KNOW WHY you are taking photos

Should you shoot horizontally or vertically? If you have a choice of digital cameras, which one should you use? What camera settings will you use? Will your photographs be framed or displayed on a Web page? Are you going to display your photographs in a series, or should they be shot in a particular style? Are you shooting to get backgrounds or objects to include in another photograph? Do you plan to digitally edit your photographs with an
image editor such as Adobe Photoshop after you take them?
Your answers to these questions and others like them will have a substantial impact on how you should shoot. Knowing why you are taking photos before you take them can help you get the photos that you want. For example, suppose you make a once-in-a-lifetime trip and get excellent pictures. You then decide to make a calendar but cannot find enough photos to fit the horizontal format that you have chosen. Thinking about why you are taking the photographs and how they are likely to be viewed can help you to better plan your photographs.



This photo of a green anole was
taken so that it could be used in
a variety of media.





Minor cropping enables the
photo to be displayed in a Web
browser-based photo gallery.




Vertical orientation and
composition makes it
possible to frame this
photo in standard-sized
photo frames and mat
boards.


Good cover design allowed the leaf on the
left side of the photo to be used for the
magazine’s cover text.

The lnternet and e-commerce


The Internet service provider or ISP is the organization that provides you with Internet access. You register and open an account, then they give you an email address so that you can communicate by email with other users. (See Unit 53) Some ISPs have their own content - news, information and so on - but many do not. After you log on by entering your user name and password (a secret word that only you know), you can surf to any site on the World Wide Web. If you're looking for a site about a particular subject, you can use a search engine like Google or Yahoo. When you've finished, remember to log off for security reasons.

Clicks-and-mortar
My name's John, and I own a chain of sports shops. Last year, I started an e-commerce operation, selling goods over the Internet. We've done well. Visitors don't have trouble finding what they want, adding items to their shopping cart and paying for them securely by credit card. Last year we had two million unique users (different individual visitors) who generated 35 million hits or page views. That means our web pages were viewed a total of 35 million times! E-commerce or e-tailing has even acted as a form of advertising and increased levels of business in our traditional bricks-and-mortar shops! Pure Internet commerce operations are very difficult. To succeed, I think you need a combination of traditional retailing and e-commerce: clicks-andmortar. In our case, this has also helped us solve the last mile problem, the physical delivery of goods to Internet customers: we just deliver from our local stores!

B2B, B2C and B2G
Selling to the public on the Internet is business-to-consumer or B2C e-commerce. Some experts think that the real future of e-commerce is going to be business-to-business or B2B, with firms ordering from suppliers over the Internet. This is e-procurement.
Businesses can also use the Internet to communicate with government departments, apply for government contracts and pay taxes: business-to-government or B2G.

Marketing


Marketing is the process of planning, designing, pricing, promoting and distributing ideas, goods and services, in order to satisfy customer needs, so as to make a profit. Companies point out how the special characteristics or features of their products and services possess particular benefits that satisfy the needs of the people who buy them. Non-profit organizations have other, social, goals, such as persuading people not to smoke, or to give money to people in poor countries, but these organizations also use the techniques of marketing.
In some places, even organizations such as government departments are starting to talk about, or at least think about their activities in terms of the marketing concept.

The four PS
The four PS are
product: deciding what to sell
price: deciding what prices to charge
place: deciding how it will be distributed
and where people will buy it
promotion: deciding how the product will
be supported with advertising, special
activities, etc.
A fifth P which is sometimes added is packaging: all the materials used to protect and present a product before it is sold.
The four PS are a useful summary of the marketing mix, the activities that you have to combine successfully in order to sell. The Promotion next four units look at these activities in detail. To market a product is to make a plan based on this combination and put it into action. A marketer or marketeer is someone who works in this area. (Marketer can also be used to describe an organization that sells particular goods or services.)

Market orientation
Marketers often talk about market orientation: the fact that everything they do is designed to meet the needs of the market. They may describe themselves as marketdriven, market-led or market-oriented. Most people and many managers do not understand the role of marketing in modem business.
Marketing is two things. First, it is a strategy and set of techniques to sell an organization's products or services. This involves choosing target customers and designing a persuasive marketing mix to get them to buy. The mix may include a range of brands, tempting prices, convenient sales outlets and a battery of advertising and promotions. This concept of marketing as selling and persuasion is by far the most popular idea among both managers and the public.
The second, and by far more important concept of marketing, focuses on improving the reality of what is on offer. It is based on understanding customers' needs and developing new solutions which are better than those currently available. Doing this is not a marketing department problem, but For example, for Rover to beat Mercedes for the consumer's choice involves engineering new models, developing lean manufacturing processes, and restructuring its dealer network. one which involves the whole organization
Creating company-wide focus on the customer requires the continual acquisition of new skills and technology. Marketing is rarely effective as a business function. As the chief executive of Hewlett Packard put it: 'Marketing
is too important to leave to the marketing department.' Such companies understand that everybody's task is marketing. This concept of marketing offering real customer value is what business is all about.

IT’S A LONG JOURNEY – YOUR ULTIMATE AIM SHOULD BE TO SET-UP NOT ONE BUT SEVERAL INCOME STREAMS…ALL PULLING IN MONEY FOR YOU 24/7


I’d like to share with you a few simple wealth building concepts that have worked extremely well for me. Just as building a plan is important to condition yourself for success, of equal importance is developing the correct mindset.
Mindset One Aiming For Your Own Business Instead Of Being An Employee
Have you heard the common belief that a job is far more secure than having your own business? For some reason this myth is conditioned into many people, usually from a young age. Yes, a job provides a stable and predictable income but more secure than having your own business? I don’t think so…and allow me to elaborate.
As someone who lives in the UK and who has worked in one of the worlds leading investment banks I am only too well aware of how fickle “job security” actually is. You see, as an employee your entire purpose is to create or save revenues for the company. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but let’s analyse it from your point of view shall we? As an employee you can never expect to earn the actual value that you make or save for your company. Most of your efforts will be reaped by shareholders of the organization you work for…people who you do not even know. When the going is good the most you can expect a modest pay-rise/bonus now and again and the odd promotion (that brings even greater responsibility).
But when the times get hard you may notice that not only does your pay-rise stop but in many cases you are required to work even harder. That’s if you’re lucky. Unfortunately for many people, they quickly find that job security simply does not exist many will face redundancy at some point in their life. Then what? They have only one skill chances are if the company they work for is shedding jobs so will others in the same industry.
All of a sudden the employee who thought they were safe in a decent job is left on the shelf fighting to get another elusive jobs among hundreds (sometimes more) of competing employees. Where is the security there?
Then there is the small matter of tax. As an employee you will earn money, get taxed on your earnings and then use whatever is left to pay for living expenses and so on. Not so for the business owner (I am talking about the UK here and I suspect the US too). You see, a business is one of the secret weapons of the rich. A business makes revenues (the equivalent of an employees salary) and then deducts every possible expense related to that revenue before paying even a penny of tax. Can you see the beauty of this? Just a few things that can be written off against business profits include the following:
• Computers & equipment required for your home business.
• Travel costs (including local plus international flights/hotel when used for business purposes).
• Broadband costs.
• Office space.
• Entertainment expenses if your business involves courting new clients.
• Employee salary (you may work for your business and thus are entitled to pay yourself a salary).
An employee could never do this. For example, even if as an employee you have a PC you cannot write it off against your income tax. There is an outstanding book called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” that I strongly recommend that you get hold of. Read it once, twice, several times even. The basic premise of the book is the following…the poor and middle classes work for companies while the rich own companies.
Mindset Two – Multiple Streams Of Income Are Far Better Than Just One
We are fortunate enough to live in an age where almost anyone can set-up highly profitable income streams from their own study room. What is the most re
producing a large income stream? Have a number of different income streams all pulling in some cash for you each and everyday. This is very achievable and also presents a lot of security (in case in the future one of the income streams dries up).
Mindset Three Education, Education, Education!
You know the old saying “knowledge is power?” it has never been more true, especially as we are now firmly entrenched in the “information age”. The simple fact is that the more you educate yourself on different ways of making money, the more successful you will become at acquiring it. You are reading a really premium resource on ways of making money from home but even after you have finished reading, make it a point to continue your education on a regular basis. I know of some people who make absolute fortunes online and they all share one interesting characteristic the desire to learn more about the various ways of earning an income. Adopt this mentality and it will be only a matter of time before success and wealth hounds you down and forces itself on you. If you do thrive on video tutorials then check out some of these incredible online video tutorials. They would cost you over $200 if purchased separately (but are part of your membership with Instant Home Wealth).
Now we’re going to look at some of the proven ways that we can use to create income streams online, and from home.
Mindset Four Develop A Winning Mind
This one is huge the power of thought is absolutely incredible. If harnessed correctly, it WILL provide you with everything you could possibly ask for in life. Conversely, if used negatively it has the power to crush even the mightiest person.
Have you heard of a fellow named Jim Edwards? He is a very successful and influential online guru who has made a fortune earning a living using the power of the internet. A short while ago I signed up to his audio course called “Guaranteed Success Thinking”. This course shows anyone how to think their way to success. As Jim himself says, this information should really be sold at $29 at least however you can get hold of it for free below: liable and easiest way of

IT’S A LONG JOURNEY – YOUR ULTIMATE AIM SHOULD BE TO SET-UP NOT ONE BUT SEVERAL INCOME STREAMS…ALL PULLING IN MONEY FOR YOU 24/7

I’d like to share with you a few simple wealth building concepts that have worked extremely well for me. Just as building a plan is important to condition yourself for success, of equal importance is developing the correct mindset.
Mindset One – Aiming For Your Own Business Instead Of Being An Employee
Have you heard the common belief that a job is far more secure than having your own business? For some reason this myth is conditioned into many people, usually from a young age. Yes, a job provides a stable and predictable income – but more secure than having your own business? I don’t think so…and allow me to elaborate.
As someone who lives in the UK and who has worked in one of the worlds leading investment banks I am only too well aware of how fickle “job security” actually is. You see, as an employee your entire purpose is to create or save revenues for the company. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but let’s analyse it from your point of view shall we? As an employee you can never expect to earn the actual value that you make or save for your company. Most of your efforts will be reaped by shareholders of the organization you work for…people who you do not even know. When the going is good the most you can expect a modest pay-rise/bonus now and again and the odd promotion (that brings even greater responsibility).
But when the times get hard you may notice that not only does your pay-rise stop but in many cases you are required to work even harder. That’s if you’re lucky. Unfortunately for many people, they quickly find that job security simply does not exist – many will face redundancy at some point in their life. Then what? They have only one skill – chances are if the company they work for is shedding jobs so will others in the same industry.

All of a sudden the employee who thought they were safe in a decent job is left on the shelf fighting to get another elusive jobs among hundreds (sometimes more) of competing employees. Where is the security there?
Then there is the small matter of tax. As an employee you will earn money, get taxed on your earnings and then use whatever is left to pay for living expenses and so on. Not so for the business owner – (I am talking about the UK here and I suspect the US too). You see, a business is one of the secret weapons of the rich. A business makes revenues (the equivalent of an employees salary) and then deducts every possible expense related to that revenue before paying even a penny of tax. Can you see the beauty of this? Just a few things that can be written off against business profits include the following:
• Computers & equipment required for your home business.
• Travel costs (including local plus international flights/hotel when used for business purposes).
• Broadband costs.
• Office space.
• Entertainment expenses if your business involves courting new clients.
• Employee salary (you may work for your business and thus are entitled to pay yourself a salary).
An employee could never do this. For example, even if as an employee you have a PC you cannot write it off against your income tax. There is an outstanding book called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” that I strongly recommend that you get hold of. Read it once, twice, several times even. The basic premise of the book is the following…the poor and middle classes work for companies while the rich own companies.
Mindset Two – Multiple Streams Of Income Are Far Better Than Just One
We are fortunate enough to live in an age where almost anyone can set-up highly profitable income streams from their own study room. What is the most re
producing a large income stream? Have a number of different income streams all pulling in some cash for you each and everyday. This is very achievable and also presents a lot of security (in case in the future one of the income streams dries up).
Mindset Three – Education, Education, Education!
You know the old saying “knowledge is power?” – it has never been more true, especially as we are now firmly entrenched in the “information age”. The simple fact is that the more you educate yourself on different ways of making money, the more successful you will become at acquiring it. You are reading a really premium resource on ways of making money from home – but even after you have finished reading, make it a point to continue your education on a regular basis. I know of some people who make absolute fortunes online and they all share one interesting characteristic – the desire to learn more about the various ways of earning an income. Adopt this mentality and it will be only a matter of time before success and wealth hounds you down and forces itself on you. If you do thrive on video tutorials then check out some of these incredible online video tutorials. They would cost you over $200 if purchased separately (but are part of your membership with Instant Home Wealth).
Now we’re going to look at some of the proven ways that we can use to create income streams online, and from home.
Mindset Four – Develop A Winning Mind
This one is huge – the power of thought is absolutely incredible. If harnessed correctly, it WILL provide you with everything you could possibly ask for in life. Conversely, if used negatively it has the power to crush even the mightiest person.
Have you heard of a fellow named Jim Edwards? He is a very successful and influential online guru who has made a fortune earning a living using the power of the internet. A short while ago I signed up to his audio course called “Guaranteed Success Thinking”. This course shows anyone how to think their way to success. As Jim himself says, this information should really be sold at $29 at least – however you can get hold of it for free below: liable and easiest way of

THE CRITERIA TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN ASSESSING THE PERFECT HOME INCOME STREAM


How many people do you know who say things such as “if only I had known, I would have done things differently” – they may mean it any number of contexts…their careers, their marriage, choice of team to support…etc
The fact is you don’t need a crystal ball to do things and create a happy ending for yourself. This is a huge world and there are opportunities to suit everyone when it comes to creating home income streams. The very fact that you wish to create an income from home for yourself suggests that you already have a broad vision of how you would like to earn money. Your biggest challenge now is to find something that suits you down to the ground…and of course avoid the masses of junk-information regarding earning from home.
There really ARE a huge number of ways of making money at home. Want to know the simple criteria I put in place to analyse a potential home income stream? Here’s what I look out for:
1. The income stream should be easy to understand and should be available to set-up from home. Once set-up, there should be relatively little maintenance required – the money should start coming in almost on auto-pilot. With some (still promising) home income streams this is not always possible but it’s a real plus when you set something up and then sit back and watch it earn cash for you day in, day out.
2. There should be a very good future for the potential home income stream – is it in a thriving industry? Is it an in demand niche? You do not want to pour your efforts into something that ultimately, will not sell or create an income for you. Research is very important here and must be done before you get your feet wet.
3. Preferably, the home income opportunity should be something that is not so over-exposed that everyone has heard of it (and is trying). The lesser known opportunities are often goldmines of income, but that’s not to say the more popular and known methods cannot be used as well.
4. The start-up and maintenance costs should be as close to zero as possible. It should not cost you a fortune to start up and operate the home business. Pick up a business opportunity paper such as “Daltons” and you will discover no end of franchise and business opportunities – I’m sure a lot of them are genuine but many cost several thousand dollars and more just to start up. The beauty of the internet is that you can set-up and operate a business from home at a tiny fraction of that.
5. The opportunity must be fully operable from home. No need to get hold of special grounds, an office e.t.c.
6. The income opportunity must be GLOBAL – you should be able to operate the business no matter where in the world you are.
You may want to add in your own criteria to the above (perhaps you need a business that can be done on a part time basis and so on). However, when you find a genuine home income opportunity that satisfies these criteria you may want to jump on it faster than a flea on a wet dog.

THE CRITERIA TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN ASSESSING THE PERFECT HOME INCOME STREAM

How many people do you know who say things such as “if only I had known, I would have done things differently” – they may mean it any number of contexts…their careers, their marriage, choice of team to support…etc
The fact is you don’t need a crystal ball to do things and create a happy ending for yourself. This is a huge world and there are opportunities to suit everyone when it comes to creating home income streams. The very fact that you wish to create an income from home for yourself suggests that you already have a broad vision of how you would like to earn money. Your biggest challenge now is to find something that suits you down to the ground…and of course avoid the masses of junk-information regarding earning from home.
There really ARE a huge number of ways of making money at home. Want to know the simple criteria I put in place to analyse a potential home income stream? Here’s what I look out for:
1. The income stream should be easy to understand and should be available to set-up from home. Once set-up, there should be relatively little maintenance required – the money should start coming in almost on auto-pilot. With some (still promising) home income streams this is not always possible but it’s a real plus when you set something up and then sit back and watch it earn cash for you day in, day out.
2. There should be a very good future for the potential home income stream – is it in a thriving industry? Is it an in demand niche? You do not want to pour your efforts into something that ultimately, will not sell or create an income for you. Research is very important here and must be done before you get your feet wet.
3. Preferably, the home income opportunity should be something that is not so over-exposed that everyone has heard of it (and is trying). The lesser known opportunities are often goldmines of income, but that’s not to say the more popular and known methods cannot be used as well.
4. The start-up and maintenance costs should be as close to zero as possible. It should not cost you a fortune to start up and operate the home business. Pick up a business opportunity paper such as “Daltons” and you will discover no end of franchise and business opportunities – I’m sure a lot of them are genuine but many cost several thousand dollars and more just to start up. The beauty of the internet is that you can set-up and operate a business from home at a tiny fraction of that.
5. The opportunity must be fully operable from home. No need to get hold of special grounds, an office e.t.c.
6. The income opportunity must be GLOBAL – you should be able to operate the business no matter where in the world you are.
You may want to add in your own criteria to the above (perhaps you need a business that can be done on a part time basis and so on). However, when you find a genuine home income opportunity that satisfies these criteria you may want to jump on it faster than a flea on a wet dog.

CREATING A PLAN – WHERE ARE YOU NOW AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?


This part of the process is incredibly important – please resist the temptation to skip it and head right to the “juicy” part where actual techniques for earning an income are revealed.
Do one thing – get a shiny new pad and pen and jot down “Bob’s Business” (obviously, only do this if your actual name is Bob). Then, before you even attempt to earn a penny from a home business, start drawing up a plan. Here are a few things that you absolutely MUST include in your plan:
• What income you wish to achieve from your new home business? What is your target for your first year? Targets should be made challenging yet achievable.
• What about longer time-frame targets? What do you hope to achieve by the end of year two…or year five?
• What type of business actually appeals most to you? Desire in what you do can really pull you through the rough times. Jot down a few home business ideas that you feel you may be able to start with a bit of interest.
• Is your business going to be part time to begin with? Do you wish to make it full time (and if so what time-frame will you allow yourself to make this happen).
• How much time are you willing to invest in making the above a reality?
• How will you use the profits that are generated – will they be ploughed back into growing the business or do you need to withdraw them for personal use?
• What form will your business take? Will you operate as a sole trader with unlimited liability or will you opt for a more formal limited company structure? Both have their pros and cons but if you like to play it safe (and limit your personal liability in case anything happens down the line) then a limited company may be your preference.
• How will you raise finance? Many of the techniques described in this book require little or no capital to get started but supposing you decide to do something different – you may
want to consider how you will pay for it all. Some sources of finance include personal savings, family/friends and bank loans.
• What other goals do you wish to achieve via your new found home business income? Do you wish to quit your job? Buy a new car? Go traveling? Go ahead and write these points down as they are very important motivational triggers. When you need encouragement return to this segment of your plan and remind yourself WHY you’re putting in so much effort.
This is an overview of where you’re heading – you see it has been suggested by people far more intelligent than I that if you simply create a sort of “top level goal” for yourself then your mind, having something to aim for, is more likely than not to make it happen.
Perhaps you’re still trapped in a job – include in your plan how you will make time for your business. Can you shift to a part time job (and can you afford it)? How do you plan to raise finance? Are there any areas in your life that you can moderate to help fit in your new plans for a highly successful new business?
Have you heard of a very famous old saying:
“If You Fail To Plan, Then You Plan To Fail”
Pure simplicity isn’t it? But also very, very true. It holds especially true when you begin a huge and demanding venture such as creating income streams from home. If you do not have some written blueprint that details HOW you will achieve $500 or $2,000, or $10,000 per month then how can you expect it to become reality? Your mind has nothing to aim for – your efforts will be inefficient and helter-skelter – and I’m sorry to suggest that you will probably not end up going very far (rather just become disillusioned and give up). Do NOT let this happen to you.
People who write down what they want to accomplish, more often than not, get there in the end. I don’t know why it’s this way…IT JUST IS. This isn’t something that I just pulled out of thin air – entire books have been written with this concept.
So before we go onto the powerful ways of creating an income stream in your PJ’s, why don’t we first spend 20 minutes or so to scribble a few things down in that new pad of yours.
Here’s an example of a very simple plan. Let’s say that I’m relying on my homes business to generate a part time income of $500 per month – I think most experts would agree that this is a fairly achievable target to get within a relatively short space of time. 17 sales of a $29 product would get you this target (that’s about a sale every 2 days). You could probably become something of an expert at just one of the home business methods described in this book and generate this cash target.
If you wanted something approaching a full time income (say $4,000 per month) your plan would be somewhat different – this is a more challenging target so your plan may be somewhat different (you would need to have access to high quality knowledge, resources and tools – but it is certainly achievable). You may want to investigate different methods of producing an income so that you have several streams of modest income all generating one large amount.
The point is, determine what you NEED. Then decide on what steps you must take to get to that place.
Don’t make the mistake of drifting aimlessly – a plan firmly imprints in your mind where you need to be going and above all it prompts you to take action.

INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF CREATING INCOME STREAMS FROM HOME


Thank-you and congratulations on purchasing this book. By investing in “Money From Home” you have made a step towards discovering why setting up income streams that can be “switched on” and maintained from home is a very wise course of action. This book has been written to show you some of the proven techniques that just about anyone can use to start earning an income from their armchair.
We’re going to look at far more than just proven ways that you can use to start squeezing money from home – we’re going to investigate the importance of planning, what types of home income streams would be suited to you and whenever possible we even provide tools, books and resources for you to get started immediately.
The good news is that with a little bit of courage, resolve and application it’s really possible to create more than a significant income, from home, in a relatively short space of time. Hey, I’m not saying it can be done without some serious energy and willingness to learn, test and work on your part…but you’re here reading this so I’m guessing you’re pretty serious about wanting to earn from home. Some businesses we look at may require a little investment on your part (though usually not much!) – others can be started with the change in your pocket.
Let me tell you frankly though, the world is seriously changing. The concept of a “job for life” has long gone and in today’s rat race is more fierce than it has ever been. Significantly more people go to university so there is far more competition for jobs in general…and workers in the western world face threats to their roles from outsourcing (where jobs are transferred to areas in the world where they can be done at a fraction of their cost).
Plus – if answering honestly, a lot of people would admit that they are far from happy in their jobs. Most work for the majority of their lives and rarely earn enough to enjoy life as it is meant to be. Most have quite long hours that keep them from spending as much time with their friends and families as they would like. Most face (sometimes long) commutes to work. And to top it all
off most will never, ever be “rich” (a recent quality publication known as the Sunday Times recently revealed that there was not a single employee in the richest 1,000 people…all of whom were business OWNERS). Now if that’s OK with you then perhaps you’ve got hold of the wrong book. But if you believe you deserve more from life and you’re willing to keep an open mind then you really owe it to yourself to investigate the possibility of starting your own highly successful business…right out of your home office.
Some good news for you before we move on – thanks to the power and global reach of the internet, creating high levels of income from home has never been easier. A little later you’ll learn about some incredibly powerful ways to harness this awesome power of the internet to create several streams of income…that could keep earning money for you years into the future.
It’s my hope that you find this whole book highly valuable in your quest to start earning an income from home. Incidentally, if creating multiple income streams quickly and easily is something you have a great deal of interest in then I strongly urge you to check out the Instant Home Wealth site – it contains everything you will ever require to set-up and maintain multiple highly profitable income streams, all in record time.

CURRENT RESEARCH IN ROBOTICS AROUND THE WORLD

According to MSN Learning & Research, 700,000 robots were in the industrial world in 1995 and over 500,000 were used in Japan, about 120,000 in Western Europe, and 60,000 in the United States– and many were doing tasks that are dangerous or unpleasant for humans. Some of the hazardous jobs are handling material such as blood or urine samples, searching buildings for fugitives, and deep water searches, and even some jobs that are repetitive—and these can run 24 hours a day without getting tired. General Motors Corporation uses these robots for spot welding, painting, machine Assembly line robots are the fastest growing because of higher precision and lower cost for labor. Basically a robot consists of:
A mechanical device, such as a wheeled platform, arm, or other construction, capable of interacting with its environment.
Sensors on or around the device that are able to sense the environment and give useful feedback to the device.
Systems that process sensory input in the context of the device’s current situation and instruct the device to perform actions in response to the situation.
In the manufacturing fi eld, robot development has focused on engineering robotic arms that perform manufacturing processes. In the space industry, robotics focuses on highly specialized, one-of-kind planetary rovers. Unlike a highly automated manufacturing plant, a planetary rover operating on the dark side of loading, parts transfer, and assembly.
The older robots of the MIT leg Lab. (a Quadrupeddemonstrated that twolegged running algorithms could be generalized to allow fourlegged running, including the trot, pace, and bound. (b) The 3D biped hops, runs, and performs tucked somersaults.
the moon without radio communication might run into unexpected situations. At a minimum, a planetary rover must have some source of sensory input, some way of interpreting that input, and a way of modifying its actions to respond to a changing world. Furthermore, the need to sense and adapt to a partially unknown environment requires intelligence (in other words, artifi cial intelligence). From military technology and space exploration to the health industry and commerce, the advantages of using robots have been realized to the point that they are becoming a part of our collective experience and everyday lives.
Several universities and research organizations around the world are engaged in active research in various fi elds of robotics. Some of the leading research organizations are MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab., NASA), CMU (Carnegie Mellon University), and Stanford University.

M2, a 3D bipedal walking robot that is currently being developed in the MIT Leg
Laboratory.

These and many other organizations are involved in various fi elds of robotics. These fi elds of robotics can be broadly categorized as:

Robotic Manipulator
Wheeled Mobile Robots
Legged Robots
Underwater Robots
Flying Robots
Robot Vision
Artifi cial Intelligence
Industrial Automation
The Leg Lab at MIT is dedicated to studying legged locomotion and building dynamic legged robots. They are specialists in exploring the roles of balance and dynamic control. They are simulating and building creatures which walk, run, and hop like their biological counterparts. The preceeding pictures show a few of their research robots.


A JPL space exploration robot.
M2 is a 3D bipedal walking robot that is currently being developed in the MIT Leg Laboratory. The robot has 12 active degrees of freedom: 3 in each hip, 1 in each knee, and 2 in each ankle. It will be used to investigate:
■ Various walking algorithms.
■ Motion description and control techniques, particularly Virtual Model Control.
■ Force control actuation techniques, particularly Series Elastic Actuation.
■ Automatic learning techniques.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is NASA’s lead center for creating robotic spacecraft and rovers. Robots can literally go where no person has gone before, to other planets where the environments are not suitable for humans until we have studied them in much greater detail. The robots and spacecraft we build are our eyes and ears on these distant planets. The preceeding is a picture of a robot that is being developed at JPL. Carnegie Mellon University is another center that is involved in active research of robotics. There are several robots that are being researched

Rover1 is a highly autonomous, programmable robot at CMU.
at The Robotics Institute, CMU. One of these robots is Rover 1. One of the goals in designing the rover was to create a robot that could autonomously navigate in the dynamic environment of the home. It uses a visual navigation system dependent on static landmarks. The rover can also climb stairs.
Another project in The Robotics Institute, CMU is Gyrover. Gyrover is a single- wheel robot that is stabilized and steered by means of an internal, mechanical gyroscope. Gyrover can stand and turn in place, move deliberately at low speed, climb moderate grades, and move stably on rough terrain at high speeds. It has a relatively large rolling diameter, which facilitates motion over rough terrain; a single track and narrow profi le for obstacle avoidance; and is completely enclosed for protection from the environment.

Gyrover I, a single-wheel robot that is stabilized and steered by means of an internal, mechanical gyroscope.


HISTORY OF ROBOTICS

Our fascination with robots began more than 100 years ago. Looking back, it’s easy to get confused about what is and is not a robot. Robotics’ history is tied to so many other technological advances that today seem so trivial we don’t even think of them as robots. How did a remote controlled boat lead to autonomous metal puppies?
Slaves of Steel
The first person to use the word robot wasn’t a scientist, but a playwright. Czechoslovakian writer Karel Capek fi rst used the word robot in his satirical play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Taken from the Czech word for forced labor, the word was used to describe electronic servants who turn on their masters when given emotions. This was only the beginning of the badmouthing robots would receive for the next couple of decades. Many people feared that machines would resent their role as slaves or use their steely strength to overthrow humanity.
Wartime Inventions
World War II was a catalyst in the development of two important robot components i.e., artifi cial sensing and autonomous control. Radar was essential for tracking the enemy. The U.S. military also created autocontrol systems for mine detectors that would sit in front of a tank as it crossed enemy lines. If a mine was detected, the control system would automatically stop the tank before it reached the mine. The Germans developed guided robotic bombs that were capable of correcting their trajectory.
Calculators and Computers
Mathematician Charles Babbage dreamed up the idea for an “Analytical Engine” in the 1830s, but he was never able to build his device. It would take another 100 years before John Atanassoff would build the world’s fi rst digital computer. In 1946 the University of Pennsylvania completed the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator), a massive machine made up of thousands of vacuum tubes. But these devices could only handle numbers. The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer) would be the fi rst device to deal with letters.
A Robot in Every Pot
For robotics, the ’40s and ’50s were full of over-the-top ideas. The invention of the transistor in 1948 increased the rate of electronic growth and the possibilities seemed endless. Ten years later, the creation of silicon microchips reinforced that growth. The Westinghouse robot Elecktro showed how far science and imagination could go. The seven-foot robot could smoke and play the piano. Ads from the era suggested that every household would soon have a robot.


Industrial-strength Arms
As the demand for cars grew, manufacturers looked for new ways to increase the effi ciency of the assembly line through telecherics. This new fi eld focused on robots that mimicked the operator’s movements from a distance. In 1961 General Motors installed the applied telecherics system on their assembly line. The one-armed robot unloaded die casts, cooled components, and delivered them to a trim press. In 1978 the PUMA (Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly) was introduced and quickly became the standard for commercial telecherics.

Early Personal Robots
With the rise of the personal computer came the personal robot craze of the early ’80s. The popularity of Star Wars didn’t hurt either. The fi rst personal robots looked like R2D2. The RB5X and the HERO 1 robots were both designed as education tools for learning about computers. The HERO 1 featured light, sound, and sonar sensors, a rotating head and, for its time, a powerful microprocessor.
But the robots had a lighter side, too. In demo mode, HERO 1 would sing. The RB5X even attempted to vacuum, but had problems with obstacles.

Arms in Space
Once earthlings traveled to space, they wanted to build things there. One of NASA’s essential construction tools is the Canadarm. First deployed in 1981 aboard the Columbia, the Canadarm has gone on to deploy and repair satellites, telescopes, and shuttles. Jet Propulsions Laboratories (JPL) in California has been working on several other devices for space construction since the late eighties. The Ranger Neutral Buoyancy Vehicle’s many manipulators are tested in a large pool of water to simulate outer space.

Surgical Tools
While robots haven’t replaced doctors, they are performing many surgical tasks. In 1985 Dr. Yik San Kwoh invented the robot software interface used in the fi rst robot-aided surgery, a stereotactic procedure. The surgery involves a small probe that travels into the skull. A CT scanner is used to give a 3D picture of the brain, so that the robot can plot the best path to the tumor. The PUMA robots are commonly used to learn the difference between healthy and diseased tissue, using tofu for practice.

The Honda Humanoid
The team who created the Honda Humanoid robot took a lesson from our own bodies to build this two-legged robot. When they began in 1986, the idea was to create an intelligent robot that could get around in a human world, complete with stairs, carpeting, and other tough terrain. Getting a single robot mobile in a variety of environments had always been a challenge. But by studying feet and legs, the Honda team created a robot capable of climbing stairs, kicking a ball, pushing a cart, or tightening a screw.

Hazardous Duties
As scientifi c knowledge grew so did the level of questioning. And, as with space exploration, fi nding the answers could be dangerous. In 1994 the CMU Field Robotics Center sent Dante II, a tethered walking robot to explore Mt. Spurr in Alaska. Dante II aids in the dangerous recovery of volcanic gases and samples. These robotic arms with wheels (a.k.a. mobile applied telecherics) saved countless lives defusing bombs and investigating nuclear accident sites. The range of selfcontrol, or autonomy, on these robots varies.

Solar-powered Insects
Some robots mimic humans, while others resemble lower life forms. Mark Tilden’s BEAM robots look and act like big bugs. The name BEAM is an acronym for Tilden’s philosophy: biology, electronics, aesthetics, and mechanics. Tilden builds simple robots out of discrete components and shies away from the integrated circuits most other robots use for intelligence. Started in the early 1990s, the idea was to create inexpensive, solar-powered robots ideal for dangerous missions such as landmine detection.

A Range of Rovers
By the 1990s NASA was looking for something to regain the public’s enthusiasm for the space program. The answer was rovers. The fi rst of these small, semiautonomous robot platforms to be launched into space was the Sojourner, sent to Mars in 1996. Its mission involved testing soil composition, wind speed, and water vapor quantities. The problem was that it could only travel short distances. NASA went back to work. In 2004, twin robot rovers caught the public’s imagination again, sending back amazing images in journeys of kilometers, not meters.

Entertaining Pets
In the late ’90s there was a return to consumer-oriented robots. The proliferation of the Internet also allowed a wider audience to get excited about robotics, controlling small rovers via the Web or buying kits online. One of the real robotic wonders of the late ’90s was AIBO the robotic dog, made by Sony Corp. Using his sensor array, AIBO can autonomously navigate a room and play ball. Even with a price tag of over $2,000, it took less than four days for AIBO to sell out online. Other “pet robots” followed AIBO, but the challenge of keeping the pet smart and the price low remains.

INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS


Recently there has been a lot of discussion about futuristic wars between humans and robots, robots taking over the world and enslaving humans. Movies like The Terminator, Star Wars, etc., have propogated these ideas faster than anything else. These movies are beautiful works of fi ction and present us with an interesting point of view to speculate. However, the truth is much different but equally as interesting as the fi ction. If you look around yourself you will see several machines and gizmos within your surroundings. When you use a simple pair of spectacles, do you become nonliving? When an elderly person uses a hearing aid or a physically challenged person uses an artifi cial leg or arm do they become half machine? Yes, they do. Now we are rapidly moving toward an era where we will have chips embedded
inside our bodies. Chips will communicate with our biological sensors and will help us in performing several activities more effi ciently. An artifi cial retina is almost at the fi nal stages of its development. Now we are thinking in terms of nanobots helping us to strengthen our immune systems. Now we are already on the verge of becoming half machine. Chips will be implanted inside our bodies imparting telescopic and microscopic abilities in our eyes. Cell phones will be permanently placed inside the ear. We will communicate with different devices not through a control panel or keyboard; rather these devices will receive commands from the brain directly. The next level of development will be the part of the brain being replaced by chips, which will impart more capability to the brain. You may ask, do we need all these? The answer is that the biological evolution has already become obsolete. It is unable to keep pace with the rate at which humans are growing. Many of our primary intuitions, such as mating behavior, are still millions of years old. Evolution happens only after millions of years. But humans have built the entire civilization in only 10,000 years. And now the rate of growth has become exponential. Now we need to replace our brain’s decision-making software with faster/better ones. So, where are we heading? Yes, we are slowly becoming robots. Robots are not our competitors on this planet. They are our successors. Robots are the next level in evolution; rather we can call it robolution. We will begin our journey with a brief history of robotics.

Agricultural Credit Improvement Act of 1992


Bill to assist beginning farmer to acquire his or her own farm. This act required the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to target a percentage of its direct and guaranteed farm operating and farm ownership loans to beginning farmers and ranchers. In 1992, the average age of farmers had increased to 52 years of age. Twice as many farmers were 60 or older as were under the age of 35. The increased cost of farming since the 1970s and the farm crisis of the 1980s had washed many younger farmers out of the business.
To get the loans, the beginning farmer had to draw up a detailed 10-year plan of action for his or her farm. Once the USDA Farm Service Agency approved the plan, new farmers became eligible for direct, subsidized, operational loans from the FMHA for 10 years and federal loan guarantees for the next 5 years. After 15 years, these farmers became ineligible for the program. The federal government took up liability for 80 to 90 percent of these loans if they were defaulted on.
Another minor change in the law allowed banks, rather than the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), to decide which farmers met eligibility requirements for this program. Members of Congress believed that this would get money to the farmer faster. The bill also called for special efforts to make loans more available to those who are “socially disadvantaged,” including women.

Science and Technology


Government spending during wartime has led to many breakthroughs in the fields of science and technology. In the post–Civil War period, medical professionals explored the cause of diseases and infections. By the 1900s army surgeons had discovered the cause of malaria and the public learned about germ theory.Wars also resulted in the development of penicillin and other antibiotic drugs. During World War I, Americans improved the airplane, and after World War II an entire aviation industry developed. During the cold war, the federal government funded the missile and space programs, which yielded such inventions as the computer chip and eventually the Internet.

Welfare


From the 1930s to the present, the federal government has increasingly used economic policy to deal with social and cultural issues. In the immediate post–World War II period, Americans experienced an unprecedented period of prosperity because of the accumulation of personal savings and the expansion of industry during the war. But by the 1960s, it was apparent that although most Americans’ standard of living had increased, African Americans and other groups had fallen deeper into poverty. President Lyndon B. Johnson attempted to correct the problem by using tax revenues to fund a new welfare state—the Great Society, which had programs ranging from Head Start to Medicaid that supported health, education, and community development. The Great Society redistributed the wealth but also created a group of people who became dependent on the federal government. After several decades, states including Wisconsin began to experiment with ways to eliminate this dependency on welfare. As of 2003, the number of people on the welfare rolls has dropped because similar efforts have also been undertaken at the federal level. This change in economic policy led to a drop in the number of births to unwed mothers and the number of abortions.

Economic Policy

Economic policy has shifted many times over the course of American history. During colonial times, the British colonies operated under a mercantilist system in which all trade benefited the mother country. After the American Revolution, the fledgling United States attempted to operate under the Articles of Confederation, but the economic restrictions it placed on the national government caused that system to fail. Delegates meeting at the Constitutional Convention agreed that the federal government must have the power to tax. A decision to tax only imports, not exports or direct income, proved to be decisive in the development of domestic industry. Congress passed revenue tariffs (taxes on imports) during the early years of the Republic; after the War of 1812, a shift to protective tariffs occurred. These tariffs continued to increase reaching their apex during the Civil War under the Morrill Tariff. After the Civil War, tariff rates remained high, ensuring the rise of big business that did not have to compete against foreign manufacturers. The extreme wealth accumulated by captains of industry such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller stood in sharp contrast to the poverty of many Americans, especially new immigrants who crowded into tenements in major cities in the North and East. Public awareness of this economic inequity resulted in a movement to replace the tariff as the primary source of tax revenue with a direct personal income tax. However, Congress lacked constitutional authority to institute such a tax unless the states passed a constitutional amendment to allow direct taxation. Republicans finally agreed to lower the tariff rates if the amendment passed, thinking that the states would fail to pass it. The plan failed, and ratification in 1913 of the Sixteenth Amendment opened the door for direct taxation—a shift that has influenced capital accumulation, investment, and personal savings ever since. that has influenced capital accumulation, investment, and personal savings ever since.
After reducing the tariff rates and increasing personal income tax rates, Congress once again increased import duties because of World War I. After that conflict, European countries that had been carved out of the old empires raised their tariff rates to protect their own industries. Consequently, trade slowed at the same time that the U.S. stock market collapsed under the burden of overvaluation of company worth and market overstimulation due to purchases on margin. Within nine months of the crash,Congress passed the Hawley- Smoot Tariff, which raised tariff rates to a record high.Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Board increased interest rates, contracting the money supply. The net effect was a prolonged depression that finally ended when the United States entered World War II.
The Great Depression and World War II mark a shift in U.S. economic policy. President Franklin D. Roosevelt followed the economic philosophy of John Maynard Keynes, who advocated deficit spending during periods of financial difficulty. Deficit spending would allow the federal government to initiate programs that politicians had traditionally shunned. For the first time, the federal government assumed the role of employer to thousands of the country’s unemployed workers. Programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration created jobs. Social Security was established to promote early retirement and so open up jobs to younger workers. In addition, the federal government funded projects such as the Rural Electrification Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority to improve the lives of Americans in rural or poverty-stricken areas.