Vocabulary
welded (1. 9) - (of pieces of metal) joined together by heating shine at (1. 30) - do very well at octopus (1. 66) - sea-animal with eight arms (tentacles) has taxed (1. 77)- has made heavy demands on
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Task 5
Summarize the reasons that certain jobs and environments are suitable for robots by completing the table below.
Job
or environment
W
elding
Carrying components, etc.
Spray painting
Assembling components
hi nuclear reactors, underwater, etc.
Reason
Task
6 These
are answers to questions about the text. Write the questions.
About 100 pounds.
Because locating and fixing mistakes is costly.
hi space projects, for example.
They are examining the potential of certain biological models.
No, they cannot be compared yet.
They will be doing intellectual rather than manual work.
Task 7
Fill in this table with details of the animals mentioned in the text.
Animal
Aspect being emulated
Reason
Task 8
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Using the line references given, look back in the text and find words in the text which have a similar meaning to:
manipulate (lines 10-15) correcting (lines 3 5-40) expensive (lines 3 5-^40) increase (lines 45-50) copy (lines 55-60) reproduced artificially (lines 60-65) easily damaged (lines 6 5-70) gets faster (lines 105-110)
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Writing
Task
9
Translate the sixth paragraph (beginning 'The challenge of equipping robots...') into your own language.
Task 10
1 2
Speaking
Look carefully at the table below showing past, present, and future applications of robotic systems, then discuss the following questions:
Do you agree with the predictions made?
What are the implications for society if these predictions become reality?
Applications of robotic systems
Domain
Pre-1990 1990s
Post-2000
Industry
Production (welding, etc) Materials handling Assembly Inspection
Office
Mail handler
Clerk
Cleaning
Professional
Home
Tutor
Housekeeper
Companion
Military Automatic pilot Scout Soldier
Ocean
Explorer Constructor
Space
Stationary observer (on Mars)
Rover (on Mars)
Laborer (space station & moon)
-.-..-snot tea*
M
MMM
Laboratory
prototypes ■
First commercial applications ■■
Widespread
commercial applications
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■
Robot characteristics
Task 11
Reading
Read this short text, then match each robot type with the appropriate definition.
Classification of types of robot
One way of classifying robots is in terms of their similarity to humans. An automaton is any machine capable of operating independently, such as a clothes dryer. A flexible machine is a special case of an automaton with different capabilities, that can be programmed as the need arises. An 5 example is a welding robot on the factory floor that can be programmed to participate in other production operations. A mobile robot is a flexible machine capable of moving freely in its own environment. It can partly select its own goals and communicates with other agents, including humans. An android or humanoid is a mobile robot whose structure 10 approximately resembles a human structure. Finally, a cyborg is a humanoid with organic structures. Cyborgs have some physiological structures similar to those of humans. *
1 D Mobile robot
Machine capable of independent operation following a predetermined series of behaviours, e.g. a cuckoo clock
2 LJ Cyborg
4
5
3 LJ Automaton
Humanoid having both organ',-; and inorganic structures, with some physiological similarity to humans
□
Flexible machine d
Android/ e
Humanoid
Mobile robot of human proportions
Versatile, programmable automaton, e.g. an assembly robot
Now renumber the robot types, 1-5 (1 = the most similar to humans; 5 = the simplest).
Task
12
Reading
Using the diagram to help you, fill in the gaps in the text with the words given.
Co-ordination of control in robots
The diagram shows a system for the force required to
an object. The desired level of force is fed into the control module,
which
it with the actual amount of force as indicated by the
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feedback signal. The discrepancy enters the command generator, which
-
determines the ! and extent of adjustment necessary. The
resulting command passes into an amplifier which produces power
—_ to the level of the input signal. The power drives a motor
! ——, to some linkage such as a set of gears.The mechanical linkage in
the robotic hand ultimately I the initial command signal into
displacement at the fingertips.
proportional compares
grasp direction
attached converts
closed-loop
Object
Speaking
In pairs, design a simple robotic wrist and hand. Your device should have the three degrees of rotational freedom illustrated below and should be capable of grasping objects. Describe your invention to another pair.
yaw
pitch
Task 14
Writing
Label the parts of your robotic wrist with letters or numbers, then write a paragraph explaining how it works.
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Word-play
Task 15 Look at the lists and circle the word that is different from the others. Then
explain why. The first one has been done for you.
mouse keyboard (pnnter^) OCR scanner A printer is an output device.
palmtop notebook clipboard briefcase laptop
3 accumulator register
address
bus
monitor
|
drive |
floppy |
hard |
5 |
FORTRAN |
COBOL |
PASCAL |
6 |
ring |
loop |
bus switche |
4compact
ASSEMBLER
. star
7 cyborg
automaton sentry
android
8
virtual
internal external
conceptual
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Language
focus K
Compound nouns
The language of computing in English contains an ever-increasing number of compound nouns, that is, a group of two or more nouns which act as a single noun.
Examples:
memory capacity an address bus an arithmetic unit
information systems a bar code scanner
It is important to be able to recognize how such compounds are formed in order to understand what they mean.
The exact relationship between the words depends on the particular expression, but all these expressions have one thing in common: the last word in the chain says what the thing is, while the preceding word or group of words describes the thing. So when we read compound nouns, we have to start with the last word and work backwards.
Examples:
An address bus is a bus dedicated to address information.
The memory capacity of a computer is the capacity of its memory.
A large number of possible meanings can be expressed by compound nouns. For instance, the first noun or group of nouns can tell us what the second noun is made of, what it is for, or what it is part of.
1 Material: the first noun tells us what the second consists of.
Examples:
a silicon chip (a chip made of silicon) aferrite ring (a ring made of ferrite)
2 Function: the first noun tells us what the second noun is for.
Examples:
an address bus (a bus dedicated to address information)
an input device (a device for inputting)
an arithmetic unit (a unit which performs arithmetic functions)
3 Part: the second noun refers to a part of the first noun.
Examples:
a computer keyboard (the keyboard of a computer) a monitor screen (the screen of a monitor) a program feature (a feature of a program)
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4 Activity
or person: the
second noun refers to an activity or person related to the
first
noun.
Examples:
computer programming (the programming of computers) a computer programmer (a person who programs computers)
systems analysis (the analysis of organizational systems)
a systems analyst (a person who analyses organizational systems)
5 Multiple nouns: sometimes a compound noun will join together with one or more other nouns to give an expression that has three or four words. In such cases, it is important to examine the expression very carefully to break it into its constituent parts. The secret, as always, is to read the expression from the back towards the front.
Example:
4 3 2 1
a document-image-processing program (a program which processes images of documents)
Note: some expressions are written separately, while others are joined by hyphens. There are no clear rules for tliis. Sometimes you will see the same " expression written in different ways in different texts.
Example:
document-image-processing program document image-processing program document image processing program •
However, it is important to be consistent within a single text.
Exercise
1
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A device that scans bar codes is called a bar code scanner. What name is given to:
a unit that gives a visual display of information on a screen?
a device that reads magnetic cards?
a device that plots graphs?
a device that prints using a laser as the light source?
a unit that holds magnetic disks?
a device that prints using a jet of ink?
the rate of transmission of data?
a package for making presentations using multimedia?
a program which processes data in batches?
the process for the conversion of disks for computers?
Exercise
2
1 2 3 4
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Using the explanations in Exercise 1 as models, write short simple explanations of the following items:
an input device
an optical character reader
a graphics stylus
a document sorter
a fibre optics transmission system
a sequence control register
a liquid crystal display
network configuration information
a desktop document manager
10 a multimedia editing software package
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