Robots at work: The present day

Robots have come to play a widespread and crucial role in many industrial
operations today. The work that robots do can be classified into
three major categories: the assembly and finishing of products; the movement
of materials and objects; and the performance of work in environmentally
difficult or hazardous situations.
Assembly and finishing of products. The most common single
application of robots is in welding. About one-quarter of all robots used
by industry have this function. Welding robots can have a variety of ap-
pearances, but they tend to consist of one large arm that can rotate in various
directions. At the end of the arm is a welding gun that actually forms
the weld between two pieces of metal.
Closely related types of work now done by robots include cutting,
grinding, polishing, drilling, sanding, painting, spraying, and otherwise treating
the surface of a product. As with welding, activities of this kind are
usually performed by one-armed robots that hang from the ceiling, project
outward from a platform, or reach into a product from some other angle.
Another example in which robots have replaced humans in industrial
operations is on the assembly line. In many industrial plants today,
the assembly line of humans has been replaced by an assembly line of robots
that does the same job, but more safely and more efficiently.
Movement of materials. Many industrial operations involve the lifting
and moving of large, heavy objects over and over again. One way to
perform these operations is with heavy machinery operated by human
workers. But another method that is more efficient and safer is to substitute
robots for the human-operated machinery.
An experimental type of heavy-duty robot is an exoskeleton—a
metallic contraption that surrounds a human worker. The human can step
inside the exoskeleton, placing his or her arms and legs into the corre-
sponding limbs of the exoskeleton. By operating the exoskeleton’s controls,
the human can magnify his or her strength many times, picking up
and handling objects that would otherwise be much too heavy to lift.
Hazardous or remote-duty robots. Robots are commonly used in
places where humans can go only at risk to their own health or where
they cannot go at all. Industries where nuclear materials are used often
make use of robots so that human workers are not exposed to the dangerous
effects of radiation.
Robots have also been useful in space research. In 1976, the space
probes Viking 1 and Viking 2 landed on the planet Mars. These two probes
were some of the most complex and sophisticated robots ever built. Their
job was to analyze the planet’s surface. They did so by using a long arm
to dig into the ground and take out samples of Martian soil. The soil samples
were then transported to one of three chemical laboratories within
the robot, where the soil underwent automated chemical analysis. The results
of these analyses were then transmitted to receiving stations on Earth.