Cloud robotics is a field of robotics that attempts to invoke cloud technologies such as cloud computing, cloud storage, and other Internet technologies centered on the benefits of converged infrastructure and shared services for robotics. When connected to the cloud, robots can benefit from the powerful computation, storage, and communication resources of modern data center in the cloud, which can process and share information from various robots or agent (other machines, smart objects, humans, etc.). Humans can also delegate tasks to robots remotely through networks. Cloud computing technologies enable robot systems to be endowed with powerful capability whilst reducing costs through cloud technologies. Thus, it is possible to build lightweight, low-cost, smarter robots with an intelligent "brain" in the cloud. The "brain" consists of data center, knowledge base, task planners, deep learning, information processing, environment models, communication support, etc.
A cloud for robots potentially has at least six significant components:
Building a "cloud brain" for robots. It is the main object of cloud robotics.
Offering a global library of images, maps, and object data, often with geometry and mechanical properties, expert system, knowledge base (i.e. semantic web, data centres);
Massively-parallel computation on demand for sample-based statistical modelling and motion planning, task planning, multi-robot collaboration, scheduling and coordination of system;
Robot sharing of outcomes, trajectories, and dynamic control policies and robot learning support;
Human sharing of "open-source" code, data, and designs for programming, experimentation, and hardware construction;
On-demand human guidance and assistance for evaluation, learning, and error recovery;
Augmented human–robot interaction through various way (Semantics knowledge base, Apple SIRI like service etc.).
Autonomous mobile robots Google's self-driving cars are cloud robots.
