Journal of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Soft Computing

Abstract

Robotics is the future. And the future is now. Robotics was first used in automation of large scale industries and then small scale industries. Now, robotics is being introduced into fields where there is a scope for reduction of human effort. Households of today are becoming smarter and more automated. Home automation delivers convenience and frees up more time for people. Domestic robots are entering the homes and people’s daily lives, but it is still a relatively new and immature market. However, growth is predicted and adoption of domestic robots is evolving. Several robotic vacuum cleaners are available on the market but only a few specialize in wiping of floors with water. This paper presents a project that follows a product development process, includes the stages of project planning, market research, setting a requirement specification, concept building, concept evaluation and selection and embodiment design. It entails our journey to creating a compact yet powerful waste management robot that is capable of performing both wet and dry cleaning operations. The idea is to build a robotic device that sweeps while traversing the whole enclosed area in one phase and then wipes the area in the other. The constructed prototype serves as a learning tool that facilitates in revealing new aspects and recognizing features that should be developed in the robot. A technology-intensive product of this kind requires the end users to adapt to a new technology. Therefore, a user-centred approach is strongly recommended to ensure better marketability of the product.

Keywords: Robotics, Automation, Arduino