ROBOT TECHNOLOGY:
OBJECTIVE
REALIZE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ROBOT TECHNOLOGY.
KNOW THE GENERAL CHARACTERSITICS OF ROBOTS
UNDERSTAND THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF ROBOTS
RECOGNIZE ROBOT ANATOMY
BE INFORMED OF ROBOT GENERATIONS
BE AWARE OF ROBOT SELECTION
DEFINITION
ROBOT TECHNOLOGY IS AN APPLIED SCIENCE THAT
IS REFERRED TO AS A COMBINATION OF MACHINE TOOLS AND COMPUTER APPLICATIONS.
INCLUDES SUCH DIVERSE FIELDS AS MACHINE
DESIGN, CONTROL THEORY, MICROELECTRONICS, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE, HUMAN FACTORS, AND PRODUCTION THEORY.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
A SPECIALIZED MACHINE TOOLS WITH A DEGREEN OF
FLEXIBILITY THAT DISTINGUISHES THEM FROM FIXED-PURPOSE AUTOMATION.
IS ESSENTIALLY A MECHANICAL ARM THAT IS BOLTED
TO THE FLOOR, A MACHINE, THE CEILING, OR, IN SOME CASES THE WALL FITTED WITH
ITS MECHANICAL HAND, AND TAUGHT TO DO REPETITIVE TASK IN A CONTROLLED, ORDERED
ENVIRONMENT.
ABILITY TO MOVE MECHANICAL ARM TO PEROFRM
WORK.
ROBOT INTERFACE WITH THEIR WORK ENVIRONMENT
ONCE A MECHANICAL HAND HAS BEEN ATTACHED TO THE ROBOT’S TOOL-MOUNTING PLATE.
DEFINITIONS:
WORK ENVELOPE: THE SET OF POINTS
REPRESENTING THE MAXIMUM EXTENT OR REACH
OF THE ROBOT HAND OR WORKING TOOL IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
PAYLOAD: THE ABILITY TO CARRY,
CONTINOUSLY AND SATISFACTORILY, A GIVEN MAXIMUM WEIGHT AT A GIVEN SPEED.
VELOCITY: THE MAXIMUM SPEED AT WHICH THE
TIP OF A ROBOT IS CAPABLE OF MOVING AT FULL EXTENSION, EXPRESSED IN INCHES OR
MILLIMETERS PER SECOND.
CYCLE: TIME IT TAKES FOR THE ROBOT TO
COMPLETE ONE CYCLE OF PICKING UP A GIVEN OBJECT AT A GIVEN HEIGHT, MOVING IT TO
A GIVEN DISTANCE, LOWERING IT, RELEASING IT, AND RETURNING TO THE STARTING
POINT.
ACCURACY: A ROBOT’S ABILITY TO POSITION
THE END EFFECTOR AT A SPECIFIED POINT IN SPACE UPON RECEIVING A CONTROL COMMAND
WITHOUT PREVIOUSLY HAVING ATTAINED THAT POSITION.
REPEATIBILITY: THE ABILITY OF A ROBOT TO
RETURN CONSISTENTLY TO A PREVIOUSLY DEFINED AND ACHIEVED LOCATION.
RESOLUTION: THE SMALLEST INCREMENTAL
CHANGE IN POSITION THAT IT MAKE OR ITS CONTROL SYSTEM CAN MEASURE.
SIZE: THE PHYSICAL SIZE OF A ROBOT, WHICH
INFLUENCES ITS CAPACITY AND ITS CAPABILITIES.
BASIC COMPONENTS:
THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF AN INDUSTRIAL ROBOT
ARE THE
n MANIPULATOR
n THE
END EFFECTOR (WHICH IS THE PART OF THE MANIPULATOR).
n THE
POWER SUPLLY
n AND
THE CONTROLLER.
THE
MANIPULATOR, WHICH IS THE ROBOT’S ARM, CONSISTS OF SEGMENTS JOINTED TOGETHER
WITH AXES CAPABLE OF MOTION IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS ALLOWING THE ROBOT TO PERFORM
WORK.
THE END EFFECTOR WHICH IS A GRIPPER TOOL, A
SPECIAL DEVICE, OR FIXTURE ATTACHED TO THE ROBOT’S ARM, ACTUALLY PERFORMS THE
WORK.
POWER SUPPLY PROVIDES AND REGULATES THE
ENERGY THAT IS CONVERTED TO MOTION BY THE ROBOT ACTUATOR, AND IT MAY BE EITHER
ELECTRIC, PNEUMATIC, OR HYDRAULIC.
THE CONTROLLER INITIATES, TERMINATES, AND
COORDINATES THE MOTION OF SEQUENCES OF A ROBOT. ALSO IT ACCEPTS THE NECESSARY
INPUTS TO THE ROBOT AND PROVIDES THE OUTPUTS TO INTERFACE WITH THE OUTSIDE
WORLD.
MANIPULATOR:
MECHANICAL UNIT THAT PROVIDES MOTION SIMILAR
TO THAT OF A HUMAN ARM.
ITS PRIMARY FUNCTION IS TO PROVIDE THE
SPECIFIC MOTIONS THAT WILL ENABLE THE TOOLING AT THE END OF THE ARM TO DO THE
REQUIRED WORK.
A ROBOT MOVEMENT CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO
GENERAL CATEGORIES: ARM AND BODY (SHOULDER AND ELBOW) MOTIONS AND WRIST
MOTIONS.
THE INDIVIDUAL JOINT MOTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH
THESE CATEGORIES ARE REFERRED TO AS DEGREE OF FREEDOM.
EACH AXIS IS EQUAL TO ONE DEGREE OF FREEDOM.
TYPICALLY AN INDUSTRAIL ROBOTS ARE EQUIPPED WITH 4-6 DEGREES OF FREEDOM.
THE WRIST CAN REACH A POINT IN SPACE WITH
SPECIFIC ORIENTATION BY ANY OF THREE MOTIONS: A PITCH, OR UP-AND-DOWN-MOTION; A
YAW, 0R SIDE-TO-SIDE MOTION; AND A ROLL, OR ROTATING MOTION.
n
THE JOINT LABELED PITCH, YAW, AND ROLL ARE
CALLED ORIENTATION AXES.
THE POINTS THAT MANIPULATOR BENDS, SLIDES, OR
ROTATES ARE CALLED JOINTS OR POSITION AXES.
MANIPULATION IS CARRIED OUT USING MECHANICAL
DEVICES, SUCH AS LINKAGES, GEARS, ACTAUTORS, AND FEEDBACK DEVICES.
POSITION AXES ARE CALLED AS WORLD
COORDINATES, IS IDENTIFIED AS BEING FIXED LOCATION WITHIN THE MANIPULATOR THAT
SERVES AS ABSOLUTE FRAME OF REFERENCE.
THE X-AXIS TRAVEL MOVES THE MANIPULATOR IN AN
IN-AND-OUT MOTION.
THE Y-AXIS MOTION CAUSES THE MANIPULATOR TO
MOVE SIDE-TO-SIDE.
THE Z AXIS MOTION CAUSES THE MANIPULATOR TO
MOVE IN AND UP-AND-DOWN MOTION.
THE MECHANICAL DESIGN OF A ROBOT MANIPULATOR
RELATES DIRECTLY TO ITS WORK ENVELOPE AND MOTION CHARACTESTICS.
