Introductory Chapter: On the Verge of a New Age – The Age of Robotic Engineering

1. Introduction

As a result of the industrial revolution, machines began to enter our lives steadily. Later, the acceleration of mechanization caused technological tools to become even more capable. Robots, which were produced only as toys before, started to show themselves in business life in the twentieth century. This robotic technology, which has spread to the world in a short time, has started to be used in many areas from cargo transportation to car painting, from electronic card production to material selection, and from surgery to rehabilitation. With the development of technologies used in this field, robots have come to such a point that they have already opened the doors to the fantastic world of the future. In order to understand the point where robots have come, let us briefly summarize some important robotic products that have been developed recently.

The robot dog named Spot, developed by Boston dynamics, can walk on any terrain. Spot is able to continue walking while maintaining its balance even in collisions [1]. Another robot named Handle, developed by Boston dynamics, can accelerate and slow down in a very short time by controlling its wheels well [2]. Examining the anatomical structure of a kangaroo, Festo’s engineers designed and produced a jumping kangaroo robot weighing 7 kg and measuring 1 m in length. This kangaroo can jump forward 40 cm vertically and 80 cm horizontally [3]. The Smart Bird is an ornithopter developed by Festo’s Bionic Learning Network based on the herring gull. This robotic bird has a mass of 450 g and a wingspan of 1.96 m. In April 2011, Smart Bird was introduced at the Hannover Fair [4]. The most distinctive difference of this robotic bird from its predecessors is that it can take off for itself and land after flying. Cassie, which is thought to be used for search and rescue, cargo transportation and military purposes, was developed by Agility robotics [5]. First unveiled in 1986, Asimo was developed mainly to help people. The world’s most advanced humanoid robot Asimo, which was developed by Honda motor with a weight of 50 kg and a length of 130 cm, can walk on two legs at a speed of 6 km/h [6]. The robot Cheetah 3, produced by MIT, can successfully perform many movements that can make even real cheetahs jealous. The cheetah, weighing 90 kg, can jump, climb stairs without seeing it, reach a speed of 50 km/h, and regain its balance in sudden jolts [7]. The Vinci Surgical System is the most widely used robotic system in hospitals. In 2000, it becomes the first commercially available robotic surgical system in the United States. The Vinci surgical platform has been used in several operations like gynaecologic surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, and urologic surgery [8]. The robotic systems mentioned above are changing the way of life of humanity gradually. Today, robots now work in the same office as humans and compete with humans to have many jobs. It seems unavoidable that people will leave some of the work to robots in the near future [9, 10, 11]. Although it has not been named yet, the name of the age we live in is the age of robotic engineering.

Thousands of engineers are working non-stop to develop the above amazing robotic systems. For example, mechanical engineers spend hours on the structural design of these robotic systems. In addition, they draw the kinematic [12] and dynamic [13] equations of these robotic mechanisms and perform stiffness analyses [14]. Electrical engineers are working on the selection of the most suitable actuators and sensors for these robotic systems. Electronics engineers spend time designing the electronic boards required for these robotic systems to operate at maximum performance. Computer engineers, on the other hand, spend time on the development of the necessary software in order for these robotic systems to move smoothly in the desired trajectory.

Apart from these main subjects, many engineers in other fields of science (such as materials engineering and mathematical engineering) spend a lot of time in order for these robot systems to work smoothly. Bringing together thousands of engineers from many different disciplines to manufacture such amazing scientific robotic systems has become a more difficult task in today’s world than it used to be. Moreover, it has become more expensive than before to design and manufacture these magnificent robotic systems with many employees in different cities and even countries, especially by bringing together thousands of parts and assembling them into a single product.

2. Conclusions

It seems unlikely that engineers from many different disciplines described above will come together to design and produce future’s competitive and advanced technological robotic systems. Having an advanced technological manufacturing system requires a more compact business environment where laboratories, workshops and engineers are gathered under one roof. At this point, it can be said that mechatronics engineering already has such a competitive structure. It should be noted that mechatronics engineering is not just a discipline in which robotic systems are designed solely. Apart from robotic systems, mechatronics engineering is a discipline that designs automation systems in many different fields of industry. Robotic systems are only a small part of this wide spectrum of mechatronic engineering. In addition, mechatronics engineering is generally concerned with the automation of industrial robots in different business areas. However, in the future’s world, besides industrial robots, robot production is needed for many different fields such as medicine (medical robots), military (military robots), transportation (courier robots), human security (autonomous security robots), agriculture, entertainment, space and underwater exploration. Therefore, there is a need for a more specific field of science. Even if this branch of science has not been named yet, it is robot engineering. In order to design competitive and advanced technological robotic systems, we need to train talented and innovative robotic engineers. The way to do this is through the planning of an advanced robotics education system. The institutions where this advanced robotic education system will be implemented are universities. The countries that are already planning the establishment of these schools will be the leading countries. Since these countries will manage the field of robotics engineering, they will be the countries that benefit the most from the trade of this field. While this trade was initially at the level of millions of dollars, it is thought that it will reach the levels of tens of billions of dollars in a very short time. As a result, it is thought that the impact of robotic engineering will cause significant changes in production systems and lifestyles. In the next book, discussions will be made about how this robotics engineering education system should be.