A NEW BREED OF ROBOTS

摘要

Until relatively recently, fully functioning unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) capable of carrying out complex operations were mostly confined to hobbyists' garages and university research labs. Today, however, UGVs -- robotic ground vehicles capable of operating in a variety of environments and functioning in place of humans -- are being used for a variety of commercial and military purposes. Unmanned ground vehicles of various kinds are used to do a variety of dirty, dull, and dangerous tasks, such as vacuuming a room, harvesting crops, or carrying heavy loads for long distances. The unmanned ground vehicle is not the first technology to move from the domain of hobbyists and academics to the industrial world. The UGV industry is in a situation similar to the automotive industry of a century ago, or as Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, has noted, the personal computer industry of a few decades ago. Better sensors -- and sensor processing -- can improve situational awareness for both the robot and its operator.