6.1 Automated Systems

• Performs actions (without human interactions)

• Advantages: 

  • Increases safety (workers do not need to go into dangerous areas to collect data/make checks/do dangerous tasks)

  • Can increase jobs/skills (as employees are needed to learn/maintain the equipment)

  • No need to do repetitive tasks (they can use their time on other/more skilled tasks)

• Disadvantages: 

  • High set-up/installation costs

  • High utility/maintenance/repair costs

  • Deskilling of the workforce//loss of jobs

• Features:

  • Sensors (Measure/reads Analogue data)

  • Microprocessor (Process)

  • Actuators (Create Movement)

• Uses:

  • Industrial

    • Advantages: Robotics, manufacturing, flexibility, faster, safer, efficient use of material, consistent, precision, Eg. Nuclear power station, Manufacture of paracetamol)

    • Disadvantages:  Expensive, Safety implications, high maintenance, vulnerable to cyber attacks

  • Transport

    • Advantages: Autonomous bus/cars/trains/aircrafts, avoids traffic disruption, safer, consistent Eg. Self parking cars, adaptive cruise control)

    • Disadvantages:  Loss of skills (driving), faulty/dirty sensors, expensive, high maintenance, vulnerable to cyber attacks

  • Agriculture

    • Advantages: Watering of crops, weather forecasting, reduced labor costs, efficient, better space utilization, faster response, safer)

    • Disadvantages:  Expensive and high maintenance

  • Weather

    • Advantages: gather data from thermometer(temperature), anemometer (wind speed), hygrometer (humidity), barometer (air pressure), level sensor(rainfall), light sensor (hours of daylight), reduced energy contribution, flexibility)

    • Disadvantages:  Expensive, less reliable, high maintenance

  • Gaming

    • Advantages: accelerometer(acceleration/deceleration), proximity sensors (detecting hand/finger position), microcontroller, simulate real events, immersive gaming experience)

  • Lighting

    • Advantages: Records Light sensors (on/off), motion sensors, and infrared sensors, reduced energy consumption, longer bulb life, more display options)

    • Disadvantages:  Expensive, less reliable, high maintenance

  • Science

    • Advantages: Consistent, less dangerous, quick results, monitoring from anywhere, less training personnel required)

    • Disadvantages:  Expensive, less flexible, high maintenance, security risks

6.2 Robots

• Czech word “robota”

• Mechanical Device

• Performs action (that human would perform)

• Controlled or automated (or both)

• Robotics (design + construction + operation)

• Example 1: Factories (welding, spraying, fitting, bottling, labeling, etc.)

• Example 2:Home (autonomous floor cleaners, ironing, pool cleaning, etc.)

• Example 3:Drones (parcel deliveries)

  • Features: [2024]

    • Mechanical structure/framework (Body)

    • Electrical Components

      • Sensors (Ability to sense their environment)

      • Microprocessors

      • Actuators

    • Programmable (controller)

    • It can move

    • Possess AI

    • Bots/ Web crawlers/Chatbots (Software robots)

  • Uses:

    • Industry (Heavy lifting)

    • Transport (Driverless cars, autonomous trains, unpiloted airplanes)

    • Agriculture (Harvesting, weed control, phenotyping (observing physical properties of a plant, health, and growth), seed planting, fertilizer distribution)

    • Medicine (Surgical procedures, monitoring, disinfecting rooms, therapies, implants)

    • Domestic (home) use (vacuum cleaners, grass cutters, personal assistant)

    • Entertainment (Theme parks, music festivals, controlling cameras, special effects) 

  • Disadvantages:

    • Expensive to install/purchase/setup

    •  High ongoing costs/maintenance costs

    •  May deskill the workforce

    •  If they malfunction, work may stop

6.3 Artificial Intelligence

• The ability to learn/adapt // machine learning abilities

• The collection of data and the rules for using that data

• The ability to reason // has problem solving abilities // makes predictions

• Simulates intelligent/human behaviour

• Analyses patterns

  • Broad areas: 

    • Image & Speech recognition

    • Computer Games

    • Diagnosis (Medical)

  • Characteristics 

    • Narrow AI (When machines are superior in doing one specific task)

    • General AI (Similar to humans in a specific task)

    • Strong AI (When machines are superior in doing many tasks)

    • Examples: Alexa, Siri, live news feeds, chatbots, autonomous cars, facial recognition

Machine Learning

• Supervised

• Unsupervised

Expert Systems

• Emulate the expertise of a human

• Features:

  • Knowledge base (List of facts)

  • Rule base (that links the facts)

  • Inference Engine (decides)

    •  It makes decisions by applying the rules/logic to the facts/knowledge to provide a result/diagnosis

  • User Interface (used to input data/view output)

  • Applies the rule base to/and the knowledge base to provide output/diagnosis/result/solution/decision

  • Decides what to ask next based on the data input