Robots in our lives: how machines help humans

A living organism is recognized as the most complex mechanism with excellent adaptability and endurance. It would seem, why does a person need robots if he himself is considered the crown of creation? And yet, science does not stand still, constantly demonstrating real miracles of engineering imagination. Just a couple of centuries ago, people drove a horse-drawn carriage, and now they are already conquering space with might and main.

However, the broader the scope of research, the greater the amount of resources required to successfully implement missions. Monotonous and routine work began to be entrusted to special digital algorithms. Gradually, robots took over all complex and physically difficult procedures. Today, this technical innovation will not surprise anyone. Mechanisms have become firmly established in human everyday life.

Forex robots

Even in the field of stock trading it is now impossible to do without the help of a nimble autonomous mechanism. Most traders actively work with resources, entrusting transactions to digital experts. At the same time, a person does not even need to constantly be at the computer and monitor the actions of the trading robot. The embedded algorithm allows the assistant to independently analyze market changes and detect the most profitable entry points.

I have worked with several robots and I can say that I was most impressed by the Abi robot. Its effectiveness compared to other mechanical experts is simply unique - 87% of winning trades. This is even higher than the level of profitability of an experienced trader. And if you consider that the program can easily trade around the clock, then the income from it will be many times greater than with manual transactions.

The main advantage of the robot is the absence of emotions. The utility never doubts and makes decisions based solely on the stable performance of the exchange. As a trader, it was very easy and calm for me to work with Abi, since the automation of the purchase and sale of assets eliminated the occurrence of stressful situations. And what could be better for a player than calmly conducting business?

I also want to note that the Abi robot is equipped with the most simple settings and a clear interface. Even a novice trader can handle it. I especially recommend this assistant to players who are just gaining experience in currency speculation on Forex. Based on the built-in automatic trading algorithms, it is much easier to create your own schemes, and technical analysis becomes more understandable. So if you want to increase the profitability of your deposit, try the Abi robot. In this case, high technology is completely on the side of the trader.

Basic components of robotics

The body of most robots consists of separate moving and fixed parts. Here are the main ones:

Internal controller. Each robot is equipped with a controller - a computer operating system. The controller is the brain of any robot. It contains all the necessary information to complete tasks and instructions.

Source of energy. Robots need a source of energy. Some run on batteries. Others are equipped with photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into energy. Mechanical robots are wound up using a spring mechanism.

Remote control. Robots that operate on other planets, such as the Mars rover, have internal controllers, but can also be controlled from Earth.

Light and sound sensors. With their help, the robot can recognize light emanating from objects and detect sound waves. This function helps you either bypass various objects or go towards them. Also, a voice recognition device can be built into the robot body, with which a person gives verbal orders to the machine.

Pressure Sensors. Some robots are equipped with pressure sensors that simulate the sense of touch. These sensors have two purposes: they inform the robot that it has hit an object and must change direction, and they also allow it to correctly grasp and lift the object.

Actuators are the “muscles” of robots. Currently, the most popular motors in drives are electric, but others using chemicals or compressed air are also used. We list all the main drive options for robotics:

• DC Motors : Currently, most robots use electric motors, which can be of several types.
• Stepper Motors : As the name suggests, stepper motors do not spin freely like DC motors. They rotate step by step at a certain angle under the control of the controller. This allows you to do without a position sensor, since the controller knows exactly how much the turn was made. Because of this, they are often used in the drives of many robots and CNC machines.
• Piezo Motors : A modern alternative to DC motors are piezo motors, also known as ultrasonic motors. The principle of their operation is completely different: tiny piezoelectric legs, vibrating at a frequency of more than 1000 times per second, force the motor to move in a circle or straight line. The advantages of such engines are high nanometric resolution, speed and power, incommensurate with their size. Piezo motors are already available commercially and are also used on some robots.
• Air Muscles : Air muscles are a simple yet powerful device for providing traction. When pumped with compressed air, muscles can contract up to 40% of their length. The reason for this behavior is the weaving visible from the outside, which causes the muscles to be either long and thin or short and thick. Because the way they work is similar to biological muscles, they can be used to produce robots with muscles and skeletons similar to those of animals.
• Electroactive polymers : Electroactive polymers are a type of plastic that changes shape in response to electrical stimulation. They can be designed in such a way that they can bend, stretch or contract. However, there are currently no EAPs suitable for the production of commercial robots, as all are inefficient or fragile.
• Elastic nanotubes : This is a promising experimental technology in the early stages of development. The absence of defects in nanotubes allows this fiber to elastically deform by several percent. The human biceps can be replaced with a wire made of such material with a diameter of 8 mm. Such compact “muscles” could help robots in the future overtake and jump over humans.

Robots to protect human health

Robotic labor has been used quite successfully in the medical field for a long time. Nowadays, the introduction of digital assistants into surgery is especially active.

The high accuracy and unique capabilities of the robot allow it to ideally cope with operations, including intracavitary ones. An excellent example of successful collaboration between man and machine is the experience of South Korean doctor Young Woo Kim. It was he who, in 2017, at the Moscow Clinical Research Center, performed surgery on the stomach of a cancer patient using the Da Vinci S robot. Moreover, most of the intracavitary actions were performed by the robot. Despite the woman’s age (she was 77 years old at the time) and the unusual circumstances of the procedure, she tolerated the operation well.

Cybernetics has long been used to restore lost limbs to people. Already in the last century, the film industry touched upon the topic of cyborgs - living organisms partially consisting of iron parts. However, then the Hollywood creation called RoboCop seemed just a fantasy. Today, this phenomenon, incredible in the past, has become a reality.

Prosthetics have become more comfortable and advanced, as patients can now move bionic limbs through impulses sent by the nervous system. Making human life easier and more comfortable is why robots are needed.

Today, amputation of an arm or leg is not a death sentence. After the diseased limb is removed, the surgeon connects the remaining motor nerves to some large muscle of the body (for example, the pectoral muscle, if an arm is amputated).

Everything else seems like something out of science fiction. When a person has a desire to stretch a limb, the brain sends impulses to the muscle with nerve endings attached to it. This is recorded by electrodes, which supply information to the prosthesis processor using connected wires, driving the bionic arm. Moreover, the speed of signal transmission is as high as in a living organism, so a person will not notice any difference. The cybernetic prosthesis acts as smoothly and dexterously as a real limb.

No less surprising is the fact that with the help of a robotic arm or leg, the patient can feel pressure, heat or cold, as well as touch. Isn't this a triumph of science?

However, the possibilities for using cybernetics in medicine do not end there. With the help of the latest technologies, a person has managed to regain his lost vision. In June 2022, an operation was performed in Russia to implant an artificial retina in a deaf-blind patient aged 59 years. This device creates a pixelated image, and the brain recognizes them as individual black and white outlines.

Russian automatic cosmonauts

The official beginning of robotics in Russia dates back to 1971. It was then that it was officially recognized as science in the USSR. Although by that time Russian-made assault rifles were already roaming the expanses of space with might and main.

In 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite entered orbit. In 1966, the Luna-9 station transmitted a radio signal to Earth from the surface of the Moon, and the Venera-3 apparatus, having successfully reached the planet, installed a USSR pennant there.

Just four years later, two more lunar stations were launched and both completed their missions successfully. The Lunokhod-1 apparatus, delivered by the Luna-17 station, worked three times longer than planned and transmitted a lot of valuable information to Soviet scientists.

In 1973, another station of the same series delivered another lunar rover to the Moon, which also coped with its task perfectly.

Space robots

The vastness of the Universe is still practically unexplored. That is why the endless starry sky so attracts and excites scientific minds. However, harsh conditions do not always allow research to be carried out by a living person. And here special space robots come to the rescue, which can easily work at high levels of radiation and extreme temperatures.

The mechanisms are excellent at both collecting samples for study and repairing high-tech equipment. Already in 2021, the Russian robot will be launched on the ISS. The list of his responsibilities will include servicing spacecraft and carrying out work in open airless space.

Classification of mobile robotics by type of movement

Modern robots, created on the basis of the latest achievements of science and technology, are used in all spheres of human activity. The appearance and design of modern robots can be very diverse.

Robotics can move on any surface, in water and in the air. So, according to the type of movement, robots are:

• Wheeled and tracked (the most common type of robots);
• Walking;
• Flying - autopilots and unmanned aerial vehicles;
• Crawling - move according to the principle of snakes and worms and are used to search for people under the rubble of collapsed buildings;
• Swimming - move in the water, imitating the movements of fish, and thereby become silent and very maneuverable;
• Moving along vertical surfaces - they act like a person, climbing the wall with the help of protrusions, or with the help of special suction cups.

The leaders in the production of robots at the moment are the companies FANUC (Japan), KUKA (Germany) and ABB (Sweden, Switzerland).

High technology for safety

Robots are even actively used to prevent fires. Specially designed devices are equipped with a set of sensitive sensors that instantly detect the slightest smoke. From now on, you don’t have to worry about the safety of your home.

Some military bases use robots as their intended adversaries. Soldiers can train on them and hone their combat skills. Artificial intelligence very accurately replicates human habits and movements. Robots are also useful in reconnaissance and on the battlefield. The use of such models gives the army a significant advantage, since the mechanisms are difficult to disable. There is an opinion that during the war in Syria, Russia resorted to the help of just such robots.

Life

Robots are much closer to people than they seem. Many of them have been used successfully in everyday life for quite a long time.

The most common household robots are vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, and massagers.

Recently, “smart homes” have become increasingly popular, in which an automated network has been introduced that controls electricity, water supply, security and other systems.

Intelligent technology in production

Factories, factories and enterprises of various types have long been using the labor and capabilities of modern robots. Painting, laying, welding and other high-precision operations that are repeated many times are transferred to automatic mode.

Most often, such mechanisms are made in the form of a device similar to a human hand. Industrial robots are equipped with moving axes and are considered universal assistants in production.

The use of high-tech mechanisms has resulted in a significant increase in labor efficiency. Living workers were able to free themselves from repetitive operations in order to engage in more complex intellectual tasks.

5) Hadrian X Robot

Hadrian X is a construction robot that automatically loads, cuts, mills and lays blocks and bricks for construction projects.

The robot, developed by Australian robotics company Fastbrick Robotics, uses FBR dynamic stabilization technology that adapts to environmental factors in real time, enabling highly accurate robotics in large-scale outdoor applications.

Construction robot Hadrian X

Robots in agriculture

Most of the activities performed in the fields are perfectly suited to be performed by robots. After all, monotonous and routine work takes much more time and effort from a living person than from a well-oiled mechanism. Now special devices are involved in planting crops, weeding, cultivating and preparing the land, as well as harvesting crops.

The most advanced states even strive for agriculture without the participation of people. Static and mobile robots cope well with their assigned responsibilities. They can even do milking and servicing livestock, as well as cutting wool. Experts give positive forecasts for the complete transition to agricultural robots. According to experts, this will increase the productivity and profitability of the farm, which will lead to cheaper final products for the consumer.

Industry 4.0. Robotization in the 21st century. Robots and cobots

In this article we will look at the areas of application of robots, their distribution and development in the world as a whole.
What is a robot today? Robot

is an autonomously functioning universal automatic machine designed to reproduce the physical, motor and mental functions of a person, endowed with the ability to adapt and learn in the process of active interaction with the environment.

Main reasons for development and application

robots are:

— liberation of a person in the production process from heavy types of work, as well as his stay in extreme conditions (polluted environment, chemical environment dangerous to life, etc.);

— a significant increase in labor productivity when performing operations in the production process;

— significant improvement in the quality of products produced in industrial production using industrial robots;

- reducing the cost of products produced at a certain industrial enterprise.

Everyday life with robots

The use of high technology was previously associated exclusively with cosmic images and bulky androids conquering the next planet. But now smart devices surround us even in everyday life. Moreover, I do not take into account scientific and technological centers and factories. We may encounter robots even in our own apartment.

An autonomous vacuum cleaner that cleans independently is the most common example of the beneficial coexistence of man and machine in the same house. Representatives of artificial intelligence clean swimming pools, master massage, and even tidy up lawns around the house. Do you still think why robots are needed in an ordinary apartment? It's time to move to a new level of life and shift most of the grueling chores onto the reliable and trouble-free shoulders of a mechanical housekeeping assistant.

By the way, you can increasingly encounter the Smart Home system. It is especially popular in Europe and America. This is a truly self-sufficient network that controls home security, water supply and electricity.

Drummers of modern production

Various industrial productions are the industry in which the bulk of modern automatic devices find practical application.

The history of industrial robotics begins in 1725, when punched paper tape was invented in France and used to program weaving machines.

The beginning of production automation occurred in the 19th century, when mass production of automatic looms using punched cards began in France.

Henry Ford installed the first conveyor line for assembling cars at his plant in 1913. Assembling one car took about an hour and a half. Of course, this line was not yet fully automated, as it is now, but it was an entry to a qualitatively new level of production.

The official use of robots in manufacturing began in 1961, when the first officially manufactured robotic arm was installed at the General Motors plant in New Jersey. This machine operated on hydraulic drives and was programmed through a magnetic drum.

The boom in developments in the field of industrial automation occurred in the 70s of the 20th century. In 1970, the first modern manipulator for use in industry was created in the USA: it had electric drives with six degrees of freedom and was controlled from a computer. In parallel, development was carried out in Switzerland, Germany and Japan. In 1977, the first Japanese-made robot was released.

In the early 80s, General Motors began automating its production, and already in 1984, Russia also began it - AvtoVAZ acquired a license for the independent production of robots from the German company KUKA Robotics. However, the palm still belongs to the Japanese - in the mid-90s, two-thirds of the total number of robots in the whole world were concentrated in Japan, now it is about half.

Today, it is almost impossible to imagine automobile, or any other continuous production, without mechanical assistants. The first place is occupied by automatic welding machines. The accuracy of robotic laser welding is tenths of a millimeter. Such a device is capable of simultaneously cutting metal into parts.

Next come the mechanisms that carry out loading and unloading operations, feeding blanks into machines and storing finished products.

In third place in terms of automation level is forging and foundry production. At the moment, almost all such workshops in Europe are robotic, since the working conditions there are very difficult for people.

Other operations for which automatic machines are most often used today are bending pipes, drilling holes, milling and grinding surfaces.

Robots for fun

The robot became not just a fast worker, but also an excellent friend. Adults and children are not at all opposed to acquiring such a mechanical companion in the form of a modern toy. Store shelves are literally bursting with a variety of new products that can dance, sing, fly and even read bedtime stories. But that’s all for kids’ leisure time. Toys for the older generation have more complex mechanisms and a huge number of built-in functions. True, such home robots will cost much more. But can money become an obstacle for connoisseurs of radio-controlled models?

Some devices have become very human-like. They are typically given companion capabilities and more complex base intelligence. One of the most popular robots was a humanoid named Thespian, created in England. The developers turned him into an interesting and intelligent interlocutor. The robot is capable of performing theatrical performances and reciting poetry with expression, supplementing speech with emotional facial expressions and gestures.

Humanoid devices are considered the most high-tech. Chinese scientists have assembled mechanisms that joke and successfully support an intellectual conversation. Some models of humanoid robots are so similar to living beings that they sometimes frighten viewers with their realism. This is due to an uncontrollable feeling of fear towards an inanimate object that looks exactly like a representative of the pinnacle of evolution.

The nature of such a reaction is difficult to unravel. Psychologists believe that somewhere on a subconscious level a person is horrified by the perfectly symmetrical face of a humanoid robot, combined with mechanical, constrained movements and speech devoid of any emotion.

What knowledge is needed to create robotics?

Modern robotics is based on knowledge from the fields of programming, mechanics, mechatronics, electrical engineering, electronics and automatic control.

To master robotics at a basic level, school knowledge of mathematics and physics is sufficient. Without understanding the physics of motion and the operating principles of mechanisms and electric motors, it is difficult to assemble a functioning robot.

Then come computer science and engineering. Since programming is as necessary in robotics as mathematics, it is important to understand computer science and information systems. Design will help create user-friendly products. But knowledge from other engineering disciplines will also be useful.

Main directions in the study of robotics:

• Mechanical engineering
  studies the physical components of a robot—its “body.” Subtopics: mechanics and strength of materials. Most courses in this area focus on the physical design and operation of the robot.
• Electrical and electronics engineering
  or "nervous system" deals with the electrical systems inside a robot, embedded systems, low-level programming, and control theory. Typically this is automation that is built around robot control.
• Computer science
  - many specialists came to robotics due to their passion for computer science. Engineers in this field focus on robot software and high-level programming. Topics include artificial intelligence, navigation, technical vision, natural language processing, and so on.

Robots in education

Robot teachers are another exclusive from cybernetics. Such devices can move around the classroom while teaching a lesson and broadcast educational images on the built-in monitor. Due to this, the effect of the presence of a teacher is created, which solves the problem of an acute shortage of qualified personnel in educational activities.

However, science did not stop there. The Remote Students device, developed by VGo, allows children and students who have health problems and cannot attend classes on their own to study. A special robot will do this for them.

The child controls the equipment remotely, so the device will be able to move from one class to the next. With the help of Remote Students, the student communicates with his friends and answers the teacher's questions.

Robots are ideal educational assistants for children with autism spectrum disorder. It is very difficult for such students to concentrate due to the distraction in the form of non-verbal signals from the environment. With the help of smart devices, they will be able to gain knowledge in a calm and comfortable environment.

The functioning of the Nao robot, created by the Aldebaran Robotics team, contributes to increasing the level of human communication skills. The Ask Nao version is designed to teach basic behavioral habits in a playful way.

Another useful development is the interactive robot Kaspar, created at the University of Hertfortshire. Its appearance is not considered very attractive, but children get along well with this device.

The developers of this mechanical toy deliberately did not make it too realistic. Kaspar helps children gradually socialize, and also teaches them to understand the facial expressions and gestures of living people.

Medicine

Currently, robotic surgery is developing especially actively. Medical robots are taking on many functions that were previously performed by surgeons.

Thanks to cybernetic technologies, modern man can regain a lost body part. A huge breakthrough in medicine has occurred since the advent of bionic prostheses, which people control using their own nervous system.

Medical exoskeletons are entire robotic suits designed to restore lost functions, increase the strength of human muscles and expand the range of motion due to the external frame and adductor parts.

Exoskeletons are used not only in medicine, but also in construction, industry, and the military. In these areas, the power and load-bearing capabilities of exoskeletons are used.

Modern advances in robotics can even replace the retina of the eye. A special device shows a picture of pixels, the patient sees black and white outlines of surrounding objects and learns to recognize them thanks to special exercises.

Robots for presentations

Commercial bank staff deal with huge numbers of clients every day. Since most operations are similar to each other, specially created robots began to cope with them, freeing workers from excessive workload.

In August 2022, Sberbank introduced its users to a real “office of the future.” The updated service now includes a promotional robot that not only answered visitors’ questions, but also entertained people with dancing and singing. The built-in facial recognition system allows the mechanical assistant to remember its interlocutors, take pictures and show emotions on the monitor.

This list of areas of application of robots in the modern world is far from complete. Every year, progress surprises us with the creation of technical innovations designed to simplify people's lives. Today, the scale of robotization already amazes the imagination of any science fiction writer.

Service sector

Modern organizations use promotional robots to serve customers. They communicate with people, recognize faces and speech, take photos, and move independently, avoiding obstacles.

So-called bots connect to any external systems: databases, security systems, websites and services.

Today, robots replace or complement “live” employees - guides, concierges, consultants, promoters - at airports, mobile phone offices and banks, shopping and business centers, restaurants, museums, and residential complexes.

Pros and cons of high technology

Using smart devices has both advantages and disadvantages. Here is a small list of the positive aspects of robotization:

• high quality of the final result and absence of errors due to the human factor;
• sympathy and interest from clients (this is especially useful at social events with a large number of guests);
• the unprecedented pace of work of a mechanical assistant who does not need to set aside time for lunch and rest;
• optimization of personnel (staff are freed from routine work and concentrate their efforts on highly intellectual work);
• savings and cost reduction (the high cost of the robot quickly pays off).

And here are the disadvantages inherent in the introduction of mechanisms into all areas of human life:

• robots need maintenance and periodic repairs, and in the case of Forex, settings and software updates;
• all devices require power sources, and energy consumption is sometimes very high;
• a reduction in the number of living employees, which contributes to an increase in the unemployment rate in the country;
• a gradual decline in the mental abilities of a person, for whom almost everything can now be done by a specially trained mechanism.

Automation of production. Why is it needed?

Technologies of the 21st century require improved automation and saving labor resources, so by the beginning of the new century, production required new technologies that would allow the organization of production processes without human intervention with a stable quality of manufactured goods.

By displacing physical labor from main and auxiliary production, automation leads to an increase in the costs of mental labor, which should be based on past experience and should also subsequently be automated as much as possible.

Taking into account all these factors, we can formulate the following principles of production automation :

— Automation should be comprehensive and cover entire technological processes;

— Automation should cover not only the technological process itself, but also everything adjacent to it (transport, warehousing, design, technological preparation of production);

— Automated systems must be technologically and economically flexible. Technological flexibility implies the ability to change the performance of the system while maintaining the coordinated operation of its elements (self-regulation of the system), economic flexibility - the ability to repeatedly change the range of products at the lowest cost while maintaining the same basic technological equipment;

— Automation must be ensured by high reliability of the equipment used.

The modern idea of ​​production automation is best expressed by the concept of flexible automated production (FAP).

Flexible automated production is a production that allows, in a short time, at minimal cost, on the same equipment, without interrupting the production process and without stopping the equipment, as necessary, to switch to the production of new products of an arbitrary range.

Main technological characteristics of flexible automated production systems:

— ability to work without human intervention;

— automatic execution of working and auxiliary actions;

- ease of setup;

— flexibility to meet the requirements of small-scale production;

— high economic efficiency with proper operation.

The development and widespread use of flexible automated technology is currently the main trend in the development of modern industrial production. However, it is necessary to emphasize once again that it is most advisable to develop flexible automated production for fundamentally new technologies, rather than adapt them to existing ones.

So, how is a person different from a robot?

Previously, it was believed that the ability to create was a unique trait that was inherent exclusively to a living person. But this fact was confidently refuted by the emerging neural network. Now we can safely say that robots have mastered the art of creativity.

A striking example is the project of Christopher Hesse, to which he gave the name Edges2cats. This device is capable of transforming simple graphic drawings into photographs. And, as you can see, he succeeds quite well. Try to recognize the authorship of a soulless machine in the final photo.

What is the 4th Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0?

In 2011, at the Hannover Exhibition, the concept of the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0,

. Experts have defined this concept as the widespread introduction of “cyber-physical systems” into factory processes, which will lead to the fusion of technologies and destroy the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological spheres of human life.

Community members also determined that the main drivers of the new industrial revolution will be cloud technologies, new ways of collecting and analyzing information, crowdsourcing, the sharing economy and biotechnology. This gave impetus to the introduction and development of new standards in the Internet environment and in key industries.

Currently, almost all developed countries have passed the stage of forming technical, economic and social concepts in relation to robotics and are energetically involved in the process of introducing robots into various fields of activity, and above all in industrial production, creating flexible production systems based on robots.

According to Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots, automation cannot be stopped because it is part of capitalism.

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constantly striving to improve productivity
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How technology has changed over the past decade

Over the past 10 years, there has been a leap in technology development. The Internet, smartphones, social networks have become part of everyday life. With the development of IT, digital commerce has become widespread.

Progress has also affected robotics: engineers from all over the world are working on creating robots, unmanned systems, and bionic technologies, fighting for the right to be first in their development.

Important steps for inventors:

1. Use of new design elements. Engineers are gradually moving away from conventional gears, levers, motors and sensors, experimenting with advanced modern materials such as artificial muscle fibers and plastisol skin. They not only make the robot closer to a person, but also strive to improve the characteristics of the machine - sensitivity, energy efficiency, speed, plasticity of movements.
2. Development of artificial intelligence. Recent developments in the field of AI allow robots not only to accommodate previously inaccessible amounts of information, but also to learn, adapting to an ever-changing environment. Advanced machines are already able to recognize patterns in systems, use new (obtained from the external environment) data for analysis, etc. Even today, androids are able to carry on conversations on various topics, adapting to the interlocutor.
3. Improvement of batteries. Complex devices such as robots require powerful and energy-intensive batteries that can be constantly recharged. Therefore, engineers are constantly improving the characteristics of batteries: they are becoming smaller, more reliable and more economical. The most important direction in this industry has become the use of energy from renewable sources - sun and wind, as well as its wireless transmission over long distances.

A new step in the development of robots - the use of biohybrid technologies, the introduction of cells of living organisms into the materials of advanced machines has made it possible to achieve unprecedented plasticity and flexibility.

The development of such technologies in the future will make it possible to imitate the beneficial properties of living tissue - the ability to regenerate, sensitivity, flexibility.