Artificial intelligence and robotic hand‐eye coordination

Purpose – This paper's aim is to assess the practical advances resulting from progress in artificial intelligence affecting vision‐equipped robots. Design/methodology/approach – A short history of artificial intelligence applied to robotic hand‐eye coordination is followed by a description of some of the milestones in pattern recognition, interfacing, operating systems and programming paradigms. Finally, a range of current‐day practical applications is given, from industrial to student project. Findings – The paper finds that advances in the speed and robustness of pattern recognition algorithms have been very important in the development of robots that adapt to randomly positioned workpieces. Event‐triggered object oriented programming, wide address buses, smart cameras, ethernet and other standard cables and communications formats, and the ever‐increasing power of computers are also of great practical importance. Originality/value – The paper contrasts the current state of robotic vision with that 20 years ago.