times ahead. We will have to amend the Labor Code to answer questions related to the interaction of people and robots. For example, how to regulate the dissemination of personal information, because robots will record what they hear.

Although it is unknown how quickly robotization will penetrate into all areas, there is no doubt that it will happen. And while some continue to be afraid of losing workplace, others dream of how it will improve the economy as a whole and the well-being of each person. Companies will be more productive, they will earn more, and they will be able to pay their workers more.

However, one of the disputes is still unresolved: what is it like when you are greeted at the hotel reception by an Actroid that eerily imitates human gestures...