Unit 5.

Robotics and Automation

Focus on Genre: AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE

When writing a technical text, we have to consider WHO is going to read it

(audience) and WHAT FOR (purpose of the text). The level of complexity and the
amount of technical jargon of the text depend on its potential audience. We write
differently for different audiences. Examples of audiences of technical documents
are:

• Experts are the people who know the theory and the product inside and out.
They designed it, they tested it, so they know everything about it. Often, they
have advanced degrees and operate in academic settings or in research and
development areas.
• Technicians are the people who build, operate, maintain, and repair the stuff
that the experts design and theorize about. Theirs is a highly technical
knowledge as well, but of a more practical nature.
• Executives are the people who make business, economic, administrative, legal,
governmental, political decisions on the stuff that the experts and technicians
work with. If it's a new product, they decide whether to produce and market it.
Executives are likely to have as little technical knowledge about the subject as
laypeople. But they read for a different purpose.
• Laypeople require basic information and usually read to apply that information
to their everyday life. They may just be curious about a specific technical matter
and want to learn about it—but for no specific, practical reason.

Before you write one word, you need to know the purpose, that is, the reason why
you write a document and what you want your writing to accomplish. Are you
conveying information to the general public? Reporting on a recent project? Do you
want your readers to do something when they finish reading?

1) Look at the following text. Decide on its intended audience and purpose.
Then, pay attention to the layout and decide where the text appeared.

Here are some options that will help you decide on the features of the text:

AUDIENCE: university students, experts, technicians, laypeople, executives and managers

PURPOSE: to teach, to entertain, to inform, to warn, to recommend, to explain, to give

instructions, to convince or persuade, to give advice as a reply to questions or
problems posed by clients/users.

SOURCE OF THE TEXT (genre): a robotics magazine, a university textbook on robotics, course
notes on robotics, a brochure trying to sell robots, a specialized robotics journal,
an instructions manual, an in-company recommendation report to buy new
robots, a user guide.

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1.1 Robotics
Robotics is a relatively young field of modern technology that crosses traditional engineering
boundaries. Understanding the complexity of robots and their applications requires
knowledge of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, systems and industrial
engineering, computer science, economics, and mathematics. New disciplines of
engineering, such as manufacturing engineering, applications engineering, and knowledge
engineering have emerged to deal with the complexity of the field of robotics and factory
automation.

This book is concerned with fundamentals of robotics, including kinematics, dynamics,

motion planning, computer vision, and control. Our goal is to provide a complete introduction
to the most important concepts in these subjects as applied to industrial robot manipulators.

The science of robotics has grown tremendously over the past twenty years, fueled by rapid
advances in computer and sensor technology as well as theoretical advances in control and
computer vision. In addition to the topics listed above, robotics encompasses several areas
not covered in this text such as locomotion, including wheeled and legged robots, flying and
swimming robots, grasping, artificial intelligence, computer architectures, programming
languages, and computer-aided design. A complete treatment of the discipline of robotics
would require several volumes. Nevertheless, at the present time, the vast majority of robot
applications deal with industrial robot arms operating in structured factory environments so
that a first introduction to the subject of robotics must include a rigorous treatment of the
topics in this text.

1.2 History of Robotics

The term robot was first introduced into our vocabulary by the Czech playwright Karel Capek
in his 1920 play Rossum’s Universal Robots, the word robota being the Czech word for work.
Since then the term has been applied to a great variety of mechanical devices, such as
teleoperators, underwater vehicles, autonomous land rovers, etc. Virtually anything that
operates with some degree of autonomy, usually under computer control, has at some point
been called a robot. In this text the term robot will mean a computer controlled industrial
manipulator of the type shown in Figure 1.1. This type of robot is essentially a mechanical
arm operating under computer control. Such devices, though far from the robots of science
fiction, are nevertheless extremely complex electro-mechanical systems whose analytical
description requires advanced methods, and which present many challenging and interesting
research problems.

Figure 1.1: The ABB IRB6600 Robot. Photo courtesy of ABB

An official definition of such a robot comes from the Robot Institute of America (RIA): A robot
is a reprogrammable multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or
specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety
of tasks.

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The key element in the above definition is the reprogrammability of robots. It is the computer
brain that gives the robot its utility and adaptability. The so-called robotics revolution is, in
fact, part of the larger computer revolution.

Even this restricted version of a robot has several features that make it attractive in an
industrial environment. Among the advantages often cited in favor of the introduction of
robots are decreased labor costs, increased precision and productivity, increased flexibility
compared with specialized machines, and more humane working conditions as dull,
repetitive, or hazardous jobs are performed by robots.

The robot, as we have defined it, was born out of the marriage of two earlier technologies:
that of teleoperators and numerically controlled milling machines. Teleoperators, or master-
slave devices, were developed during World War II to handle radioactive materials. Computer
numerical control (CNC) was developed because of the high precision required in the
machining of certain items, such as components of high-performance aircraft. The first robots
essentially combined the mechanical linkages of the teleoperator with the autonomy and
programmability of CNC machines.

Source: http://smpp.northwestern.edu/savedLiterature/Spong_Textbook.pdf

Audience of the text:_________________________________________________

________________(Why?)_____________________________________________

Purpose of the text:__________________________________________________

________________(Why?)____________________________________________

Source of the text: __________________________________________________

________________(Why?)____________________________________________

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 Language Focus 1: CLASSIFICATIONS

Classification refers to the fact that people or objects can belong to different groups or
classes, and that these groups can belong to still larger groups. Actually, the term
“classification” means to separate objects from one another.

Tecnical writers use classification in texts to group items into different classes that share
common characteristics. Therefore, classification is a process of bringing order out of
confusion by organizing information in a logical way, usually going from general to
specific, or from least important to most important, that is, from specific to general.

1. TYPES OF CLASSIFICATIONS

CLASSIFICATIONS
Classification includes two kinds of acts to express a member / class
relationship:

Þ 1. From specific to general: Putting an individual or subclass

into a larger class or category.
The following expressions are used:
• BELONG TO
• BE (MAY BE/COULD BE) CLASSIFIED AS
• IS A KIND / TYPE / SORT / VARIETY OF
• IS A MEMBER OF

- A printer may be classified as a peripheral device.

- COBOL, FORTRAN and BASIC are kinds of special-purpose languages.
- Sequential devices and random-access devices belong to the secondary
memory devices of a computer system.

Þ 2. From general to specific: Separating or dividing a class into

subclasses or categories.
The following expressions are used:
• COMPRISE
• INCLUDE
• BE (MAY BE/COULD BE) DIVIDED INTO
• BE CLASSIFIED AS/INTO
• THERE ARE SEVERAL CATEGORIES / CLASSES /
TYPES OF [THE CLASS]

-Secondary memory comprises sequential devices and random-access

devices.
- There are four categories of hardware: input devices, output devices,
storage devices and processors.
- High level languages may be classified as general-purpose or special-
purpose languages.
- Special purpose languages include COBOL, FORTRAN, and BASIC
among others.

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EXERCISES

1) Complete the following sentences that express member / class

relationships.

1. Input devices, output devices and auxiliary storage ___________ to peripheral

devices.

2. Digital computers __________________ into general purpose and special

purpose.

3. Input devices ______________ keyboard, mouse, light pen, and touch screen.

4. Monitor and printer ___________________ as output devices.

5. Ink-jet, laser and 3-D ______________ of printers.

6. Memory _____________ into primary and secondary.

2) Match the type of robots with their applications:

TYPE OF ROBOT APPLICATIONS / EXAMPLES

a) vacuum cleaners, washing machines, lawn
1) Military robots mowing robots, etc. They are used to take
on simple but unwanted tasks at home

2) Industrial robots b) telerobots used to detonate a buried

explosive device

3) Domestic robots c) used to help elderly and disabled people,

and in telemedicine

4) Zoomorphic robots d) a robot not made for utilitarian use but for
and micro-robots the sole pleasure of a human.

e) robotic arms, manipulator industrial

5) Robots in healthcare robots used in an assembly process and
for production and distribution of goods
(like loading and unloading materials)

f) bio-inspired robots that can be used to do

6) Entertainment robots different things; used in medicine, to do
research

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3) Read the list of applications of robots and then label the following pictures
accordingly:

Industrial robots / Domestic or household robots / Healthcare robots / Zoomorphic

robots & micro-robots / Military robots / Entertainment robots /

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149
4) Read the following text and complete the classification of robots:

TYPES OF ROBOTS

From the robot maid, Rosie, in The Jetsons, to the famous droids of Star Wars, R2-D2
and C-3PO, to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of a cyborg in The Terminator, to
Robocop, to I, Robot, to The Matrix, to the movie named Robots, human beings have
long been fascinated with the idea of robots, a term that can broadly
be defined as an artificial human being. While in the past humans
only fantasized about them, today, many types of robots are a reality.
For example, there are industrial robots, toy robots that entertain us,
robots that help in space exploration, robots used in the medical field,
robots used in agriculture, to increasingly humanoid robots being
created for the service sector, whether helping with the chores in the
home or as caregivers for the elderly and the handicapped. Given
below is a classification of the types of robots that have been
conceived, many of which are already in active use.

Industrial Robots: Robots today are being utilized in a wide variety of industrial
applications. Any job that involves repetitiveness, accuracy, endurance, speed, and
reliability can be done much better by robots, which is why many industrial jobs that used
to be done by humans are increasingly being done by robots. For example, for the past
30 years or thereabouts robots have progressively taken over the fully automated
production lines of the automobile industry, wherein a chassis of a vehicle is transported
along a conveyor belt and is welded, affixed, painted, and assembled by a succession
of robot stations. Some of the other industrial jobs robots are performing are palletizing
and packaging goods, dispensing jobs, laboratory applications, and robots that pick
minuscule electronic components from trays or strips and accurately place them on
printed circuit boards in the electronics industry.

Mobile Robots: Also known as Automated Guided Vehicles, or AGVs, these are used
for transporting material over large sized places like hospitals, container ports, and
warehouses, using wires or markers placed in the floor, or lasers, or vision, to sense the
environment they operate in. An advanced form of the AGV is the SGV, or the Self
Guided Vehicle, like PatrolBot Gofer, Tug, and Speci-Minder, which can be taught to
autonomously navigate within a space, or do it by being given a map of the area. These
robots have the ability of performing tasks that are non-sequential and non-repetitive in
environments that are complex, hence are defined as intelligent robots.

Robots Used in Agriculture: Although the idea of robots planting seeds, ploughing
fields, and gathering the harvest may seem straight out of a futuristic science fiction book,
there are several robots in the experimental stages of being used for agricultural
purposes, such as robots that can pick apples, prune grapevines, transplant seedlings,
and so on. In fact, there already is a type of robot that shears sheep in Australia.

Telerobots: These robots are used in places that are hazardous to humans, or are
inaccessible or far away. A human operator located at a distance from a telerobot
controls its action, which was accomplished with the arm of the space shuttle. Some
other examples of telerobots are laparoscopic surgery being done with the help of a
telerobot, or doctors using remotely located robots to communicate with their patients,
which enables them to treat patients anywhere in the world. Telemedicine has the
potential of patients in remote places of the world, without adequate medical facilities,
being able to consult doctors across the world, or even in the next town, and the doctors
in turn having the ability to monitor them. Telerobots are also useful in nuclear power

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plants where they, instead of humans, can handle hazardous material or undertake
operations potentially harmful for humans.

As is evident, telerobots are particularly useful for space exploration. Some of the
applications in space that are on anvil are robots used for the maintenance of satellites,
robotic arms for manufacturing in space, robots used for constructing space ships and
space stations, and so on.

Telerobots are also being increasingly used for military purposes, for instance the
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle used for surveillance and also fire at targets. Some of them
have even advanced to the level of having the ability to automatically make decisions
like choosing the location to fly to, and deciding which enemy target to engage with.
Many telerobots are being used by the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq to diffuse
IEDs, or Improvised Explosive Devices. An Unmanned Ground Vehicle, or UGV, is on
the anvil which can carry out military missions independently.

Service Robots: The Japanese are in the forefront in these types of robots. Essentially,
this category comprises any robot that is used outside an industrial facility, although they
can be sub-divided into two main types of robots: one, robots used for professional jobs,
and the second, robots used for personal use. Amongst the former type are the above
mentioned robots used for military use, then there are robots that are used for underwater
jobs, or robots used for cleaning hazardous waste, and the like.

Personal use robots are becoming more and more popular, with increased sophistication
in Artificial Intelligence and with them becoming increasingly affordable, and are being
seen in areas like caregiving, pet robots, house cleaning and entertainment. Although it
is more expensive and difficult to make highly intelligent and sensitive machines, but
service robots designed with minimal intelligence are already fairly common, such as the
vacuum cleaning robots.

The creation of the amazing walking humanoid named Asimo gave the impetus for
several others, such as the house-helping robot named Wakamaru, and Aibo, the robot
dog. Then there are the popular robocon competitions held in Japan, with robots playing
soccer or having fighting matches.

Another area where personal use robots are being introduced is in the care for the
elderly. In countries where there are increasing numbers of the aged with comparatively
fewer numbers of young people to provide them with care, due to low birth rate and
increased longevity, such as is the case in Japan and a growing number of Western
countries, robots are increasingly thought to be the answer. These robots are being
designed to provide physical services such as carrying bedridden elderly people (or even
the handicapped), or washing for them, and doing various other day-to-day tasks. And
then there are robots being designed to provide mental services, such as offering the
therapeutic effect of interacting with the often lonely elderly people.

Hence, as is evident, the trend is towards developing more and more sophisticated
humanoid types of robots, with human-like physical features and intellectual abilities.

(Source of text: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-robots.html )

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 Repetitive tasks
-
In industrial -palletizing
1. applications -
-
Intelligent robots
-in....
2. For .... -self-guided vehicles -using a map
(SGV)

To plant -
seeds
3. plough
fields, and -to shear....
gather the
harvest
In hazardous or dangerous places for humans
-in ..... surgery
4. It requires a -in .....
Telerobots ..... -in ..... plants
TYPES -for space ....
OF
-for .....
ROBOTS
Used outside an industrial facility
-for .... -for .....
-for .....
-for cleaning hazardous waste
-carrying bedridden
people
-
-in caregiving (care of the -
elderly and the
handicapped) -interacting with....
5. -for
personal - -Aibo (the robot dog)
use -
-housecleaning
-
- -
-fighting machines

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Using contextual clues, guess the meaning of these unknown words.

Words from Meaning

the text
1.chores a) People who have a physical or mental disability
considered as a group.

2.caregivers b) A shallow flat receptacle with a raised edge or rim, used

for carrying, holding, or displaying articles

3.elderly c) A portable platform used for storing or moving cargo or

freight.

4.handicapped d) Something that involves great risk.

5.toy e) Daily or routine domestic tasks.

6.tray f) The position of most importance, prominence, or

responsibility; the vanguard.

7.pallets g) An object for children to play with.

8.warehouse h) An individual, such as a parent, foster parent, or head of

a household, who attends to the needs of a child or
dependent adult.

9.hazardous i) Older people considered as a group.

10.forefront j) A place in which goods or merchandise are stored; a

storehouse.

Answer the following questions orally:

Which are the two world leading countries in robotics? Why do we use robots? What
can they do better than humans? In what cases do we need robots to have human
features?

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2. WAYS OF EXPRESSING CLASSIFICATIONS

WAYS OF EXPRESSING CRITERIA AND GIVING EXAMPLES

• There are some expressions that indicate the criteria the technical writer
uses in classifying:

X can be classified | ACCORDING TO |

(criteria)
| WITH RESPECT TO |
| ON THE BASIS OF |

Others expressions used are: based on, the basis is, the basic
criteria are…

- Computers can be classified according to their purpose.

- Computers can be grouped on the basis of their speed and size.

• When classifying, examples may be essential for the reader; thus,

classifications at the sentence level are very often expanded by means
of exemplification. For this purpose, some useful expressions are the
following:

• for example / for instance / e.g.

• such as / like
• an example of… is…
• illustrate / exemplify
• that is / namely / i.e.

- The switches, like the cores, are capable of being in one or two possible
states, that is, on or off, magnetized or unmagnetized.

- Computers have circuits for performing arithmetic operations such as

addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and exponentiation.

- The computer can only decide three things, namely, is one number less
than another?; are two numbers equal?; and is one number greater than
another?

1) Complete the following text about the classification of social robots using
expressions used to express criteria and give examples.

namely /an example of / according to / such as / on the basis / like /

for example / exemplify / another example / that is / that is /

SOCIAL ROBOTS

Social robots are embodied agents that are part of a heterogeneous group: a society of
robots or humans. They are able to recognize each other and engage in social
interactions, they possess histories (perceive and interpret the world in terms of their own
experience), and they explicitly communicate with and learn from each other.

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Social robots can be classified _____________ how well the robot can support the social
model that is ascribed to it and to the complexity of the interaction scenario that can be
supported. There are many different types of social robots. But generally social robots
can be classified ______________ of their ability to interact socially and their ability to
perceive and recognize humans. ____________, social intelligent robots are those which
show aspects of human style and social intelligence. _________________ is the social
interface robot, which includes a natural interface and uses human-like social cues and
communication modalities. You can also have sociable robots, ___________, robots that
pro-actively engage with humans and robots that are socially intelligent, ____________,
robots that show aspects of human style and social intelligence. You can also have
robots surrounded by social environment which they perceive and react to,
____________ socially situated robots. On the other hand, many social robots today are
able to perceive the world similar to humans, __________ , they can identify people and
recognize their facial expressions and human activity. _______________ this is a social
robot that can interpret speech and reply to you when you ask a simple question or make
a command. Robots __________ R2-D2 from Star Wars ___________ a highly
developed social robot that can interact with the environment and humans.

2) Look at this classification of robots and match them according to their

capacity of action:

Type of robots Capacity of action

a. They can manipulate an object through the
1. Playback Robots information received from a built-in vision
system.
b. They are able to make their own decisions and
2. Sensor-controlled solve problems.
Robots
c. They regenerate a sequence of recorded
3. Vision-controlled instructions. They are normally “open loop”.
Robots
d. They can automatically reprogram their actions
4. Adaptively-controlled according to data obtained by sensors.
Robots
e. They have a “closed loop” control and make
5. Robots with artificial decisions based on data collected by sensors.
intelligence

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 Language Focus 2: REVIEW OF MODAL VERBS

The modal verbs include can, must, may, might, would, should. They are used with
other verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so on. Below is a list
showing the most useful modals and their most common meanings:

Modal Meaning Example

can to express ability I can speak a little French.
can to request permission Can I open the window?
may to express possibility I may be home late.

may to request permission May I sit down, please?

must to express obligation I must go now.
must to express strong belief She must be over 90 years old.

should to give advice You should stop smoking.

would to request or offer Would you like a cup of coffee?

Modal verbs are unlike other verbs. They do not change their form (spelling) and
they have no infinitive or participle (past/present). The modals must and can need
substitute verbs to express obligation or ability in the different tenses. Here are
some examples:

Past simple Sorry I'm late. I had to finish my math test.

Present perfect She's had to return to Italy at short notice.

Future You'll have to work hard if you want to pass the exams.
Infinitive I don't want to have to go.

Past simple I couldn't/wasn't able to drive a car until I was 20 years old.
Present perfect I haven't been able to solve this problem. Can you help?
Future I'm not sure if I will be able to finish the Final Project before the
end of the semester.
Infinitive I would love to be able to play the piano.

Modals are auxiliary verbs. They do not need an additional auxiliary in negatives
or questions. For example: Must I come? (Do I must come?), or: He shouldn't
smoke (He doesn't should smoke).

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Modal verbs in the past
present past
must be must have been
should be should have been
could be could have been
may be may have been
might be might have been
would be would have been

MODAL VERBS EXPRESSING OBLIGATION:

Must / have to - to express obligation

present past
I must go. / I have to go. (When we want to
I had to go.
express obligation.)
He must be here. It must be great. (When we He must have been here.
are expressing a personal opinion.) It must have been great.

Should - to express obligation

Structure: should + infinitive
You should tell them the truth.
We use should for the present and the future.
We use should to give advice to someone and You shouldn't smoke, it's bad for you.
I don't think you should do it.
to say that something is a good idea.
Should is weaker than have to or must.

Should have - to express unfulfilled past obligation

Structure: should + have + past participle
You should have told them the truth.
We use should have for the past. You shouldn't have gone there - it was a
We use should have to say that someone didn't mistake.
do something, but it would have been better to I don't think you should have done it.
do it.

MODAL VERBS EXPRESSING PROBABILITY AND DEDUCTION:

Must / can't - to express probability

Structure: modal + infinitive without to must be, must have, can't go, etc.

We use must to express that we feel sure that They are really good; they must win.
something is true. For deductions. They must be very rich. Look at the house.
She can't be ill. I've just seen her in the
We use can't to say we are sure that something
shop and she looked fine.
is impossible.
It can't be true. I don't believe it.

157
 May / might / could - to express probability
Structure: modal + infinitive without to may be, might do, could go, etc.
They may be arriving tomorrow.
We use may or could or might to say that it is He might be away on holiday.
possible that something will happen or is
He could be away on holiday. He might
happening.
be offered the job.
The negative of may is may not.
The negative of might is might not. He might not be offered the job.
They both mean that it is possible that I may not pass the exam.
something will not happen or is not happening. I might not go to the match tomorrow.
We DO NOT use could not to express
probability.

Must / can't / couldn't have - to express probability in the past

Structure: modal + have + past participle must have been, can't have gone, etc.

We use must have to express that we feel sure They must have left early.
that something was true. He must have already gone.
He can't have escaped through this
We use can't have / couldn't have to say that window. It is too small.
we believe something was impossible. She can't have said that.
She couldn't have said that.

May / might / could have - to express probability in the past

Structure: modal + have + past participle may have been, could have gone, might have lost,
etc.
We use may / could / might
have to say that it was
He may have missed the bus.
possible that something
happened in the past (but we The road might have been blocked.
are not 100% sure).
The negatives are may not He may not have left yet.
have and might not have. The assistant might not have received his message.

1) Rewrite the sentences with can, may, must or have to.

-Is that all right if I borrow your pen?

May/Can I borrow your pen?

-Don't park your car on bends. It is illegal.

You ....................................................................
-Perhaps she will agree with it. Who knows?
She .....................................................................
-Our teacher asked us to tidy the classroom.
We .....................................................................
-I need your help. It's too much work for me.
You ....................................................................
-Look at that missing piece. It's over there.
....................... see ........................................... ?
-Don't worry about dinner. I'll make it.
You ....................................................................

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 -It is not necessary to be there.
We .....................................................................
-Why don't you stay with us? No problem!
You ....................................................................

2) Complete the sentences using the modal verbs listed in the boxes
below. Some gaps may have more than one correct answer.

1. Lucy's new house is in a trendy area! It__________ have cost a fortune.

a) CAN b) COULD c) MUST d) MIGHT e) SHOULD

2. If you want to get a better idea about Bristol, you__________ walk uptown and
explore the district called Clifton.
a) CAN b) COULD c) MUST d) MIGHT e) SHOULD

3. Please make sure to water my plants while I am gone on holiday. If they don't
get enough water, they__________ die.
a) CAN b) COULD c) MUST d) MIGHT e) SHOULD

4. You_________ take your umbrella along with you today. The weather forecast
said there will be some heavy showers today.
a) CAN b) COULD c) MUST d) MIGHT e) SHOULD

5. I'm not really sure where Helen is. She_________ be in the living room, or
perhaps she's in the garden.
a) CAN b) COULD c) MUST d) MIGHT e) SHOULD
6. You_________ be kidding! It can't be true.
a) CAN b) COULD c) MUST d) MIGHT e) SHOULD

3) Past forms of modal verbs. Choose the right option:

1. Carlos__________________ his car as it is not in his garage.

a) must fix b) must have fixed c) must be fixed

2. I____________ harder if I had known the exam would be this hard.

a) might have studied b) should study c) should have studied

3. She __________________ if she had known the lab would be closed today.
a) could have come b) should have come c) might not have come

4. ____________________ harder if you had known the test would be so difficult?

a) could you study b) would you have studied c) should you have

5. I_____________________ you before I left. I am sorry.

a) should have called b) may have called c) must call

6. He __________________working by now. It’s 6 o’clock already and he’s usually

home at this time.
a) can’t have finished b) couldn’t have finished c) should have finished

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7. ___________________ you before I left this morning? Yes, I would have
appreciated it.
a) could I have called b) should I have called c) must I call

8. She __________________ that book. Her professor assigns it every year. It’s a
classic.
a) must have read b) can’t have read c) may read

9. We ___________________out the forms correctly because they didn’t process

our credit card application.
a) may have filled b) could have filled c) mustn’t have filled

10. You ___________________ me the truth then. I wouldn’t be so upset now.

a) could have told b) must have told c) should tell

11. We ____________________ more money last year. We didn’t and now we

don’t have enough for the trip.
a) may have saved b) should have saved c) would have saved

12. You took your brother’s car without asking him. You _________________ for
permission. Now he wouldn’t be so angry with you.
a) must have asked b) can’t have asked c) should have asked

4) Fill in the blanks in each sentence using a modal verb such as can, could,
should, might, may, must or have to, based on the situational hints
shown in italics. Select the modal that seems most appropriate for the
situation described.

1. She_____________ look at things differently once the facts are in.

(A change in opinion is possible after all the information becomes available).
2. It’s company’s policy; you___________ do it this way or your expenses
won’t be reimbursed.
(The company requires that this procedure be followed for expense reimbursements)
3. I’m in terrible shape! I ____________ exercise more!
(I’ve decided that more exercise is an absolute necessity for me)
4. ______________you get this report done for us by tomorrow morning?
(Are you willing and able to prepare this report by tomorrow if we ask you?)
5. ______________ you handle this much work on a regular basis?
(Do you have the capacity to handle this much work regularly?)
6. We were worried about you. You______________ have called us as soon as
you knew you’d be late.
(Calling someone when you will be late is a good idea, in my opinion)
7. You_____________ want to think a little more carefully about that before
trying it next time.
(I think you were stupid not to think more carefully about it)
8. This computer is not working. It_____________ have been damaged by the
thunderstorm.
(The damage is a logical deduction based on the information available)
9. Ellen____________ be sent to London this summer, if the board decides the
situation there warrants it.
(The trip is certainly possible, but whether or not she goes depends on the board’s
preference)

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 10. My trainer says I’m in terrible shape. According to him, I _____________
exercise more.
(My trainer is trying to compel me to exercise more)
11. You______________ always try reinstalling Windows, that might work if the
disk is corrupt.
(This is one possible course of action, and there’s a possibility of it working under
certain conditions)
12. _____________ I suggest this dark blue jacket?
(You’re a customer in my upscale store, and I’m trying to be polite)
13. I____________ admit, it’s a very nice-looking car.
(I have no choice but to admit that the car looks nice)
14. She____________ admit that it was a very nice-looking car.
(She had no choice but to admit that the car looked nice)
15. You ____________ say that.
(That’s another correct way of summarizing the situation)

5) Read the following text and answer the questions below

The Three Laws of Robotics

The Three Laws of Robotics, often shortened to The Three Laws or Three Laws, are a
set of three rules written by science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later expanded upon.
The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story “Runaround” although they had been
foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. The Laws are:
• A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being
to come to harm.
• A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such
orders would conflict with the First Law.
• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict
with the First or Second Law.

The Three Laws form an organizing principle and unifying theme for Asimov's fiction,
appearing in his Robot series, the other stories linked to it and his Lucky Starr series of
young-adult fiction. The Laws are built in to almost all positronic robots appearing in his
fiction and cannot be bypassed. Other authors working in Asimov's fictional universe
have adopted them and references, often parodic, appear throughout science fiction as
well as in other genres.

The original premise has been somewhat changed and expanded upon by both Asimov
and other authors. Asimov also has made slight modifications to the first three in various
books and short stories to further develop how robots would interact with humans and
each other. Asimov himself added a fourth, or zeroth, law to precede the first three
stating:
0. A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to
harm.

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The Three Laws, and the zeroth, have pervaded science fiction and been referenced in
many books, films and other media and have often been the base from which Artificial
Intelligence discussions about how robots and humans will interact in the future have
grown. It is accepted that the Three Laws are not completely appropriate for future robotic
constraints but rather that their basic premise, to prevent robots from harming humans,
will ensure robots are acceptable in their actions to the general public.

In a later essay Asimov points out that analogues of the Laws are implicit in the design
of almost all tools:
• A tool must be safe to use. Hammers have handles, screwdrivers have hilts.
• A tool must perform its function efficiently unless this would harm the user.
• A tool must remain intact during its use unless its destruction is required for its
use or for safety.

According to the information in the text, decide which

modal verb best completes the following statements.

1. A robot ____________ kill a human being.

2. A robot ____________ protect children.

3. A robot ____________ disobey the three

laws.

4. A robot ____________ allow human beings

to harm themselves.

5. A robot _____________ always obey any

orders given by a human being.

6. A robot _____________ disobey an order

given by a human being if by doing so the
robot is actually protecting the human being.

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6) Read the following text and do the activities below:

Pay attention to the title of this article: “Robots

and Artificial Intelligence”

Why are we fascinated by robots?

What tasks do you think robots will do in the

future?

Robots and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It is certainly the
most controversial. Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but
there is no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent.

Like the term "robot" itself, artificial intelligence is hard to define. Ultimate AI would be a
recreation of the human thought process – a man-made machine with our intellectual
abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason,
the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas. Roboticists are
nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have made a lot of
progress with more limited AI. Today's AI machines can replicate some specific elements
of intellectual ability.

Computers can already solve problems in limited realms. The basic idea of AI problem-
solving is very simple, though its execution is complicated. First, the AI robot or computer
gathers facts about a situation through sensors or human input. The computer compares
this information to stored data and decides what the information signifies. The computer
runs through various possible actions and predicts which action will be most successful
based on the collected information. Of course, the computer can only solve problems it
is programmed to solve – it doesn't have any generalized analytical ability. Chess
computers are one example of this sort of machine.

Some modern robots also have the ability to learn in a limited capacity. Learning robots
recognize if a certain action (moving its legs in a certain way, for instance) achieved a
desired result (navigating an obstacle). The robot stores this information and attempts
the successful action the next time it encounters the same situation. Again, modern
computers can only do this in very limited situations. They can't absorb any sort of
information like a human can. Some robots can learn by mimicking human actions. In
Japan, roboticists have taught a robot to dance by demonstrating the moves themselves.

Some robots can interact socially. Kismet, a robot at M.I.T's Artificial Intelligence Lab,
recognizes human body language and voice inflection and responds appropriately.
Kismet's creators are interested in how humans and babies interact, based only on tone

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of speech and visual cue. This low-level interaction could be the foundation of a human-
like learning system.

Kismet and other humanoid robots at the M.I.T. AI Lab operate

using an unconventional control structure. Instead of directing
every action using a central computer, the robots control lower-
level actions with lower-level computers. The program's director,
Rodney Brooks, believes this is a more accurate model of
human intelligence. We do most things automatically; we don't
decide to do them at the highest level of consciousness.

The real challenge of AI is to understand how natural intelligence works. Developing AI

is not like building an artificial heart – scientists don't have a simple, concrete model to
work from. We do know that the brain contains billions and billions of neurons, and that
we think and learn by establishing electrical connections between different neurons. But
we don't know exactly how all of these connections add up to higher reasoning, or even
low-level operations. The complex circuitry seems incomprehensible.

Because of this, AI research is largely theoretical. Scientists hypothesize on how and

why we learn and think, and they experiment with their ideas using robots. Brooks and
his team focus on humanoid robots because they feel that being able to experience the
world like a human is essential to developing human-like intelligence. It also makes it
easier for people to interact with the robots, which potentially makes it easier for the robot
to learn.

Just as physical robotic design is a handy tool for understanding animal and human
anatomy, AI research is useful for understanding how natural intelligence works. For
some roboticists, this insight is the ultimate goal of designing robots. Others envision a
world where we live side by side with intelligent machines and use a variety of lesser
robots for manual labor, health care and communication. A number of robotics experts
predict that robotic evolution will ultimately turn us into cyborgs – humans integrated with
machines. Conceivably, people in the future could load their minds into a sturdy robot
and live for thousands of years!

In any case, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In the
coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific worlds and
into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s.

Reading comprehension: choose the right option.

1. Roboticists…
a) agree that robots will be as intelligent as humans.
b) have made it possible for AI machines to reproduce part of humans’ intellectual
ability.
c) will soon be able to reproduce AI machines that can do anything that a human
can do.

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2. Nowadays computers…
a) can only solve problems they have been programmed to solve.
b) have a generalized analytical ability that allows them to make the best decision.
c) that can play chess can beat any human.

3. Learning robots…
a) can imitate anything a human does.
b) can only dance, but they can’t avoid obstacles.
c) have a limited capacity to learn.

4. Kismet is a robot at MIT that can…

a) interact socially the same way an adult can.
b) completely replicate the model of human intelligence to speak.
c) interact socially the same way a baby can interact with an adult.

5. Understanding how natural intelligence works…

a) is the main challenge roboticists face nowadays.
b) and replicating it in an AI machine is already possible.
c) will never be possible.

6. Humanoid robots…
a) can learn like a human because they interact with people.
b) have been created to experience the world and learn like a human.
c) make it easier for humans to interact with them because of their human-like
features.

7. The ultimate goal of designing robots is…

a) to understand how human intelligence works and to use them as helpers.
b) to merge with them to create cyborgs.
c) to be able to live for thousands of years.

8. In the near future, robots…

a) will replace scientists.
b) will revolutionize the industrial world.
c) will be found in every home just like computers entered homes in the 1980s.

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6) Read the following text and choose the right title and heading for each
section. There are 4 extra options that don’t fit anywhere:

TITLE: ___________________________________________________

While there continues to be confusion about the terms artificial intelligence (AI) and
robotics, they are two separate fields of technology and engineering. However, when
combined, you get an artificially intelligent robot where AI acts as the brain, and the
robotics acts as the body to enable robots to walk, see, speak, smell and more.

Let’s look at the separate fields of artificial intelligence and robotics to illustrate their
differences.

1. _______________________________

Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that creates machines that are
capable of problem-solving and learning similarly to humans. Using some of the most
innovative AIs such as machine learning and reinforcement learning, algorithms can
learn and modify their actions based on input from their environment without human
intervention. Artificial intelligence technology is deployed at some level in almost every
industry from the financial world to manufacturing, healthcare to consumer goods and
more. Google’s search algorithm and Facebook’s recommendation engine are examples
of artificial intelligence that many of us use every day.

2. ______________________________

The branch of engineering/technology focused on constructing and operating robots is

called robotics. Robots are programmable machines that can autonomously or semi-
autonomously carry out a task. Robots use sensors to interact with the physical world
and are capable of movement, but must be programmed to perform a task.

3. ______________________________

One of the reasons the line is blurry and people are confused about the differences
between robotics, and artificial intelligence is because there are artificially intelligent
robots—robots controlled by artificial intelligence. In combination, AI is the brain and
robotics is the body. Let’s use an example to illustrate. A simple robot can be
programmed to pick up an object and place it in another location and repeat this task
until it’s told to stop. With the addition of a camera and an AI algorithm, the robot can
“see” an object, detect what it is and determine from that where it should be placed. This
is an example of an artificially intelligent robot.

Artificially intelligent robots are a fairly recent development. As research and

development continue, we can expect artificially intelligent robots to start to reflect those
humanoid characterizations we see in movies.

4. ______________________________

One of the barriers to robots being able to mimic humans is that robots don’t have
proprioception—a sense of awareness of muscles and body parts—a sort of “sixth
sense” for humans that is vital to how we coordinate movement. Roboticists have been

166
able to give robots the sense of sight through cameras, sense of smell and taste through
chemical sensors and microphones help robots hear, but they have struggled to help
robots acquire this “sixth sense” to perceive their body.

Now, using sensory materials and machine-learning algorithms, progress is being made.
In one case, randomly placed sensors detect touch and pressure and send data to a
machine-learning algorithm that interprets the signals.

5. _______________________________

Roboticists are trying to develop a robotic arm that is as dexterous as a human arm, and
that can grab a variety of objects. Until recent developments, the process involved
individually training a robot to perform every task or to have a machine learning algorithm
with an enormous dataset of experience to learn from.

Robert Kwiatkowski and Hod Lipson of Columbia University are working on “task-
agnostic self-modelling machines.” Similar to an infant in its first year of life, the robot
begins with no knowledge of its own body or the physics of motion. As it repeats
thousands of movements it takes note of the results and builds a model of them. The
machine-learning algorithm is then used to help the robot strategize about future
movements based on its prior motion. By doing so, the robot is learning how to interpret
its actions.

A team of USC researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering believe they are
the first to develop an AI-controlled robotic limb that can recover from falling without
being explicitly programmed to do so. This is revolutionary work that shows robots
learning by doing.

Artificial intelligence enables modern robotics. Machine learning and AI help robots to
see, walk, speak, smell and move in increasingly human-like ways.

OPTIONS Heading / title

Self-aware robots
What is the difference between AI and robotics?
Where do robotics and AI mingle?
New robotic limbs
What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
Machine-learning algorithms
What is robotics?
Applications of robotics
Current research on robotics
Robotics meets Artificial Intelligence

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7) Complete these two paragraphs using a word or expression so that the
sentence makes sense.

Robots

Robots have been with us for less than 50 years, _________ the idea of
inanimate creations is much, much older. In ________, it goes back to the
ancient Greek poet Homer, ________ described maidens of gold ________
acted as metallic helpers for the Greek god of the forge. The golems of
medieval Jewish legend were robot-like servants made of clay, ________
were brought to life by a spoken charm. In 1495 the first mechanical man
was conceived ________ Leonardo da Vinci drew plans for it. But real robots
_________ become possible until the 1950’s and 60’s, _________ the
invention of transistors and integrated circuits. Reliable electronics and a
growing computer industry added brains to the already existing machines
________ were developed by companies. In 1959, researchers demonstrated
the _________ of robotic manufacturing when they unveiled a computer-
controlled milling machine.

But what _________ is a robot? There’s no precise _________, but by

general agreement a robot is a programmable machine ________ imitates
the actions or appearance of an intelligent creature, ________ is usually a
human. To qualify as a robot, a machine has to __________ do two things:
first, to get information ________ its surroundings; and __________, to do
something physical _______ as move or manipulate objects. __________
most robots in use today are designed for specific tasks, the goal is to make
some day universal robots ________ are flexible ________ to do anything a
human does and more.

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PODCAST 9

Creators of famous Sophia robot reveal AI robotics

(video available on Moodle) (07:17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRHdnkUjcZg

1. Watch the following video carefully. Then, determine whether the following
statements are True or False:

Statement TRUE / FALSE

1. Famous Sophia robot has become a celebrity that has
appeared in magazines and popular TV shows.
2. Sophia was created at Hanson Robotics Lab in the USA.

3. Her creator, David Hanson, created Sophia to test the limits

of AI when interacting with humans.
4. Before the current Sophia, 23 previous versions had to be
created.
5. Sophia has been programmed to speak only in English.

6. Sophia has also been recreated as a little robot capable of

teaching children and as a medical robot.
7. The pandemic made David Hanson realize it was necessary to
create a medical robot that could interact with elderly
patients.
8. Grace, the medical robot, cannot detect elderly patients
suffering from dementia.
9. Hanson believes AI will soon become sentient and have
emotions.
10. Sophia can recognize human emotions, but she doesn’t have
them at all.

Now change the meaning of the following words by adding a prefix or changing a
suffix:
* A prefix is a letter or group of letters attached to the root of a word that partly indicates
its meaning. Common prefixes include anti- (against), co- (with), mis- (wrong, bad),
and trans- (across), un- (to form antonyms).
*A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word or root, serving to form
a new word or category of word (verb, noun, adjective, adverb, etc.).

e.g. de-magnet-ize dis-agree

Prefix - root –verb suffix Prefix-root

Prefix / suffix
meaningful
representation
respectful
interpretation
code
interesting
relevant

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 logical
proper
powerless
normal
alignment

PODCAST 10

How China is Using Artificial Intelligence in

Classrooms (video available on Moodle) (05:43)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLsHI8aV0g

1. Watch the following video carefully. Then, determine whether the following
statements are True or False:

Statement TRUE / FALSE

1. AI tech is being used in all Chinese classrooms

2. China wants to become a global leader in AI, which is already

being used in many aspects of daily life.
3. The school where the AI experiment is being carried out
never got the parents’ consent.
4. Robots in classrooms, headbands and uniforms with chips can
already be found in some schools to monitor students’ health,
engagement and location.
5. Some people in China are alarmed by the degree of student
control these AI gadgets offer.
6. This AI project in education has been developed thanks to
tech giants, starts-ups, schools and billions of dollars from
the Government.
7. Headbands can measure students’ concentration and also
control their thoughts, sending that information to their
parents.
8. Headbands have helped students concentrate more, become
more disciplined and achieve higher scores.
9. Students love headbands because they now get better
grades.
10. Even if these AI tools may help students get better grades in
this experiment, we still don’t know anything about the future
consequences of so much control.

170