The blueprint for making ultra durable synthetic material is mimicked from
Important Points to Remember in Chapter -1 - Recent Developments in Physics from Tamil Nadu Board Physics Standard 12 Vol II Solutions
1. Nano technology:
(i) Nano science is the science of objects with typical sizes of , and nanotechnology is a technology involving the design, production, characterization, and applications of nano structural materials.
(ii) If the particle of a solid is of size less than , it is said to be a ‘nano solid’ and when the particle size exceeds , it forms a ‘bulk solid’.
(iii) Quantum confinement effects and surface effects are the two important phenomena that govern nano properties.
(iv) There are two ways of preparing the nanomaterials, top down and bottom up approaches.
(v) Nano particles can easily get absorbed onto the surface of living organisms, and they might enter the tissues and fluids of the body.
(vi) It is possible to deliver a drug directly to a specific cell in the body by designing the surface of a nanoparticle.
2. Robotics:
(i) Robotics is an integrated study of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, computer engineering, and science.
(ii) Robot is a mechanical device designed with electronic circuitry and programmed to perform a specific task.
(iii) The robotic system mainly consists of sensors, power supplies, control systems, manipulators and necessary software.
(iv) The key components of a robot are Power conversion unit, Actuators, Electric motors, Pneumatic Air Muscles, Muscle wires, Piezo Motors and Ultrasonic Motors, Sensors, and Robot locomotion.
(v) Six main types of industrial robots are Cartesian, SCARA, Cylindrical, Delta, Polar and Vertically articulated robot.
(vi) Six-axis robots are ideal for Arc Welding, Spot Welding, Material Handling, Machine Tending.
(vii) Five major fields of robotics: Human-robot interface, Mobility, Manipulation, Programming and Sensors.
(viii) The aim of artificial intelligence is to bring in human like behavior in robots.
(ix) Artificial intelligence works on face recognition, providing response to players’ actions in computer games, taking decisions based on previous actions, regulating the traffic by analyzing the density of traffic on roads and translate words from one language to another.
3. Materials used in robotics:
(i) Materials used to make robots: aluminum and steel are the most common metals.
(ii) Aluminum is a softer metal and is therefore easier to work with.
(iii) Steel is several times stronger.
(iv) Due to the inherent strength of metal, robot bodies can be made using sheet, bar, rod, channel, and other shapes.
4. Applications of robotics:
(i) In outer space robots are used for exploring stars, planets etc., investigation of the mineralogy of the rocks and soils on Mars, analysis of elements found in rocks and soils.
(ii) Household robots are used as vacuum cleaners, floor cleaners, gutter cleaners, lawn mowing, pool cleaning, and to open and close doors.
(iii) Industrial Robots are used for welding, cutting, robotic water jet cutting, robotic laser cutting, lifting, sorting, bending, manufacturing, assembling, packing, transport, handling hazardous materials like nuclear waste, weaponry, laboratory research, mass production of consumer and industrial goods.
(iv) Nano-robots are being developed to be in the bloodstream to perform small surgical procedures, to fight against bacteria, repairing individual cell in the body.
5. Medical technology:
The recent medical technology includes virtual reality, precision medicine, health wearables, artificial organs, 3D printing, wireless brain sensors, robotic surgery, smart inhalers.
6. Other technologies:
(i) Particle physics deals with fundamental particles of nature.
(ii) Protons and neutrons are made of quarks.
(iii) Cosmology is the branch that involves the origin and evolution of the universe.
(iv) Accelerated mass emits gravitational waves which are very weak.
(v) Black holes are the strongest source of gravitational waves.
