Glossary - U

A glossary of terms commonly used in robotics, electronics, and programming.

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U

Ultrasonic Sensor
A sensor that uses high-frequency sound waves to measure distance, detect objects, or map environments. Commonly used in robotics for obstacle avoidance, ranging, and navigation systems due to their accuracy and reliability.
Uncanny Valley
A hypothesized point at which humanoid robot behavior and appearance is so close to that of actual humans as to cause revulsion. This concept is important in designing social robots and human-robot interaction systems.
Unimate
The first off-the-shelf industrial robot, created in 1961 by George Devol and Joe Engelberger. Unimate marked the beginning of the industrial robotics revolution and was used primarily for automotive manufacturing tasks.
Universal Robot
A type of collaborative robot (cobot) designed to work safely alongside human workers. Universal Robots is also a Danish company that pioneered the development of user-friendly, flexible robotic arms for industrial applications.
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
A standard in connectors and communications protocols used for communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices. In robotics, USB is commonly used for programming interfaces, sensor connections, and data transfer.
URDF (Unified Robot Description Format)
An XML-based format used to describe the physical configuration of robots, including links, joints, sensors, and visual representations. URDF is widely used in ROS (Robot Operating System) for robot modeling and simulation.