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
feedback signal. The discrepancy enters the command generator, which


determines the 4 and extent of adjustment necessary. The

resulting command passes into an amplifier which produces power

5 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' the initial command signal into
displacement at the fingertips.

proportional grasp attached closed-loop

compares direction converts

Speaking

Task 13 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.

 

Task 14 Writing Label the parts of your robotic wrist with letters or numbers, then write a paragraph explaining how it works.

Word-play

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 A printer is an output device. printer OCR scanner  
palmtop notebook clipboard briefcase laptop
accumulator register address bus monitor
drive floppy hard compact  
FORTRAN COBOL PASCAL ASSEMBLER  
ring loop bus switched star  
cyborg automaton sentry android  
virtual internal external conceptual  

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 information systems an address bus an arithmetic unit 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) a ferrite 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)


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 this. 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.


A device that scans bar codes is called a bar code scanner.

What name is given to :

1 a unit that gives a visual display of information on a screen?

2a device that reads magnetic cards?

3 a device that plots graphs?

4a device that prints using a laser as the light source?

5a unit that holds magnetic disks?

6a device that prints using a jet of ink?

7 the rate of transmission of data?

8 a package for making presentations using multimedia?

9 a program which processes data in batches?

10the process for the conversion of disks for computers?

Using the explanations in Exercise 1 as models, write short simple explanations

of the following items:

1 an input device

2an optical character reader

3 a graphics stylus

4a document sorter


5a fibre optics transmission system

6a sequence control register

7a liquid crystal display

8network configuration information

9a desktop document manager

10 a multimedia editing software package


Virtual reality

  Start-up Virtual reality is still seen as a toy by most people. Can you think of any potential applications of VR other than in computer games? Make a list.
Task 1

 

Reading


Fancy a fantasy

Spaceflight?


Computers are about to take people to places they have never been able to visit before, 45

including the surface of other

5 planets. Such a trip will be an il­lusion. but one that comes closer to real life than anything on

stage or screen. Artificial worlds 50 are being built up in a computer

10 memory so that people can walk through at will, look around, and even touch objects.

The system is called virtual 55 reality, so called from the math-

15 concept of an image that has the virtues of a real object without the substance.

Virtual reality systems are 60 being developed throughout the

20 world for a range of uses includ ing enabling people to walk `inside' nuclear power stations,

while controlling a robot that ac- 65 tually goes into an area in which

25 no human could live, and con­ducting architects through a computer-generated building before it is constructed.

British scientists have a world

30 lead in virtual reality, despite the fortunes being poured into research by Japanese and Amer­ican companies, which see it as a technology for the next century.

35 In Britain, Robert Stone, of the National Advanced Robotics Research Centre at Manchester University, is developing sys­tems that could put men on Mars

40 without shooting them into space and could plunge divers under the North Sea without tak-


simulate almost anything poss­ible in real life are still in the lab­oratory.

A fire-fighter in a nuclear pow-

er plant, for example, would

90 move through a computer model wearing an exoskeleton, while a robot would move through the real thing. The computer pro­gram will be derived from the

95 data used to design the plant in the first place.

Mr Stone has developed a data glove with air pockets that are inflated to give a sensation of

100 touch in collaboration with Air-muscle, the supplier of the pneu­matic systems that made the Spitting Image puppets really spit.

105 The biggest initial market is

likely to he for a new generation

of video games. W Industries, of

Leicester, recently launched a

virtual reality system for video 0 arcades. The system, called Vir­tuality, consists of a cockpit in which a player sits, wearing the helmet, at a set of controls that can rn lithe a bobsleigh, a space­ship, or whatever the imagina­tion of the games programmer can devise.

The helmet has a pair of liquid-crystal displays with wide-angle lenses giving a stereoscopic im­age, and a set of magnetic sen­sors to tell the computer what the helmet is looking at as it moves.

The first game is a fighter
simulation. Another is based on
a sequence in the film, Return of
the Jedi, in which flying motor-
cycles race through a forest. The
130 computer can link and control

several helmets at once for a

group game.


Ivo- Vocabulary

time lag (1. 52) — time delay

Spitting Image (1. 103) — satirical British TV programme, using computer-controlled animated puppets

bobsleigh (1. 114) — large vehicle, moving on strips of wood, for travelling fast over ice and snow


Task 3Answer the following questions about the text:

1Where does the term 'virtual reality' come from?

2Which country leads the field in VR research?

3Why are robots controlled via mounted video cameras less effective than the VR solution?

4How does Robert Stone's system allow the user to 'feel' objects?

5What application of VR is expected to be the commonest to start with.


Using the line reference given, look back in the text and find the reference for the words in italics.

1 one that comes closer to real life (line 6)

2which see it as a technology for the next century (line 33)

3without taking them out of the office (line 43)

4 it is not a natural system (line 48)

5to record where it is pointing (line 64)

6and displays it on the screen (line 67)

7to give the illusion of carrying it (line 77)

8while a robot would move through the real thing (line 92)

Using the line references given, look back in the text and find words or phrases


meaning:

1 whenever and however they like (lines 10-15)

2qualities (lines 15-20)

3large amounts of money (lines 30-35)

4immerse (lines 40-45)

5twisting (lines 45-50)

6small pockets filled with air (lines 75-80)

7filled with air (lines 95-100)

8released on to the market (lines 105-110)

9imitate (lines 110-115)

10 war plane (lines 125-130)

Task 6 Choose the appropriate form of the word to fit the meaning of the sentence. Make sure you understand the different forms of the word and their meanings. Use your dictionary to find this information. 1 correct, correctly, correction, corrective, correctness aIf an error occurs, it is important to take action immediately. bThe 'spell check' facility checks the of your spelling c The data was entered , so the result must be accurate. 2detect, detection, detectable, detective aThere were traces of radiation in the water sample. bThe analyst could not any errors in the system. c She tried to escape by disguising herself. 3sense, sensor, sensation, sensitive aAn infra-red detects the presence of intruders in the building. bThe probe is to heat and light. cThe new system caused a when it was launched last month.

  Writing
Task 7 These two paragraphs from the article contain similar information. Write one paragraph combining the information from them to give a short but complete description of the VR visual system.

 

A virtual reality system consists of a helmet with a colour display in front of each eye, and wide-angle lenses to cover the entire field of view and give a stereoscopic effect. The helmet contains sensors, rather like electronic compasses, to record where it is pointing. A computer calculates what the wearer should be seeing in that direction and displays it on the screen.

The helmet has a pair of liquid-crystal displays with wide-angle lenses giving a stereoscopic image, and a set of magnetic sensors to tell the computer what the helmet is looking at as it moves.

Speaking

Task 8We asked a number of people to answer the following question:

Do you think the use of virtual reality in computer war games is going to affect young people's attitude to violence?

Here are some responses. Read them and decide which point of view (if any) most closely matches yours. Discuss your opinions.


Rita Harper

`Yes, I do. I think anything which portrays violence as fun is going to alter young people's perception of violence in a very dangerous way. Violent crime amongst young people is increasing. I think manufacturers of computer war games must take some of the responsibility.'

Susan Clark

`No, not really. Kids — particularly boys — have been playing with toy guns ever since guns were invented. Surely playing with toy guns in the real world is more dangerous than playing with imaginary guns in an imaginary world.'

Mark Watts

`It's difficult to say. Some of my friends get very aggressive when they play computer war games. But I don't really know if it makes them more violent when they're doing other things. I play a VR jet fighter game, and I don't think it has made me more violent.'


Writing

Task 9Write a paragraph giving your answer to the question asked in Task 8.

Listening

Task 10Listen to this interview with Michael Emsley, one of the exhibitors at an

exhibition of virtual reality at Olympia in London. As you listen, answer these questions about the interview.

1 Why do people expect far more from VR than it can give them?

2How does Michael Emsley think VR should be seen?

3Give two examples of the potential applications mentioned.

4What problems will VR developers have if the technology does not produce results, according to Emsley?

5How does the best VR system compare with human vision?

6Why are there three electromagnetic coils in the headset?

7How long does it take the computer to calculate each new position of the headset and update the display?

8In order to make a 'reasonable' visual system, how powerful would the computer have to be?

Task 11Read this extract from the tapescript and try to fill in the gaps. The first letter of

each missing word is given.


VR input devices

Reading

Read quickly through the text below. Does the text contradict in any way what you already know about VR systems? If so, what is the contradiction and how can it be explained?